Al-Islah party leader gunned down in northern Yemen

SANAA

A senior member of Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Al-Islah ("reform") party was shot dead Monday in the northern part of the country, according to a party source.

Two gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on Saleh Ahmed al-Anhami as the latter drove his car through the city of Dhamar, killing him instantly, the source told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Although no group has yet claimed responsibility for the assassination, the city is held by Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia group.

The party source said the attack took place near a Houthi-held security office.

In April, another senior Al-Islah member was shot dead in the same city.

Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa and a number of other provinces, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country’s south -- including provisional capital Aden -- but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.

*Reporting by Mohamed al-Samei; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg