SANA’A, June 10 — The identities of assassins who carried out the murder of Abdulraheem Al-Homaiqani, a Local Council official in Al-Baida governorate killed in Sana’a on Friday, is still unknown.

Preliminary information suggesta Ansar Al-Sharia, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, carried out the assassination against Al-Homaiqani, who is considered a public figure of Al-Baida.

Authorities didn’t issue a statement to confirm the information, and Ansar Al-Sharia didn’t claim responsibility for the assassination.

This makes the assassination ambiguous, particularly with the prevalence of revenge killings among tribesmen in Al-Baida.

Mohammed Idrees, a public figure in Al-Baida, did not rule out the possibility of Ansar Al-Sharia militants’ implication in the assassination.

Idrees said Ansar Al-Sharia affiliates are active in Al-Baida, particularly in Al-Zaher district where Al-Homaiqani belongs.

Armed men on a motorbike cut off Sheikh Al-Homaiqani’s car in Khawlan Street in Sana’a on Friday afternoon, shot him dead and fled.

If Ansar Al-Sharia declares responsibility for the assassination, then it would be the first time Ansar Al-Sharia used motorbikes to assassinate a local official in Sana’a. The group has been using the same method to target Yemeni intelligence officials in Abyan, Lahj, Al-Dale’a and Hadramout.  

Sheikhs, public figures and all  of Al-Homaiqani’s tribesmen urged the minister of interior to arrest the perpetrators who carried out “this heinous crime,” threatening continued protests until justice is served.

In related events, three soldiers and seven armed men were killed in clashes that broke out between the Yemeni military and Ansar Al-Sharia on Saturday in Abyan.

The Ministry of Interior’s website reported at least ten armed men and three soldiers died in clashes that lasted until Saturday morning in the east of Jaar, Abyan governorate.

Since clashes began between the Yemeni military and Ansar Al-Sharia in February, 457 people have been killed, according to the France Press News Agency.

Among those killed are 342 alleged Ansar Al-Sharia militants, 70 soldiers, 26 members of the people’s committees and 19 civilians.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on Saturday threatened to move the battle from Yemen to Washington, D.C. and New York City. AQAP also announced that the Saudi diplomat abducted from Aden will not be released.

The press secretary of AQAP, Hassan Abu Saleh, said in a statement to the United Press that Americans have to be aware that the U.S. government is fighting a war in which it is losing money to its proxies in Yemen.