SANAA, (Reuters) – Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni security chief on his way to work at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa today, in an attack a Yemeni security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda.
The incident was the latest of a wave of attacks on officials in the impoverished Arab state, which is battling Islamist militants with Washington’s help.
The attackers, on a motorcycle, opened fire on Qassem Aqlan – who headed an embassy security investigation team – near his house in the centre of Yemen’s capital, the source told Reuters.
“This operation has the fingerprints of al Qaeda which carried out similar operations before,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other militant groups strengthened their grip on parts of the country during an uprising that ousted veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February.
Washington, wary of the growing power of al Qaeda, has stepped up drone strikes on suspected militants, with the backing of Saleh’s successor, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Fahad, a neighbour of Aqlan’s, said he had noticed strangers roaming the streets over the past three days, suggesting Aqlan was being watched before the attack.
“Once he (Aqlan) stepped out of his house the men shouted his name and when he replied, they shot him in the head and neck,” he said.
Aqlan, who was in his fifties and had worked at the embassy for more than a decade, was responsible for coordinating security information between the U.S. embassy and the Yemeni authorities, the source added.
He had been involved in the investigation into the attack last month on the U.S. embassy by protesters angry over an anti-Islam film made in the United States.
