Suspected al-Qaida militants kill security official in southern Yemen

Suspected militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch opened fire and killed a senior security official in the southern province of Abyan on Thursday, a government official said.
The local source said on condition of anonymity that "two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire from assault rifles and killed a security official named Nasr Salhi in Abyan's district of Mudiyah."
He said that the gunmen rained Salhi's vehicle with a barrage of bullets, leaving him dead in Mudiyah, located in the southeastern part of Abyan.
"Salhi was working as a commander of the newly-recruited security forces in Mudiyah district before his assassination," the source said.
He indicated that the gunmen were believed to be belonging to the al-Qaida group, and that they had managed to escape after the incident.
A statement of the newly-recruited southern security forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) confirmed that Salhi was killed in an ambush set up by al-Qaida militants.
The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) network, which mostly operates in eastern and southern provinces, has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces in the country.
Suspected U.S. airstrikes battered rebel-controlled areas of Yemen into Wednesday, with the Houthis saying the attacks killed at least six people a…
US air strikes on Yemen’s Hudaydah City targeted a water management building on Tuesday evening, killing at least three civilians and woundin…
The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Russia-based people and entities working to help procure weapons and commodities - including st…