Hundreds of people attended the funeral on Wednesday of army commanders and soldiers killed last week in an attack of a ballistic missile fired by the Houthi rebels against the port city of Aden.

Key leaders of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) attended the funeral held in Aden's neighborhood of Crater amid tightened security measure with armored vehicles deployed in the area, local residents told Xinhua.

Munir Abu Yamamah, leader of the first armored brigade, along with scores of soldiers, were killed in Thursday's ballistic missile attack that struck the Jalaa military base in Buraiga district in Aden's western part.

Mourners were shouting anti-government slogans and threatening to march towards the presidential palace of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Aden, but forces of the government blocked roads leading to the palace, according to local residents.

Earlier in the day, large demonstrations were organized by pro-secession southern Yemenis and continued in Aden for the third consecutive day, to protest the recent missile attack by the Houthi rebels.

On Tuesday, a number of powerful southern tribal leaders vowed to expel the Saudi-backed Yemeni government from Aden during the upcoming days, accusing some of its members of leaking information to the Houthi rebels in Sanaa.

They said in a statement that "collaboration of some officials of the government, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood members, helped the Houthis to attack Aden."

Considered Yemen's temporary capital, Aden is where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has based itself since 2015.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.