Government official shot dead in eastern Yemen

By Mubarak Mohamed

HADHRAMAUT, Yemen (AA) – A government official was assassinated in Yemen’s eastern Hadhramaut province on Wednesday, according to a local security source.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Omar Saleh, a government communication director, in the city of Al-Qutn in Hadhramaut and fled the scene unscathed, the source said on condition of anonymity due to security reasons.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Wednesday’s killing came two days after a military officer was shot dead in the province.

In 2015, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group had an active presence in Al-Qutn city.

Yemen has been locked into a civil war since Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.