Senior security official survives assassination in Yemen's Aden, 2 injured

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A higher-ranking Yemeni security official survived early Wednesday an assassination attempt by unknown assailants while two of his bodyguards were injured in the southern port city of Aden, a police officer told Xinhua.

Unknown armed attackers opened heavy fire from automatic rifles targeting the vehicle of Aden's head of intelligence and security, Gen. Ghazi Ahmed Ali, when he was coming back from work, injuring two of his bodyguards in a main street near the Aden University, the police officer said on condition of anonymity.

"The gunmen rained the vehicle of General Ghazi with a barrage of gunshots, but he survived the attack without any hurt," the officer said.

"This is the third botched assassination attempt against Ghazi, " he said, adding that "the fingerprints of al-Qaida terrorist group seem to be all over this incident."

The police forces in the city exchanged fire with the unknown attackers before they fled, according to witnesses.

Militants of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the botched assassination bids against the head of security in Aden, according to a statement issued by the group in October 2011, which also included strong threats to military and anti-terror officials in the country's southern areas.

Taking advantage of Yemen's unrest to bolster their presence in the country's southern and eastern regions, the AQAP militants have been launching sporadic shoot-outs and motorbike attacks on security and intelligence officials during the past several months.