Abyan (South24)

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Today, the Southern forces announced the death of 5 soldiers and the wounding of 4 others in a massive attack launched by gunmen likely to be affiliated with AQAP in Wadi Oemran of Abyan governorate.

The official "Deraa Aljanoob" website released a statement by their military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, announcing that an AQAP attack on the Southern forces in Wadi Oemran in Mudiya district had been thwarted.

The official spokesperson said: "Units of our forces participating in the Arrows of the East operation thwarted an attack by the terrorist AQAP organization in Wadi Oemran. The militants used various weapons, including mortars."

"The gunmen infiltrated from areas outside the control of our forces, specifically from Al-Bayda governorate. We continue to pursue these gunmen after they fled to the mountains adjacent to the Shabwa and Al-Bayda governorates," he added.

This attack is the most prominent in months, after a long series of attacks in the governorates of Shabwa and Abyan against the Southern forces. AQAP had lost its largest stronghold in the Wadi Oemran last September after the launch of the "Arrows of the East" operation.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia has been in full control of Al-Bayda governorate since 2021, after it gained control over the remaining areas, some of which formed important strongholds for AAQAP and ISIS in the center of the country.

Between January 1 and June 21 of this year, the Southern forces lost 28 soldiers and 52 others were wounded in 31 AQAP attacks in Abyan and Shabwa, according to monitoring conducted by the South24 Center earlier.

Related: 6 Months of AQAP's Escalation Against the Southern Forces