Yemeni intelligence officer gunned down in Aden

Source: Xinhua, 26/12/2011
              
ADEN, Yemen-- A high-ranking officer of the Yemeni military intelligence agency was gunned down Sunday evening by unidentified assailants in the southern port city of Aden, a security official told Xinhua.

The local security official said on condition of anonymity that three unknown attackers opened fire with barrage of bullets on the vehicle of colonel Hussein al-Bishi, killing him in a main street in Sheikh Othman district in Aden city.

The intelligence officer was hit in the head by a bullet and died at the scene, the official said, adding that the attackers managed to escape after the shooting.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. But the incident bore the hallmarks of the al-Qaida group, according to the official.

A police officer said that after the attack, local government authorities has tightened up the security measures across the port city to deter any armed terrorists to infiltrate into Aden from the neighboring province of Abyan.

Taking advantage of Yemen's unrest to bolster their presence in the country's southern and eastern regions, militants of the al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula have been launching sporadic shoot- outs and motorbike attacks on security and intelligence officials during the past few months.