Yemeni official killed by gunmen in al-Bayda

A senior government official in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda was killed near his family compound by a group of unidentified gunmen early on Tuesday, a provincial police source told Xinhua. The victim, identified as Hussein Dian, was shot dead by unknown gunmen near his residential building in central al-Bayda province, the local police source said on condition of anonymity. A military official confirmed the incident to Xinhua saying that armed terrorists assassinated Brig. Hussein Dian, who works as an undersecretary of al-Bayda province, while he was leaving his home for workplace at the local government headquarters. "Details of Dian's assassination are still sketchy right now, but we shall make it available as soon as we get more information, " the military source said anonymously. "We hope the government authorities in al-Bayda will undertake every effort to ensure that killers are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice," one of Dian's relatives said in a phone interview with Xinhua. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and Yemeni government authorities have yet to comment. Militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot were blamed by the country's government for a series of assassinations and armed attacks, mostly in the country's southern regions. The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which emerged in January 2009, is considered the most strategic threat to the Yemeni government and neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Source: XINHUA