AQAP terrorist attack in Abyan kills and injures 17 Southern soldiers

Today, the official Southern Transitional Council (STC) television channel stated that six soldiers from the Southern Armed Forces were killed and 11 injured in a terrorist attack in the Mudiyah district of Abyan Governorate, east of the capital, Aden.

The Aden Independent Channel (AIC) explained that the terrorist attack targeted a military patrol of Southern forces at the intersection of Al-Qawz in the Mudiyah district.

A Southern Forces military source speaking to South24 Center revealed that AQAP was behind the attack, which was carried out using a powerful explosive device that targeted a vehicle carrying the soldiers.

This latest attack marks the third since AQAP’s former leader, Khaled Batarfi, died on March 10, with Yemeni Saad bin Atef assuming his role. 

On March 30, three Southern soldiers were killed and four others wounded in an armed ambush by AQAP members in the Mudiyah district.

Prior to that, on March 24, two Southern Forces troops were killed while repelling an attempt by AQAP members to infiltrate a Southern Forces' site in Wadi Oemran in the Mudiyah district. A number of the terrorist organization's members were also killed, according to the Southern Forces' website. 

In Shabwa Governorate today, local sources and activists reported the crash of an unidentified drone in a mountain range east of the governorate’s Al-Rawda district. So far, no further details have surfaced.