SANAA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- A security officer was shot dead and another policeman injured on Tuesday evening when Yemeni security forces tried to disperse dozens of Southern Movement protestors in the southeast province of al-Maharah, security sources told local News Yemen website.

Major Abdullah Saleh al-Faqih was killed when the security forces tried to disperse a demonstration through the streets of al- Ghaidha city, the capital of al-Maharah province, where they were attacked by stones and gunfire, according to News Yemen website.

The report quoted witnesses as saying that protesters hurled stones and opened fire after security forces fired and used tear gas against them.

The protest called by the Southern Movement aims at including the south's troubles in the agenda of a British-called conference on Yemen's development, due on Jan. 27 in London.

Northern and southern Yemen were unified in 1990 according to a deal between the People's General Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the deal fell apart, leading to a crisis between the two allies, which developed into a civil war in 1994.