Qaida Suspects Kill Pro-Army Militiaman in South Yemen

Al-Qaida suspects shot dead a member of a Yemeni pro-army militia that had backed a military offensive against the network last year, a police official said on Saturday.

"Suspected Al-Qaida gunmen riding in a vehicle shot dead Mohammed Abbad, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees in the town of Mudia" in the southern Abyan province, the official said.

The attack took place late on Friday near and the assailants "fled to an unknown location," the official added.

The Yemeni army launched a month-long offensive in May last year against Al-Qaida militants in the southern Abyan province with the help of local tribesmen and residents.

The army, backed by U.S. drone attacks, managed to retake control of the country's south, of which large swathes of land had been seized by Al-Qaida militants.

The network has been weakened but still carries out hit-and-run attacks against army and police targets and occasionally assassinates members and leaders of the Popular Resistance Committees.