A Yemeni senior police officer was gunned down Saturday evening by unknown gunmen in the country' s southeastern province of Hadramout, a security official told Xinhua.
Three unknown gunmen opened fire from automatic rifles on Major Shaif al-Nehmi, deputy director of security forces in the Shibam city, east of Hadramout's provincial capital of al-Mukalla, killing him at the scene, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The armed men in a car opened fire on al-Nehmi while he was coming out of the security forces administration building," the official said.
"Gunshots hit the head of the officer who died later at the main gate," he said, adding that "the criminals believed to be from the al-Qaida terrorist group."
The gunmen escaped after the drive-by shooting, according to the official.
Earlier in the day, unknown gunmen launched attacks against two bases of the Yemeni security forces in the coastal city of al- Mukalla in Hadramout, killing at least one soldier and injuring 20 others, a security official told Xinhua.
Hadramout province, about 794 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, has seen sporadic shoot-outs and motorbike attacks against intelligence and security officers for the past few months.
The government authorities usually accuse militants of the al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of masterminding the armed attacks and assassination bids against the security agencies.
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi vowed to strengthen security and intelligence cooperation with the United States in combating the AQAP, which has threatened the daily oil shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.