SANA’A, June 19 — General Salem Qutn, military commander of the Southern Region of Yemen, was assassinated Monday morning in Aden, southern Yemen, by a suicide bomb.

Bodyguard Saleh Hassen Salem said a suicide bomber approached Qutn’s car and blew himself up in the Reemi neighborhood of Al-Mansoura district, seriously injuring Qutn. The general died en route to the hospital.

Salem said five bodyguards were wounded, one seriously. He also said the attacker was a Yemeni national, not a Somali, as many news outlets reported. The bomber’s remains are currently located in the Al-Jamhouri Hospital in Aden.  Salem said that Qutn left his house that morning and headed toward regional headquarters as usual. Qutn has been actively combating Al-Qaeda since he assumed command of the region.

Meanwhile, a detective, Mohammed Sylan, was assassinated this week near his home in the Ghail Bawazeer area of Al-Mukkla district.

Omar Bashmos, the security manager in Al-Mukkla, said the gunmen waited for a chance to kill Sylan. After shooting him, they immediately fled by motorcycle.

Al-Qaeda has sought to destabilize the country by targeting military commanders nationwide.