Judge killed by al-Qaida suspects in Yemen's Aden

Unknown gunmen suspected of belonging to the Yemen-based al-Qaida group shot and killed a prominent judge in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Tuesday, a security official told Xinhua.

The security official said that unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire from assault rifles and assassinated Judge Jalal Abdullah in Aden's neighbourhood of Mansoura in Aden province.

"The prominent judge received several bullets injuries and died at the scene near Banda Supermarket in Mansoura neighbourhood," the security source said on condition of anonymity, adding that the masked gunmen fled the spot after the firing.

The attack is the second of its kind in a month. Unidentified gunmen assassinated the chief of the Aden-based anti-terrorism court along with four of his bodyguards in Aden's Mansoura neighbourhood on early this month.

The anti-terror judge, Mohsin Alwani, was known for sentencing a number of al-Qaida members to prison in the country, according to local sources.