ADEN, Yemen, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen opened fire during an ambush and killed a Yemeni security officer in the southwestern province of Taiz on Friday, a government official told Xinhua.
The government source who asked to remain anonymous said that a group of unknown gunmen ambushed a security patrol in Wadi Madam area in the southeastern part of Taiz province, 256 km south of the country's capital Sanaa.
He said that the armed attack resulted in the killing of a senior security officer named as Mahmoud Humaidi, and the injury of other security personnel in the area.
The source added that the patrol was returning from a security mission when the attack occurred, indicating that the gunmen managed to flee the area.
Extremist elements linked to the Islamic State group or the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch are active in the center of Taiz, which is controlled by the government forces.
Government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition have been locked in constant clashes with the Houthi rebels in the north, east and west sides of Taiz province since April 2015.
Yemen has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.
The civil war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
