Army officer wounded, 3 bodyguards killed

An army officer has been wounded and three of his bodyguards killed after gunmen opened fire on his car in southern Yemen, a security source said Sunday, blaming Daesh (IS) group.

The attack late Saturday in the southern Lahj province follows a series of killings and bombings against government targets in Yemen's loyalist-controlled south, many of them claimed by IS.

General Hasan Salem Ahmed was "seriously wounded" in the attack near Huta, the capital of Lahj, the security source said.

"The attackers are members of Daesh," the source added.

Pro-government forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition have since July recaptured Aden and Lahj as well as three other southern provinces from Iran-backed rebels who had seized control of large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa.

In another sign of insecurity in the south, the body of a Sunni Salafist cleric, Samhan Al Rawi, was found Sunday in Aden's Khor Maksar district, a day after he was abducted, another security source said.

Rawi had fought with loyalist troops during battles to retake Aden, said the source, who was unable to provide further details of the incident.

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