Sanaa, Feb 19 (IANS) About 7,000 protesters stormed into two government buildings and a police station in Yemen's southern port city of Aden and set them on fire, an official said.

The protesters gathered in the neighbouring Shaikh Othman town Friday, rushed to the two local council buildings and a police station and set them on fire, leaving several people injured, Xinhua reported quoting a local councilman.

Earlier Friday, an anti-government protester was shot dead and 40 were injured in Aden as police opened fire to disperse thousands of demonstrators calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave, a local security official said.

The clashes took place in the districts of Khour Maksar and Al- Mansoura after anti-riot policemen fired warning gunfire to force two rallies away from governmental facilities.

Apart form Yemen, several other countries in north Africa as well as in the Middle East have been facing massive anti-government protests which have erupted soon after the mass uprising in Tunisia and Egypt.