A Yemeni citizen on his way to work at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa today was shot and killed by masked gunmen riding motorcycles. A Reuters source calls the death of Qassem Aqlan an assassination that has the "fingerprints" of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group responsible for most of the terrorist attacks based in Yemen and the target of frequent U.S drone operations in that country. Aqlan was the head of a security team at the embassy and was killed on his way to work—on the same street where the president of Yemen lives.

The embassy in Sanaa was the site of several protests last month after the anti-Islamic "Innocence of Muslims" video sparked protests all around the Middle East. One Yemeni protester was shot and killed by security forces during those demonstrations.

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Dashiell Bennett