Abyan (South24)

The Southern Forces announced yesterday that they had thwarted a terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Abyan Governorate, east of the capital, Aden.

The Southern Forces’ official website, Deraa Aljanoob, quoted a military source as saying, “members from the terrorist AQAP organization infiltrated the south of Wadi Oemran and attacked a patrol of our armed forces in the Al-Kasara area, and our soldiers dealt with them immediately and decisively.”

The source added that the clashes resulted in the killing of a number of AQAP members and two Southern Forces soldiers.

The source confirmed that "units of the Southern Forces within the Arrows of the East military operation have carried out, during the past weeks, a series of combing campaigns and pursuit of members of the terrorist AQAP organization in the rugged mountain ranges and remote valleys".

"The Southern Forces were able to storm new shelter centers that the organization's members used as gathering points after expelling them from their main strongholds and camps, such as Wadi Oemran," the source explained.

It is worth noting that on March 10, the Yemen-based AQAP announced the death of its leader, Khaled Batarfi, and the appointment of Saad bin Atef Al-Awlaki, who is on US most-wanted lists, as his successor.

#BREAKING #AQAP according to Khabib Al-Sudani: Saad al-Din bin Atef al-Awlaki was chosen as the emir of the organization#south24 pic.twitter.com/kVB1JVYULh

— South24 | English (@South24E) March 10, 2024

The move came amidst AQAP’s significant weakening due to continuous strikes by the Southern Forces in Abyan that have continued since the launch of the Arrows of the East military operation in August 2022.

Related: AQAP Leader Seeks Support for his Weaken Organization in Yemen