Explosion, gunfire in Yemen ahead of election
Fully-veiled Yemeni women show the colors of the national flag on their forefingers during an election rally in support of the sole presidential candidate Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in Sanaa on February 20, 2012.
A soldier died following an explosion at a polling station in Yemen today, Reuters reported. The violence comes one day before the country votes in a presidential election.
No one in the southern Yemeni city of Aden was killed in the blast itself, Reuters said. The soldier was killed in gunfire following the blast, an official told the news agency. Another soldier was injured.
Yemen votes Tuesday to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh, its president of more than 30 years.
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Saleh, who has been pushed out following a year of protests and unrest, will be replaced through an uncontested election in which his vice president is the only candidate. It is a negotiated end to Saleh’s rule and not the change the Arab Spring had envisioned for the country, Voice of America said.
Attacks on polling stations and electoral offices have been increasing as the election draws nearer, Al Jazeera said.
Sunday night a rocket propelled grenade was fired at an election base in Aden, Agence France-Presse reported. No one was killed, however three soldiers were injured at a separate clash near a polling booth in the southern Yemeni province Lahij.