Amid increasing attacks on military and security officials and institutions, unidentified assailants in the southeastern Yemeni province of Hadramout assassinated a security chief on Saturday evening.

A local security source in Hadramout told Yemen Post on condition of anonymity that "a group of armed men have shot dead Maj. Shaef al-Nahmi,the acting security chief of Shibam at 9pm on Saturday".

"As he got out of his car in front of the Security headquarter in Al-Mukala, the capital city of Hadramout, the assailants, who apparently were loitering in the place expecting his arrival, have shot al-Nahmi dead, and ran away on motorbikes," said the source.

The security forces locked down the whole area in a futile bid to catch the terrorists, added the source.

As usual, the army blamed AQAP for the atrocity, saying it’s the only network that target army officials in the country.

The assault comes within a string of al-Qaeda assassinations and attacks on army and security officials and institutions.

Al-Qaeda has assassinated many security, intelligence, and army officials in the past several months.

Earlier the day, two bombs were tossed at the main gates of the Central Security Forces headquarters Hadramout's capital city of in al-Mukala . And on February 25, al-Qaeda has launched an a suicidal attack at the front gate of the presidential Palace, killing at least 26 soldiers killed and injuring dozens others.