Yemeni intelligence official killed

A colonel of the Yemeni military intelligence agency was killed in a drive-by shooting by unidentified gunmen Saturday, the latest in a series of assassinations in the country, a government official said.

"Unknown assailants suspected to be from the Al Qaeda opened fire at Colonel Hameed al-Tawil and killed him near a public hospital in Lahj province," Xinhua quoted the Yemeni government official as saying about the incident in Lahj province

"At the moment, we don't have information about the exact numbers of attackers, but the incident looks like a well-planned assassination by terrorists," a police officer said.

A local medic in Lahj confirmed the incident saying that the intelligence colonel died after being shot several times in the head.

No group immediately claimed reasonability for the drive-by shooting.

On Thursday, a Yemeni military intelligence colonel was gunned down by armed men riding a motorbike in the southeastern province of Hadramout.