South24| Aden

At least six officers were killed, and a seventh person was wounded in a drone attack that targeted, on Friday evening, a military position of the southern forces, in Abyan Governorate, South Yemen.

A senior military source told "South24" that a drone of the Muslim Brotherhood militia, loyal to the Yemeni government, fired a shell on Friday evening, at a position of the southern forces, in the Al-Tariya front in Abyan governorate, which led to the fall of martyrs." The military source described the attack as a "treacherous attack." 

"Among the victims were the operations commander of the support forces, Colonel Awad al-Saadi, and the commander of the protection battalion in the first brigade, support , Abdul Majid bin Shuja," Southern press sources said to “South24”.

Local sources said that the killes's bodies were transferred to Al-Jumhuriya Hospital in the capital, Aden, near Abyan. Other local media put the dead at eight.

The attack sparked widespread anger on the pages of southern activists, on social media. And they demanded the Southern Transitional Council (STC) for an immediate response to this attack, which they described as "terrorist."

In his first comment on the attack, the spokesman for the southern forces in Abyan, Mohammad al-Naqib, said that the time had come to end the battle in Abyan.

"We have no choice but to start the decisive battle due to the persistence of the terrorist Brotherhood militia in their hostilities." Al-Naqeeb said on Twitter, 

It was unclear whether there was a practical intention to end the battle in Abyan governorate, in favor of the STC, after the escalation of deadly attacks against its forces during the past weeks.

The attack came less than 72 hours after the Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met with Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, Wednesday evening, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Bin Salman said in a tweet onTwitter that the meeting discussed "implementing the Riyadh agreement ... to promote peace and stability and place the interest of Yemenis above all considerations."

This meeting coincided with another meeting with STC's president Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, with the US ambassador to Yemen, on Wednesday morning.

The US ambassador, Christopher Hanzel, praised the "transitional council's continuous cooperation with the efforts made to implement the Riyadh Agreement and form a new and unified Yemeni government." According to official page of the US Embassy in Yemen on Twitter.

Hours after these meetings, bombings, shootings and kidnappings rocked the capital of South Yemen, Aden, which led to the killing of Saleh al-Rabezi in the city of Enmaa on Thursday evening, and the kidnapping of the officer in the Southern Storm Forces, Jamal Tina, from his home, and was killed by unknown armed men.

Meanwhile, the military commander in Saeqa Brigades, Farouq Al-Kaalouli, escaped an assassination attempt, using an explosive device planted by unidentified persons on the main road in front of the Al-Qasr Hotel in Brega, on Thursday noon.

Media outlets loyal to the Islamist Islah party and Qatar, launched a massive attack on Saudi Arabia, following these meetings, amid reports that President Hadi had agreed to announce the new government.

The Islamist organization, one of the most prominent wings of the Hadi government, which is accused of colluding with the Houthis, insists that the Transitional Council withdraw its military forces from Aden and Abyan, before the new government is announced.

The governorate of Abyan, South Yemen, has witnessed a military conflict, since May 11, between the southern forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council, and Muslim Brotherhood forces loyal to the Yemeni government, after Saudi Arabia announced the "Riyadh Agreement" document between the two parties, which they signed on November 5. last year.

- south24