Aden (south24)

Two soldiers and a civilian were killed and 13 others were wounded [1] in an ambush with an explosive device targeting the leadership of the Support  Forces, one of the most important arms of the southern forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), on Thursday noon, in Aden, the capital of South Yemen, and the headquarters of the parity government.

Security sources and a statement by the STC said that the "terrorist attack" targeted the Commander-in-Chief of the Support Forces, Brigadier General Mohsen Al-Wali, and his staff, Brigadier General Nabil Al-Mashouchi. The two men were unharmed. Activists later released videos showing them in good health.

#عاجل|
شاهد أول فيديو من موقع الهجوم الإرهابي الذي استهدف الوالي والمشوشي بسيارة مفخخة في عدن#south24 pic.twitter.com/arDwvNWjXN

— South24 (@South24_net) March 4, 2021

This is the second most severe attack that shakes Aden, after the new Yemeni government targeted at last December, while it was arriving at Aden International Airport, with three autonomous missiles. The government accused the Iranian-backed Houthi militia of being behind that attack.

In response to Thursday's attack in Aden, the Transitional Council said in a condemnation statement, that "forces hostile to the choices of our people are accused of being responsible for targeting Aden, its stability, and its security leaders."

This is tantamount to a declaration that “their battle is not with the Houthi enemy and its militias, but with the south, its leadership, and its security and military forces,” added a statement published by the STC official website, through the official spokesperson, Ali Al Kathiri.

The statement did not specify the identity and nature of these parties it was referring to.

Commander of the security belt in Aden, Jalal Al-Rubaie, visiting some of the injured in the attack, Thursday, March 4, 2021 (official)

“The masterminds and perpetrators of this criminal act will not go unpunished,” affirmed the STC and called on “all security forces in the capital, Aden, to move quickly and effectively to punish the perpetrators of this terrorist operation and those behind them, and to intensify security campaigns against extremist and terrorist groups.”

The Yemeni Prime Minister, Dr. Muin Abdul Malik, condemned the attack, describing it as a "terrorist and treacherous". However, neither the Yemeni government nor the Ministry of Interior has yet issued an official statement condemning the incident.

According to the official Saba news agency, Abdul-Malik directed "an immediate investigation to find out the circumstances of this terrorist attack," and stressed that "the goals of those behind it will not be fulfilled, and their fate will be failure, as happened in the terrorist attack that targeted Aden International Airport." [2]

The STC called on the Saudi-led coalition  to "condemn these terrorist operations that undermine all efforts to confront the Houthi enemy, and support the southern security and military agencies to eradicate terrorism." [3]

As of the time this report was published, the Saudi-led coalition had not issued any statement condemning the attack.

"The patience of STC leadership and the leadership of the security and military forces in the south will not be prolonged in the face of the bombing war, the war of services, and the attempts to tamper with the lives of our citizens in the capital, Aden, and all southern governorates," the council said.

The leadership of the security forces in the governorates of Abyan and Al Dhale'e condemned this attack.

Activists on social media launched a tag indicating that (southern security is a red line), to emphasize that the backgrounds of the attack come in the context of the struggle between southerners who seek independence for South, and between Yemeni parties, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthi militia, which declare, on an ongoing basis, the need to control South Yemen.

لن ترهبونا ، ورد أبطالنا في مواجهة الإرهاب سيكون في الميدان ليس بالغدر وأساليب الجبناء.
كل من يرعى الإرهاب وقامت الأدلة على تورطه فيها لن يكون في مأمن، وستسمعون صراخ النائحات #امن_الجنوب_خط_احمر

— هاني بن بريك (@HaniBinbrek) March 4, 2021

This process comes in light of the failure of the new parity government to meet the needs of citizens in Aden and the rest of the governorates in South Yemen, according to local activists. Several angry demonstrations took place in several cities in Aden, to protest against the deteriorating conditions, and to demand the payment of salaries and the provision of oil products.

Ten days have passed since the STC  leadership received a promise from  Saudi leadership in Aden to start disbursing the salaries of the security and southern forces, but the period passed without its commitment to do so.

This attack in Aden cannot be separated from the current and complex political and military situation in Yemen, after the fighting in Marib entered the fourth consecutive week between the Houthi militia and the pro-government forces, which seek to preserve their last stronghold in North Yemen. 

On the political level, Washington, through its special envoy to Yemen, Tom Lenderkegg, is making a round of negotiations in the region, during which he visited the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia, in which he met representatives of the Houthis, to discuss ending the war with Riyadh and reaching a "permanent political solution" to the crisis in Yemen.

The STC prasident, Major General Aidaroos Al-Zoubaidi, called, in an interview with the Guardian[4], two days ago, US President Joe Biden to support a referendum on the independence of southern Yemen.

"The fall in Marib will have dire consequences, not only on the humanitarian level, but may accelerate the process towards international talks between North and South. This may lead to a situation in which the STC largely controls South," Al-Zubaidi warned.