Gunmen kill Yemen intelligence officer: security

SANAA: Suspected Al-Qaeda militants shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer overnight in Mukalla, capital of the southeastern Hadramawt province, a security official told on Saturday.

"Al-Qaeda gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on the officer Ibrahim Bameshel as we was on his way back home, killing him immediately," the official said, adding that the assailants had fled.

Al-Qaeda militants were driven out of most of their strongholds in Yemen's south last June in an all-out offensive by government forces aided by local "resistance committees".

But local sources say militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Ansar al-Sharia group have started distributing posters and leaflets in several towns across the province threatening members of the security forces.

Some of their posters showed pictures of masked gunmen on motorbikes.

Police and army officers come under frequent attack, with authorities blaming Al-Qaeda for the assaults usually carried out by gunmen on unregistered motorbikes.