Sana'a: A top Yemen army commander was killed on Monday morning in the port city of Aden when a suicide bomber blew himself up near commander's car, Ministry of Defence said.

Maj. General Salem Ali Qatan, the commander of the army's Southern Region, was killed when a Somali man ,in his 20s,threw his explosive-laden body into car.

The general was critically injured and breathed  his last breath on his way to hospital.

Two of his associates  were also  killed in the attack that the government instantly pointed fingers at Al Qaida in Yemen. local sources said that the man, who wearing explosive  belt, was standing near a speed bomb in Al Mansoura district in Aden.

When Qatan's car stopped, he approached the car and detonated himself.

The huge explosion torn out the attacker's and left Qatan bleeding heavily, witnesses said.

Qatan is described as the driving forces behind the successful army offensive that totally wiped out Al Qaida from the southern Yemen.

General Gatan was appointed in March as commander of the country's most important division of the army following major military  reshuffle by the Yemen president Abdu Rabuu Mansour Hadi.Qatan replaced  general Mahdi Magwala, one of the staunch supporters  of the former president  Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Local media sources said that Anwar Al Sharia,Al Qaida branch in Yemen, claimed credit for the attack and threatened to carry out more attacks.

Major blow

An army officer from Brigade 119,who is a friend of Qatan, told Gulf News that the death of general Gatan is  big blow to the military system in the country. The officer said the general's death had no effect on their battles against Al Qaida.

"We have lost a veteran army commander who was killed by criminal gangs."
  
Separately, the governor of Shabwa Ali Hassan Al Ahmadi narrowly escaped death on Monday when armed men set an ambush for his convoy in an area called Al Nagaba  in Al Said district,Shabwa , local source told Gulf News.

The governor was on his way  to inspect the town of Azzan,Al Qaida's former stronghold in Shawba. Two of the governor's associates were killed in the ambush.

Withdrawal

Local people from Azzan town told Gulf News that Al Qaida militants have completely evacuated the town and the local people are managing it.

"Al Qaida asked a committee from local residents to overrun the town when they leave. On Sunday night, they left Azzan to unknown destination. "one resident said.

Redeployment

ON Monday, army units have withdrawn from the city of Zinjebar in the restive province of Abyan  and were deployed on the outskirts of the city for the first time since the army recaptured Al Qaida's main stronghold on June 12.

"We have a plan of removing army troops from the cities that we regained from Al Qaida."he  said on condition of anonymity.

Last week, Al Qaida militants in Yemen weirdly withdrew from three   strongholds in Abyan, including the capital Zinjibar, and the towns of Jaar and Shuqra and the town of Azzan in the province of Shabwa.