Al-Qaeda attacks Transitional Council forces in Shabwa
Three members of the Southern Transitional Council were killed in a roadside bomb explosion targeting a military vehicle, along with attacks using mortar shells and firearms.
Security and local sources reported that at least three members of the Southern Transitional Council forces were killed on Thursday in an attack carried out by Al-Qaeda militants in Shabwa province, southeastern Yemen. This sudden attack marks the resurgence of the extremist organization’s cells to carry out attacks after suffering significant setbacks in recent years.
The sources stated that the attack took place in the Al-Masinaah area of Al-Saeed district, west of the southern oil-rich province, during which a roadside bomb targeted a military vehicle belonging to the First Brigade of Shabwa Defense affiliated with the Transitional Council, resulting in the deaths of the three individuals and injuries to several other brigade members.
Aden Al-Mustaqilla channel, affiliated with the Transitional Council, stated, “Terrorist elements used mortar shells, RPGs, and medium and light firearms in the attack before fleeing under the strikes of southern forces that killed and wounded several of the attacking terrorist elements.”
The Transitional Council has expanded its presence in various parts of Abyan province for more than two years, and previously in Shabwa, in a move aimed at combating “terrorist organizations.”
Al-Qaeda, based in Yemen, has exploited the conflict within the Arabian Peninsula and its Yemen headquarters to enhance its influence but has received heavy blows from the Southern Transitional Council forces.
This attack comes months after Saad Al-Olaqi took over leadership of Al-Qaeda following the death of Khaled Batarfi due to a serious illness according to several sources.
Last April, six soldiers were killed and eleven others injured in an explosion claimed by Al-Qaeda in Abyan province, southern Yemen.
The installation of Al-Olaqi, in his forties, as the current leader, marks an attempt to revive the organization and rebuild its ranks disrupted under his predecessor.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was founded in 2009 by Osama bin Laden by merging Saudi and Yemeni organization factions and emerged amid the chaos caused by the war in Yemen, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels fought against the Saudi-led military coalition since 2015.
The organization claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in 2015, which resulted in twelve deaths.
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Thus, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is considered one of the most important and dangerous branches of the parent organization, but its activity has significantly declined with Batarfi taking over leadership after Qasim Al-Rimi, who was killed by a US strike in February 2020, dealing a severe blow to the organization.
The recent operations by the Southern Transitional Council against the organization’s elements have resulted in the death, injury, and arrest of many of them, dealing a severe blow to jihadists who have lost significant ground.
