Sana’a: Yemeni security officials say militants have assassinated a senior intelligence officer in the country’s capital, Sana’a.

The officials say Col Khalid Al Khawlani was killed in front of his house in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday.

Al Khawlani was involved in investigating Al Qaida-linked militant cells suspected of being behind the abductions and killings of foreigners over the past months.

Yemen has seen dozens of police and military officers assassinated in apparent retaliatory attacks for the government’s offensive against Al Qaida hideouts in the south.