Gunmen assassinate anti-terror judge in Yemen's Aden

Unknown gunmen assassinated an anti-terror judge and four of his bodyguards in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Saturday, a security official told Xinhua.

"Unknown assailants gunned down the chief of the Aden-based anti-terrorism court along with four of his bodyguards near a public market in Mansoura neighborhood," the local security official said on condition of anonymity.

A police source said "the masked gunmen fired at Mohsin Alwani, killing him inside his car and four of his bodyguards died with him as well."

The gunmen managed to flee the scene after conducting the drive-by shooting.

On the same day, unidentified gunmen shot and killed a senior intelligence officer in Aden city by.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the killings, but police usually blame militants of al-Qaida or the Islamic State for such assassinations.

On Saturday, the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State released a series of videos showing executing several people who they said supported the Shiite Houthi group.

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

Security situation in the country has deteriorated since March when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in ground battles and air strikes since then, half of them civilians.

The UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed met Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Aden city on Saturday to discuss arrangements for peace talks between the government and Houthi forces, a source close to Yemen's president said.

The UN-led dialogue, which is expected to be held in Geneva, has been postponed to mid-December, as the warring parties cannot reach a consensus on a ceasefire. Endit