Government officials in the eastern province of Hadhramawt confirmed a senior police officer, Hamood al-Khader was targeted late on Wednesday by unknown armed men while on his way to Tarim police headquarters.
Tarim, an important locus for Islamic learning in the region has seen a rise in violence over the past weeks with separatist militants seeking to escalate their movement.
"Masked assailants with automatic rifles targeted the vehicle carrying officer Hamood al-Khader while he was heading to the criminal police headquarters in Tarim city," a government source told the press on Thursday.
He added al-Khader managed to escape the attack unscathed.
The authorities have now launched an inquiry in the matter, actively looking to identify the assailants to have them brough to justice and tried.
Several local officials have said under cover of anonymity they believed the attack bore the marks of al-Qaeda and was not as far as their assessment went could be tied up to al-Harak (Southern Secessionist Movement).
Ever since President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi declared war on al-Qaeda by reclaiming swathes of lands the terror group seized in 2011, allowing the U.S to resume their drone campaign over Yemen and mobilizing the military, Islamist militants have targeted security officers all over the country.
So far over 74 high ranking officers have been murdered, one for every drone strike it seems.