Aden (South24 Center)

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The Southern Armed Forces announced that they lost four personnel, including two officers, when AQAP terrorists targeted a military vehicle with explosives on Saturday (December 6) in the Al-Abr area of Hadramout governorate, South Yemen.

The forces stated that the terrorists blew up the Southern forces vehicle when a unit was securing the international road linking the Al-Khasha'a and Al-Abr areas.

Spokesperson for the Southern Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, stated that AQAP elements, recently expelled from Hadramout Valley, were the ones who carried out this terrorist operation.

Al-Naqeeb told South24 Center that the IED technique used in the attack is "the same one obtained by terrorist cells in Abyan and Shabwa”. He affirmed that such operations will not deter the Southern forces, but only increase their resolve and firmness in continuing to cleanse Hadramout Valley of terror elements.

A military source told South24 on Sunday that one soldier from the Southern Forces was killed and another wounded while repelling an AQAP attack in Abyan's Wadi Umran on Saturday. The attack targeted a site belonging to the Sixth Support Brigade. The source confirmed that the Southern Forces successfully repelled the attack.

Read more: AQAP Escalates Threats as Southern Forces Advance in Hadramout

In another development, a well-informed source told South24 Center that the command of the 11th Border Guard Brigade camp in the Ramah area of eastern Hadramout handed the camp over to the Al-Manahil tribe for its protection, following attempted takeovers by armed groups coming from outside the governorate. The source confirmed that the tribe is prepared to hand over the camp to the incoming official force.

In a related context, the command of the Hadramout Valley Transitional Council announced the start of joint arrangements with the Southern military leaderships to enhance security and protect vital facilities in the districts.

The Transitional Council also called for an open sit-in in Seiyun beginning at dawn on Sunday (December 7) to support the aspirations of the people of the South, while the Hadramout Transitional Council in Mukalla issued a similar call for a wide popular mobilization. Additionally, the Aden Transitional Council called for an open public sit-in in Al-Arood Square to demand the declaration of the second independence of the South.

These calls coincided with a meeting in Aden chaired by the head of the Southern Transitional Council, Major General Aidrous al-Zubaidi, and attended by his deputy and commander of the Southern Giants Brigades, Abdulrahman Al-Muhrami, to discuss enhancing security and stability in Hadramout and Al-Mahra.

Al-Zubaidi called on the people of the South to rally around the armed and security forces, foremost of which is the Hadrami Elite Forces.

In Al-Mahra, the governorate's police announced the seizure of a vehicle loaded with 13 tank shells and 11 heavy weapon charges at the Al-Abari point in Al-Ghaydah, noting that the ammunition was taken from one of the camps with the intent to trade it.

On the ground, forces from the First Security Support Brigade, affiliated with the Hadrami Elite Forces, took control of the 315th Armored Brigade in Thamud district in the Hadramout desert.

Politically, media outlets close to the Yemeni Gathering for Reform (Islah) party reported that Sheikh Amr bin Habrish, the former head of the Hadramout Tribal Alliance, has arrived in the Kingdom on an official visit and will meet with Saudi officials.