Sana’a: Yemeni security officials say suspected Al Qaida militants have killed a well-known ultraconservative Islamist in a drive-by shooting in a southern region.
The officials say militants gunned down Salafi Shaikh Ali Bawazir while he was in front of a school for Quran recitation in Hadramawt on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, an official said Yemeni warplanes bombed two separate groups of Al Qaida militants in Abyan governorate. He gave no details of causalities.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press.
Bawazir had previously called on militants of Al Qaida to leave his town after the escalation of drone strikes that targeted militants and endangered lives of civilians. He was also formerly a mediator between the government and Al Qaida militants.
