Ministry: Al-Qaeda kills Yemeni army officer
Police say two men shot Brigadier-General Abdullah al-Mehdar, charged with restructuring the army, in front of his home.
Suspected al-Qaeda fighters have killed a senior Yemen army officer in front of his home in Sanaa, the defence ministry said.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that two men on a motorcycle shot Brigadier-General Abdullah al-Mehdar, a member of a committee restructuring the military, before fleeing, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Local media said on Sunday that al-Mehdar was seriously injured last year in a bomb explosion, also in front of his home, and was flown to Jordan for treatment.
In a seperate development, a Yemeni security official told AP that a US drone hit several targets on Saturday in the province of al-Bayda, a stronghold of armed groups. The official did not give any further information.
Yemen’s branch of al-Qaeda, also known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is seen by Washington as the most dangerous in the world and has been linked to several attempted attacks in the US.
Washington has been helping Yemeni counter-terrorism forces with logistics, training and drone attacks.