An aide to Yemen's Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa said the premier escaped unharmed after gunmen shot at his motorcade.

Ali al-Sarari, an adviser to Basindwa, said unidentified attackers opened fire on the motorcade in the evening while Basindwa was returning home from his office in Sanaa.

Al-Sarari told the Associated Press that the gunmen sprayed the three-car convoy with bullets then sped away.

According to Reuters, security forces were trying to track down the car after the assailants fled.

Basindwa's guards managed to identify the license plates before the car left the scene.

Yemen has been grappling with a high number of assassinations carried out by militants. Yemen is home to one of the most aggressive militant groups in the region — Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

A number of drone strikes, thought to be carried out by the US, has been targeting senior leaders within AQAP.

Tribal sources said on Friday that a targeted strike killed Al Qaeda leader Qaeed al-Dhahab and two other men.

A local administration official too confirmed Dhahab's death, adding his killing had provoked outrage among Al-Qaeda militants in the province.

"After news was received of his death, Al-Qaeda fighters declared the end of a truce with the authorities and began gathering" in some villages and mountainous regions, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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