Soldier dies as militants ambush governor, army officials in Yemen

Source: dpa
29\09\2010

Suspected al-Qaeda militants ambushed a convoy carrying the governor of a southern Yemeni province and military officials on Wednesday, killing a soldier and injuring four officers, provincial sources said.

The assailants opened fire on five cars carrying provincial and army officials, including the governor of Shabwa, Ali Hassan al- Ahmadi, and the military's deputy chief of staff, Major General Salem Qatan, the sources told the German Press Agency dpa.

Both officials survived the ambush unharmed, the sources said.

The attack occurred as the convoy drove on a road in al-Saeed district of Shabwa, around 579 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, they said.

This was the latest in a series of attacks by al-Qaeda in southern Yemen on police and military targets in recent months. The attacks have claimed dozens of lives.