Yemeni intelligence officer injured in drive-by shooting

ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen on a motorcycle shot and seriously injured an officer of the military intelligence agency in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Saturday evening, a government official told Xinhua.

Two masked shooters opened fire from automatic rifles and injured Col. Saleh Badhoris while he was coming back from his workplace and passing through a main street in downtown Hadramout province, the local government official said, requesting anonymity.

The armed attack has the fingerprints of al-Qaida, the government source said, adding that the unidentified gunmen then fled the area after the botched drive-by shooting.

A local medic told Xinhua anonymously saying that "the officer was gravely injured and he is in critical condition. Gunshots hit his chest and neck."

Saturday's shooting was the latest of a wave of armed attacks and assassinations of top military officials in the impoverished Arab state, which is battling al-Qaida militants.

Although the al-Qaida militants are usually held responsible for such armed attacks and terrorist bombings, no group has claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Yemen has undergone a political transition after the stepping down of former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh earlier this year under a peaceful transfer of power backed by the United Nations.

Restoring security in Yemen has become a priority after last year's unrest created security vacuum which was exploited by the insurgent al-Qaida wing to control swaths of remote land and expand activities to major cities. Enditem

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