Yemeni Policeman killed. Al-Qaeda suspected

Suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed a local police chief near his home in Yemen's southeastern Hadramawt province, a security official told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity. The official said Mubarak Barafaa, head of a criminal investigation unit, was cut down by machinegun fire late on Friday close to his house in Ghayl Ba Wazir, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of provincial capital Mukalla. He was fatally wounded and died soon afterwards in hospital in Mukalla, added the official, saying the gunmen, "who were probably members of Al-Qaeda," made good their escape. No group has yet admitted responsibility for the murder, but Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is very active in southern and eastern Yemen where attacks on the security forces are regularly blamed on the jihadists.