Senior Yemeni intelligence officer shot to death

A Yemeni security official says gunmen have shot dead a senior intelligence officer as he was riding in his car in a southern city.

The official says Col. Marawan al-Moqbouli was assassinated on Thursday in Aden. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

Yemen has witnessed a string of suicide bombings, assassinations and drive-by shootings by suspected militants affiliated to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The Yemen offshoot is considered by Washington as group's most dangerous branch. (AP)