Yemeni authorities released on Thursday 17 of 58 political activists held since the 2011 uprising against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yemeni authorities released on Thursday 17 of 58 political activists held since the 2011 uprising against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The release came after 20 detainees began a hunger strike on May 24 in a bid to step up pressure to be freed, according to local rights group Hood.

Some of them are suspected of involvement in an attack on Saleh in June 2011 which killed 11 of his guards.

On Wednesday, state news agency Saba reported that the attorney general has ordered the release of 17 out of 22 people detained for their suspected involvement in the attack.

According to local rights groups, the 22 had been held in Sanaa, 19 in Hajja province, 11 in Saada in the north and six in several other prisons across the country.

During the 2011 uprising, which erupted as part of the Arab Spring wave of protests, demonstrators frequently clashed with security forces and partisans of Saleh.