SANAA: Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen shot dead Tuesday the vice governor in the Yemeni province of Baida, a stronghold of the global jihadist network, an official said.
The masked gunmen opened fire at Hussein Dayan outside his house in the provincial capital of Baida, the official said, requesting anonymity.
"The attack bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda," he said.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula uses the mountainous terrain of the central province as hideouts from which they launch regular attacks on security forces.
AQAP is viewed by the United States as the deadliest franchise of the Islamic extremist network, and the Yemen-based offshoot is frequently targeted in US drone attacks.
The group has taken advantage of the weakening of the central government since 2011, as a result of a popular uprising that toppled president Ali Abdullah Saleh after 33 years in power. (AFP)
