Five people were killed including a soldier and ten others injured, including women and children, when Yemen's southern province of Dhale was hit on Monday by fierce clashes between the security forces and armed outlaws.

30 homes were destroyed with local sources saying the city came under a missile attack by security forces in which various heavy weapons were used.

The attack took place when outlaws of the southern separatist movement fought the security forces early today after targeting a flag of the former People's Democratic Republic in the south that was raised on an electrical post.

They clashes resulted in destroying a military vehicle.

Many armored cars were dispatched after the clashes in which outlaws, according to the government, fired RPGs on military camps and homes.

Leaders in the separatist movement said the city was attacked from all directions by all military camps around it.

The attack terrified the civilians because it was the fiercest ever, they said, arguing that after the government failed to control the peaceful protest and civil disobedience by the movement, it resorted to excessive force to kill the people and destroy their properties.