Gunmen kill 4 senior security officials in Yemen in past 24 hours

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni officials say gunmen have killed four senior security officers in the past 24 hours in a string of attacks.

The assassinations come as the Yemeni government pursues what officials say is a major campaign — reportedly backed by U.S. drone strike — in southern Yemen against al-Qaida. The government says 55 suspected militants have been killed so far.

The officials say assailants riding motorcycles gunned down three colonels — two of them in the intelligence agency and one from military police — in Sanaa on Monday and early Tuesday.

They say gunmen also shot dead a deputy security chief Tuesday in the central city of Harib.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.