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Source: Al Qaeda suspected in recent attacks on Yemeni officials

By Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • A source says al Qaeda is likely behind three recent attacks in Yemen
  • A top Yemeni police official was killed, and an official on his way to that scene was attacked
  • A shooting earlier killed the intelligence chief for a town in southeastern Yemen

(CNN) -- Al Qaeda in Yemen is suspected of being behind three separate attacks that have targeted Yemeni security officials, according to a government official.

"In the past 72 hours, there have been three attacks in the south of the country," the Yemeni official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said Thursday. "The attacks are getting worse and the scene is getting bloodier."

A top Yemeni police official was shot and killed on Thursday in the country's southern Abyan province, according to the official.

The official said Abdullah al-Baham, security chief in the town of Mudiya in Abyan province, was killed by militants.

Later in the day, another attack happened as the governor of Abyan province, Ahmad Al-Maisari, was on his way to the scene of the first attack to investigate. Gunmen opened fire on Al-Maisari's convoy. A fire fight ensued and two of the governor's security guards.

Thursday's attacks were similar to a shooting on Tuesday that targeted and killed Col. Riyadh al-Khatabi, the intelligence chief for the town of Seiyun in Yemen's southeastern Hadramawt province.

There has been no claim of responsibility for any of those attacks.

Al Qaeda is a growing problem in the Arabian Peninsula country. While most security experts and Yemeni government officials estimate the group's numbers in Yemen to be between 200 to 300 members, the government has stepped up its fight against it.

Besides al Qaeda, Yemen's government is also contending with a rebellion in the country's north and a secessionist movement in the country's south.

According to the government official, al Qaeda in Yemen -- also known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- is adapting.

"They are learning from the playbook of al Qaeda in Iraq," said the official, referring to new tactics by the group aimed at directly undermining Yemen's government by targeting government officials.

"These assassination tactics show how al Qaeda in Yemen is adapting and it's really dangerous," said the official.

Since its inception in January 2009, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabian, Korean, Yemeni and U.S. targets.

Earlier this week, the second edition of an online al Qaeda magazine surfaced with frank essays, creatively designed imagery and ominous terror tips such as using a pickup truck as a weapon and shooting up a crowded restaurant in Washington. The magazine, published in English, is called "Inspire," and intelligence officials believe that an American citizen named Samir Khan, now living in Yemen, is the driving force behind the publication.

The first edition of the magazine came out in July. The latest edition emerged on the 10th anniversary of the suicide attack on the USS Cole -- a guided-missile destroyer struck as it refueled in Aden, Yemen.

Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told CNN recently that the timing of the publication is no coincidence.

"It ... comes on the heels of a busy week for al Qaeda in Yemen. They released an hourlong video last week. There was also an attack on a British convoy in Sanaa [Yemen's capital] last week. And an audiotape was released ... al Qaeda in Yemen is good at amplifying its message, and that shows the organization is still active, that they're still able to function," he said.