A suicide bomber in southern Yemen gravely wounded three members of the separatist Southern Movement on Friday in an attack in Lahij province, the group and a local official said.

 

The bomber detonated an explosives belt as activists' cars headed for the port of Aden for a demonstration on Saturday marking the independence of the former South Yemen.

 

A Southern Movement source said the attack took place in Al-Askariya district of Lahij.

 

The bomber was killed "and three members of the Southern Movement were gravely wounded and evacuated towards Aden to be hospitalized", the source said.

 

A local official confirmed to AFP that three people had been seriously wounded in the attack, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility.