A German national was shot to death in Yemen’s capital on Sunday. According to AFP’s sources the person was in the German ambassador’s security team, while the attack was aimed at kidnapping the ambassador.
Gunmen in a passing vehicle opened fire on the victim as he was leaving a shop in the Hada district of the capital of Sana’a where most of the foreign embassies are located.
“He was leaving the market to go to his vehicle,” a source told Reuters, adding that the attack bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda.
Western diplomatic sources have confirmed the attack but have not given the victim’s identity or what position he held at the embassy.
Germany was among a number of Western countries, which closed their embassies in Yemen in August following warnings of an Al-Qaeda attack, although the missions soon reopened.
Yemen is battling to curb one of the most active branches of Al-Qaeda in the world, which is known as AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) and in the past has attempted to attack several western targets including airliners.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW