Suspected al-Qaida militants kill security official and his driver in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen – A Yemeni security official says suspected al-Qaida militants have killed a security officer and his driver in a drive-by shooting in the country's southeast.

The official said two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at Col. Mohammed Abdullah al-Habshi's car on Friday night in Sayoun, a city in Hadramawt province. His driver died instantly and the colonel died three hours later in hospital, the official said on condition of anonymity according to regulations.

Yemen is fighting a war against al-Qaida's local branch, considered by Washington to be one of the world's most dangerous offshoots of the terror network.

The branch, also known as Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, regularly strikes security and military targets with drive-by shootings, suicide bombings and other attacks.