Gunmen assassinated on Monday a Yemeni officer in Hadramout province and ran away, newsyemen.net reported, quoting a security source.

Major Adnan Ukaish, deputy director of the drug combating department in the eastern province of Hadramout, was killed by unidentified gunmen after noon Monday, the website said.

"The gunmen intercepted the car of the officer in the Ghail Bawazeer area and shot him dead," it said, quoting the security source as saying an investigation was launched into the incident.

In recent years, many officers and troops have been killed in wide-spread attacks on security and military targets in southern and eastern regions.

With some blamed on and claimed by al-Qaida, gunmen held ambushes for commanders, carried out suicide attacks on security offices and military camps and targeted checkpoints, convoys and patrols.