Yemen officer, daughter killed in ambush, witnesses say

July 16, 2012  

Masked gunmen on Monday ambushed and killed a prison service officer, his five-year-old daughter and two of his guards in the city of Taez in southwest Yemen, witnesses and officials said.

Captain Saleh al-Awlaqi was ambushed in central Taez in an attack which also left four others wounded, including two of his sons, witnesses said, adding that the assailants managed to flee afterwards.

An investigation has been begun to try to identify the attackers and establish the motive for the attack.

Taez, 255 kilometers southwest of Sanaa, was a hotbed of protest against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.