SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Gunmen on Sunday shot dead the top anti-narcotics police officer in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, the latest shooting in a city rattled by a string of unsolved killings, security officials said.
They said the gunmen opened fire on the car in which Col. Fadl Sael was traveling along with two members of his security detail, instantly killing all three.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Aden has seen an upsurge in killings in recent months, including a spate of drive-by shootings targeting Muslim clerics and top counterterrorism officials. Simultaneously, the city has seen a hike in the narcotics trade, something that residents say is a byproduct of a security vacuum.
Yemen has since 2015 been caught in a civil war pitting a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen and its capital, Sanaa.
Aden is controlled by the coalition, with the United Arab Emirates the most dominant member of the alliance in the city.
