Gunmen kill two Russians in Yemen

Armed assailants riding a motorbike killed two Russian military advisors in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa Tuesday.

The attack took place as the Russians left their hotel in southern Sanaa, a police official told Xinhua.

One of the victims works as a military instructor with the Yemeni defence ministry, the police official said.

"The first victim was hit in his head by a bullet and died on the spot, while the other one was shot in the neck and died later in hospital," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Police have cordoned the scene and an investigation was under way.

Meanwhile, a message circulated in Jihadi forums said that "the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) assassinated today (Tuesday) two senior Russian military officers in central Sanaa by using guns with silencers".

In October, the militants assassinated a security staff in the German embassy in Sanaa after he forcibly resisted their kidnap attempt.

In July, gunmen abducted a Dutch couple and two South Africans from a busy street in Sanaa and the central province of Taiz. One week later, suspected Al Qaeda militants snatched an Iranian diplomat near the Iranian embassy in Sanaa.