Yemen army officer assassinated, explosion reports denied
The government accuses Al Qaida of being behind the operation
Sana’a: Unknown gunmen shot dead on Sunday night an army officer in the southeast province of Hadramout. Eyewitnesses said that motor-bike borne assailants approached Shaker Awadh Al Bani, an officer at Brigade 27 in Hadramout, and opened fire on him when he was about to ride his motorcycle in Ghail Bawazer town.
The assailants ran away before the soldier breathed his last at Ibn Cina hospital in the port city of Mukalla. A local source said that the man was apparently targeted since he used to work in the intelligence apparatus in Hadramout. Dozens of intelligence officers have been shot dead in recent years by hit-and run attackers. The government has accused Al Qaida of the assassinations.
Meanwhile, the ministry of defence denied news reports about an airplane crash at Al Dailami air base in the capital. Local media reports said on Sunday that a huge explosion occurred at the airbase when missiles of a Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighter exploded the moment it landed in the airport. The ministry’s news website said that only a small projectile went off during a training exercise.
In the south, the security chief of Abyan province downplayed media reports about Al Qaida’s ability to regroup and control new cities in Abyan. The denial comes after many media outlets said that Al Qaida operatives are gathering in the mountainous area of Al Mahfed in Abyan and preparingo attack the area. Brigadier General Omer Ali Abdullah told the Ministry of Defence’s website that Al Qaida is unable to launch a new armed attack and recapture cities in the south due to the presence of security forces and pro-government resistance committees. He also said Al Qaida resorted to “swift operations” after sustaining heavy losses during the last armed confrontation in Abyan. The Yemen army recaptured in June all Al Qaida-controlled cities in the southern province of Abyan. In May 2011, Al Qaida cashed in on lax security in the south to control the cities of Zinjibar, Ja’ar and Azzan.
