Intelligence official shot dead in S. Yemen, al-Qaida blamed

A senior Yemeni intelligence official was shot dead on Friday in Yemen's southern province of Lahj, and initial investigations suggested that "the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida", a provincial councilman and police official said.

"A motorcycle gunman opened fire at Colonel Ali Abdulkarim, a top official of the Yemeni Intelligence Headquarters in al-Houta, the capital city of Lahj, when he went out from the mosque after finishing this evening's prayer," the unnamed councilman told Xinhua.

According to the councilman, who asked not to be named, "no group has been accused so far."

A police official, however, told Xinhua that "the initial investigations pointed out that the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida again."

He said that "during the past two months, a numbers of security and intelligence personnel have been assassinated by the same terrorist group."

"And al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula (AQAP) has so far claimed responsibility of all attacks targeted the security and intelligence officials and facilities recently," he added.

The Yemeni Interior Ministry on Thursday issued a new list of most-wanted al-Qaida terrorists including eight individuals.

The ministry said it has distributed the list to all police stations and security checkpoints across the country. The move was part of the manhunt campaign against al-Qaida members.

Last week, the AQAP claimed responsibility for two separated attacks, on July 22 and 25 respectively, in the southeast oil province of Shabwa, killing 12 Yemeni security soldiers, including top officers.

On July 23, al-Qaida said it was behind the twin raids on the general security and intelligence buildings in the southern province of Abyan, which killed at least three soldiers.

On June 19, a group of militants raided the intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden. Al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed at least 24 people.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the al-Qaida wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for an attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger plane bound for Detroit last year.

Source: Xinhua