(MENAFN- The Peninsula) ADEN: A Salafist imam was shot dead bygunmen early on Saturday in Aden, southern Yemen, witnesses andlocal officials said, the third killing of a Salafist imam thismonth.
Sheikh Adel Al Shehri, imam of a mosque in Inmaa districtwest of Aden, was shot while he was heading to the mosque formorning prayers.
No one has claimed responsibility for the three killings andno motive has been made clear, but some of theultra-conservative Salafists back secession for southern Yemen,and have been a major component of the breakaway southern army.
A former Aden governor has declared a council that seekssecession for southern Yemen. A referendum on independence wouldbe announced soon, he said.
Aden is also dominated by local forces backed by the UnitedArab Emirates - a key member of the Saudi-led coalition thatintervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015 to restore PresidentAbd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
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