Al Mukalla: The Lahj province Al Qaida commander, who plotted multiple attacks against military and government targets, was killed in a brief clash with security forces, Brigadier General Saleh Al Sayed, Lahj’s security chief, said.
On Sunday morning, elite security forces raided the house of Abu Hashem, Al Qaida commander in Al Wahat town, after receiving information that the fugitive militant had returned home. Al Sayed said the militant refused to surrender and security forces shot him dead when he began firing at them. Another militant who was in the house was arrested.
A security officer was killed and three others injured in the raid that is said to have prevented the militants from carrying out attacks. Security authorities, backed by air cover and military advisers from the UAE, have launched many similar raids in recent months, targeting Al Qaida and Daesh operatives who sought to gain a foothold in the province. Al Qaida held many key areas in the province in 2015, taking advantage of the security vacuum that followed the early days of the war against the Iran-backed Al Houthis, which started in March 2015. The militant groups were forced to take shelter in the rugged mountain areas in 2016 when UAE-trained Yemeni forces seized major cities in Lahj.
Meanwhile, in the central province of Baydha, a resident told Gulf News that three suspected Al Qaida militants had been killed on Sunday when a US drone hit their motorbike in Yakla region. The targeted militants were identified as Salmeen Salem Al Ameri, Fadhel Ali Al Taysi and Dahan Naji Al Taysi. “Those are ordinary members of Al Qaida.” a witness said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
The air raid in Baydha came a day after another US drone killed at least five militants in the southern province of Shabwa. Local media reports said the militants were driving to neighbouring Baydha and the missiles completely burnt their bodies.
US drones have recently intensified strikes in the province of Baydha, targeting Al Qaida and Daesh militants who attempt to regroup in remote areas after losing their major strongholds in Southern Yemen.
In a separate development, Yemen’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that government forces in Marib’s Serwah district repelled an attack by Al Houthis on their positions on Marshad mountain. The clashes lasted for ten hours before government forces pushed them back and killed as many as 10 militants. Similar clashes were reported on Sunday in Sana’a’s Nehim and Medi city in the northern province of Hajja.
