Updated

Security officials say militants have killed a high-level Yemeni intelligence officer working near the country's border with Saudi Arabia.

Officials say Lt. Col. Omar Mahmoud was walking to his car after midday Muslim prayers on Friday when gunmen on a motorcycle shot him to death in the province of Hadramawt in the city of al-Qatn.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Yemeni military has waged an offensive in the province to try to stop al-Qaida militants from taking over towns there in June.

The United States has also launched dozens of drone strikes in Yemen, killing at least six suspected al-Qaida militants in Hadramawt just last month.