Man guns down US Embassy employee
Source: Agencies |
October 12, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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A MASKED gunman assassinated a Yemeni security official who worked for the US Embassy in a drive-by shooting yesterday near his home in the capital, officials said, adding the assault bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida's Yemen branch.
An elite team of some 50 Marines that was sent to Sanaa to bolster security at the US Embassy after a September 13 attack by protesters was scheduled to leave later yesterday and it was not clear if the attack would affect those plans, Yemeni officials said.
The officials noted it was similar to a series of other recent assaults by al-Qaida's Yemen branch, although they said it was too early to confirm the group's involvement. Washington considers the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the most dangerous offshoot of the terror network. It has also been increasingly targeting Yemeni intelligence, military and security officials in retaliation for a US-backed government offensive in the south.
Yemeni security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, identified the slain embassy security official as Qassem Aqlani, in his 50s.
He was on his way to work when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire at him and fled the scene, they said. The attack was near Aqlani's home in western Sanaa, while the embassy is in the eastern half of the city.
Aqlani had been working for the US Embassy for nearly 20 years, most recently as a lead investigator into last month's assault on the compound by Yemenis protesting the film that mocked the Prophet Muhammad, the officials said. Protesters stormed the embassy and set fire to a US flag before government forces dispersed them with tear gas.
Al-Qaida's Yemen branch has called for attacks on US embassies in a bid to take advantage of the anti-American sentiment that has swept the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world in the past month over the film.
Initially, the film was linked to a September 11 attack on the US Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi that left four Americans dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. US officials said later the attack was not linked to the video.
An elite team of some 50 Marines that was sent to Sanaa to bolster security at the US Embassy after a September 13 attack by protesters was scheduled to leave later yesterday and it was not clear if the attack would affect those plans, Yemeni officials said.
The officials noted it was similar to a series of other recent assaults by al-Qaida's Yemen branch, although they said it was too early to confirm the group's involvement. Washington considers the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the most dangerous offshoot of the terror network. It has also been increasingly targeting Yemeni intelligence, military and security officials in retaliation for a US-backed government offensive in the south.
Yemeni security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, identified the slain embassy security official as Qassem Aqlani, in his 50s.
He was on his way to work when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire at him and fled the scene, they said. The attack was near Aqlani's home in western Sanaa, while the embassy is in the eastern half of the city.
Aqlani had been working for the US Embassy for nearly 20 years, most recently as a lead investigator into last month's assault on the compound by Yemenis protesting the film that mocked the Prophet Muhammad, the officials said. Protesters stormed the embassy and set fire to a US flag before government forces dispersed them with tear gas.
Al-Qaida's Yemen branch has called for attacks on US embassies in a bid to take advantage of the anti-American sentiment that has swept the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world in the past month over the film.
Initially, the film was linked to a September 11 attack on the US Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi that left four Americans dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. US officials said later the attack was not linked to the video.
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