Yemeni officials and medics say a protester was killed and five were wounded as forces loyal to the country's internationally recognized government used live ammunition to disperse a rally by separatists in the southern province of Shabwa.

According to the officials, dozens of supporters of separatists took to the streets of the southern town of Azzan on Thursday, to denounce President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

A security official with Hadi's government says most of the protesters were armed. The medics and officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter with reporters.

In August, violent clashes erupted between forces loyal to Hadi and the separatists, who are ostensible allies in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels who overran the capital, Sanaa, and most of the north in 2014.