Yemen army commander shot dead in Aden

A gunman killed a senior Yemeni army officer in Aden on Monday, as violence in the southern port city which is the headquarters of the Saudi-backed government showed no let-up, military sources said.

The gunman, who was on the back of a motorcycle, killed General Abedrabbo Hussein as he was leaving his home in the Sheikh Othman district of the city, the sources said.

Hussein was commander of the 15th Infantry Brigade which operates in Abyan province, west of Aden, where Al-Qaeda has seized several large towns in recent weeks.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognised government declared Aden the country’s provisional capital last March, after Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies drove it out of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have stepped up attacks in the city despite the efforts of the government and its backers in a Saudi-led coalition to secure it.