Gunmen shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer outside his Sanaa home Thursday, a police official told AFP.

The unidentified assailants in a vehicle "opened fire at Colonel Abdulrahman Al-Shami, killing him as he was leaving his house" in central Sanaa, the source said, adding that the gunmen sped off.

The attack came two days after Yemeni security forces foiled an attempt by some 300 Al-Qaeda inmates to escape in a mutiny at their intelligence-run Sanaa prison.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has intensified its attacks on security forces in Yemen, mainly in lawless southern and eastern provinces where jihadist groups are active.

The Islamist network has taken advantage of the weakening of the Sanaa central government since a popular uprising toppled former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.