High-ranking police officer killed in ambush by gunmen in southeast Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- A high-ranking officer of the Yemeni military police investigations service was killed on Sunday evening in an ambush by unidentified gunmen in the southeastern province of Shabwa, a security official said.

Major Khaled Salehal-Wasmani, director of the military police investigations service in the country's eastern military zone, was shot dead when unidentified attackers ambushed his convoy in the Arka area in Shabwa province, the local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

An armed group of assailants intercepted the convoy of al- Wasmani and opened fire toward his vehicle while he was heading to the headquarters of the police investigations agency in the city center, the official said.

The country's defense ministry confirmed the death of al- Wasmani in a brief statement posted on its web page without giving more details about the incident.

The security official said that the attack bore the hallmarks of the al-Qaida terrorist group.

Shabwa, some 458 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, is considered to be another stronghold of hundreds of the al-Qaida militants.

Yemen's southern and eastern regions have recently been rocked by a string of suicide car bombings targeting government buildings and military officials. The authorities usually accuse militants of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula of committing the crimes.