Worshippers shot dead at Yemen mosque

(CNN) -- A man opened fire at a Shiite mosque Friday in northern Yemen, killing six and wounding 12, state-run news agency SABA said. Three are in critical condition, the report said.

The shooter, now in police custody, was identified as Abdullah Saleh Al Qahhali, 24, according to SABA.

It was the second attack this month against Shiites in Yemen.

But SABA quoted the security chief of Amran Province, General Taher Al Ashwal, saying, "Our primary investigations assured that the attack had no link to the terrorist activities of the al-Houthi movement" -- Shiite rebels who have been fighting the government for four years.

Al Ashwal added that the shooter said his actions were motivated by revenge on a relative with whom he had a dispute over land ownership.

Friday's attack took place during a ceremony at the mosque, SABA reported. The Province governor, Omran Abu Shawareb, was quoted as saying that the shooter wanted to kill everyone in the mosque, but that the worshippers "made that impossible for him by closing the mosque's door."

In early May, a motorcycle blew up outside a Shiite mosque in Saada during a Friday ceremony, killing 18 people, according to government officials. Shiite militants and government troops battled for days afterward, leaving dozens more dead.

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--CNN's Mustafa Al Arab contributed to the report.