Senior Yemeni army officer assassinated

A senior Yemeni army officer died on Thursday evening after his car was targeted with an explosive device in the Mukalla city in the south, the defence ministry reported. Brigadier Omer Salim Barashid, who held the post of director of leadership and staff colleague at the defensc ministry, was seriously injured after the explosion that was believed to be planted inside his car while parked in the Bajuman area, it said. He was admitted to hospital and died of his wounds, it added. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and the ministry said an investigation is underway. Sources said to Arabstoday that al-Qaeda was responsible for the operation, which had already announced its hand in similar operations carried out in several cities in Yemen. There have been many assassination attempts on prominent security officials, the most prominent being Major General Salem Ali Qatn who was killed in a suicide attack earlier in June. Qatn led the Yemeni military offensive against al-Qaeda strongholds in the south, driving away militants from the regions and causing them to scatter.