SANAA: Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni security chief on his way to work at the US Embassy in Sanaa yesterday.
The attackers, on a motorcycle, opened fire on Qassem Aqlan — who headed an embassy security investigation team — near his house in the center of Yemen’s capital.
“This operation has the fingerprints of Al-Qaeda which carried out similar operations before,” said a source, who asked not to be named.
Fahad, a neighbor of Aqlan’s, said he had noticed strangers roaming the streets over the past three days, suggesting Aqlan was being watched before the attack. “Once he stepped out of his house the men shouted his name and when he replied, they shot him in the head and neck,” he said.
Aqlan was responsible for coordinating security information between the US Embassy and the Yemeni authorities, the source added. He had been involved in the investigation into the attack last month on the US Embassy by protesters angry over an anti-Islam film made in the US.
