Tribal sheikh shot dead by gunmen in eastern Yemen

SANAA, Yemen

A tribal sheikh was assassinated late Wednesday in the city of Shibam in Yemen’s eastern Hadhramaut province, according to a senior security source.

"Unknown gunmen opened fire on Sheikh Abdullah bin Amer al-Kathiri in Shibam’s Baheira district," the security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

The source added that al-Kathiri, a prominent member of the Al-Kathiri tribe, had been killed immediately.

The incident came less than 24 hours after the assassination of Omar Saleh, a government communications director, in Hadhramaut’s city of Al-Qutn.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for either attack.

The two assassinations also come two days after a military officer was shot dead in the same province.

Since 2015, the Al-Qaeda terrorist group has maintained an active presence in Al-Qutn.

Yemen has remained locked in a devastating civil war since Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Reporting by Mubarak Mohamed:Writing by Ali H. M.Abo Rezeg