ADEN, Yemen — Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen on Thursday shot a Yemeni man because they believed he was gay, a security official told European news agency AFP.
The official stated that an “armed Al-Qaeda suspects on a motorbike opened fire on 29-year-old Salem Ahmed Hasan in a market in Huta,” killing him instantly.
The man was targeted because his attackers suspected that he was homosexual, said the official.
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Four other men have been killed on suspicion of being gay, in similar attacks in Huta this year.
In July a suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen was reported to have shot and wounded a man only days after another man was killed in similar circumstances.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen is active mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
Although the Yemeni government troops have since recaptured much of the territory with support from U.S. drone strikes, the group still has several active bases in east of the country, often carrying hit-and-run attacks using unlicensed motorbikes.
The Islamist militants, who control parts of south and eastern Yemen, impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law) on residents who live under their control, executing or lashing citizens they accused of various crimes, including severing the hands of many accused of burglary.
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Aljazeera Online reported in May 2004 that three journalists had been punished by a Yemeni court for writing an article about homosexuality that included interviews with men jailed for homosexuality (May 15 2004).
The court ruled that the journalists had “violated Yemeni morals and customs.”
