Gunmen kill U.S. embassy security chief in Yemen

[Gerald]

(Reuters) - Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni security chief on his way to work at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Thursday, in an attack a Yemeni security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda.The incident was the latest of a wave of attacks on officials in the impoverished Arab state, which is battling Islamist militants with Washington's help.

The attackers, on a motorcycle, opened fire on Qassem Aqlan - who headed an embassy security investigation team - near his house in the centre of Yemen's capital, the source told Reuters.

"This operation has the fingerprints of al Qaeda which carried out similar operations before," said the source, who asked not to be named.

Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other militant groups strengthened their grip on parts of the country during an uprising that ousted veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February.

Washington, wary of the growing power of al Qaeda, has stepped up drone strikes on suspected militants, with the backing of Saleh's successor, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89A0F820121011


Note: Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:40am EDT