Unknown gunmen kidnapped a senior security officer in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout early Thursday, a government official told Xinhua.

Colonel Abdu al-Ody was abducted by unknown gunmen, who were suspected of belonging to the Yemen-based al-Qaida network, from a main street close to the traffic police headquarters in Qatan region in Hadramout, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

The government source said that the security officer was kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination. Security authorities were working to track the kidnappers.

No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping so far.

Several security and intelligence officials were assassinated or kidnapped in recent months in southern regions, where the al- Qaida militants are active.

Yemen's military launched a month-long offensive earlier this year and forced al-Qaida militants to flee several of their bastions in the country's restive southern and eastern provinces, which they captured during last year's political turmoil.

The Yemeni resurgent branch of al-Qaida, which has increased its attacks on both foreign and government targets in the Arabian Peninsula state, vowed to carry out more suicide attacks and assassinations to take revenge.

Combating al-Qaida militants in the restive south is one of the challenges confronting Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has promised to launch a national dialogue to settle disputes among all political factions and uproot the Yemeni branch of al- Qaida with the help of the United States and neighboring Saudi Arabia. Endi

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