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Air force officer shot dead in southern Yemen

Xinhua, February 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Unidentified gunmen shot dead an air force colonel when he left the mosque after prayers in Yemen's southern province of Lahj on Friday, a security official told Xinhua.

"Air force Colonel Mahmoud Naqeeb who participated in several counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaida strongholds in the country's southern regions was assassinated by gunmen in Lahj province," the local security official said on condition of anonymity.

"Two gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at the colonel when he left Friday prayers at a local mosque in the provincial capital," the security source said.

The security source added that the motive for the assassination was not immediately clear, and hold the al-Qaida offshoot responsible for the attack.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which emerged in January 2009 and also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions. Endit