Gunmen kill security official south of Yemen's Sanaa

SANAA (Reuters) - Gunmen killed the deputy security chief of Dhamar province, south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, an interior ministry official said, less than a month after an adviser to the minister of defense was shot dead in Sanaa.

"Two gunmen riding a motor bike shot Brigadier Abdulwahab al-Mushki and killed him immediately," the official said.

On December 25, gunmen and bombers targeted three senior military officers and the transport minister in a series of attacks in the capital.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, is seen by U.S. officials as the most dangerous offshoot of the militant network.

Yemen's location next to top oil producer Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes has made restoring its stability an international priority.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Mahmoud Habboush; Editing by Louise Ireland)