HADRAMOUT, April 25 — Lieutenant Colonel Adnan Ukeesh, head of the Drug Control Department in Hadramout, died in a hail of bullets from unidentified militants in the town of Ras Hwaira, some 100 kilometers from Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout.

Ukeesh was on a mission to arrest drug dealers who were handing 20kg of their product to local dealers, based on information he received from the security administration in Hadramout.

Ukeesh was tasked with storming the hideout of drug dealers in Ras Hwaira where the dealers had agreed to meet for the business deal.

When he arrived, Ukeesh was showered with bullets in an exchange of fire between his escorts and militants of the drug dealers. He was immediately rushed to hospital, but died en route. Another solider of Ukeesh’s escort was also injured.

The security forces captured two of the militants' cars during an exchange of gunfire, and arrested one of the injured militants who was transferred to a hospital in the city of Seyuin.

“Security apparatuses are still investigating the incident to identify the criminals”, the source added.

“Ukeesh had been known for his sincerity and the seriousness he brought to his work,” a citizen in Seyuin said. “He was active, industrious and committed to his profession, especially in the last ten years, when he was tasked with combating drugs.”

Similar incidents against security officials have been taking place in Hadramout over the last three years.

The former security chief of Wadi Hadramout, Brigadier Ahmed Salem Al-Amri, was assassinated in an armed ambush which targeted his truck in Nov. 2009. The government then accused Al-Qaeda of being behind the incident.

However, Al-Amri’s relatives ruled out Al-Qaeda’s involvement in the assassination saying, “We know the killers,” alluding to military leaders involved in drug smuggling.