A gunman riding on the back of a motorbike shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer and his son in the southeastern city of Mukalla on Thursday, a security source said.

A gunman riding on the back of a motorbike shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer and his son in the southeastern city of Mukalla on Thursday, a security source said.

The attack was carried out in broad daylight in the heart of the port city, capital of Hadramawt province, an Al-Qaeda stronghold, the source said.

Colonel Salmin al-Obtani was the latest in a string of army and intelligence officers to be killed in hit-and-run attacks in Hadramawt.

Mukalla has also been the scene of a number of spectacular attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda.

In October, militants stormed army headquarters in the city and held some of its garrison hostage for several days before being overrun in fighting that left at least 10 people dead.

In February 2012, a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle outside the presidential palace in Mukalla, killing 26 elite troops and overshadowing the swearing in of Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi as the first new president in Sanaa since 1978.