Senior security official killed in drive-by shooting in Yemen's Aden

Unidentified gunmen opened fire and killed a high-ranking security official in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Sunday morning, a military official told Xinhua.

Colonel Abdul-Hakim Sunidi, chief of Aden's security operations, was attacked along Reemy street when gunmen, riding motorcycles, opened fire from automatic rifles and killed him at the scene in Aden's neighborhood of Mansoura, the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

The unknown gunmen fled the scene immediately, while eyewitnesses believed that the attack was conducted by two hooded men riding a motorbike.

Ahmed Ali, a senior officer of Aden's security department, told Xinhua his colleague had just left his house and headed for a security meeting in Aden when the incident happened.

The incident occurred just hours after Yemen's interior ministry announced resuming its operations and starting to conduct its security services from Aden.

No one has claimed responsibility over the drive-by shooting, but the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch has in several occasions claimed to be behind such attacks.

The Shiite Houthis took over Aden and several neighboring southern provinces late March. Since then, Aden has seen bloody confrontations, turning the infrastructure and many neighborhoods in the city into rubble.

Over one month ago, Yemeni armed forces backed by elite troops and armored vehicles from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia launched a number of offensives leading to the liberation of Aden, Lahj, Shabwa and Abyan provinces from Houthi's control. Endit