Aden (South24 Center)

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A security source told South24 Center that air defense units affiliated with the Saudi-led Coalition Forces Protection Command shot down a drone at dawn on Thursday, January 22, after it attempted to breach the airspace of the coalition camp west of the city of Aden.

According to the source, surveillance systems detected the drone at an early stage before it could reach its target. Air defense units responded with heavy gunfire, successfully intercepting and downing the drone, thereby preventing the attack. The source added that conditions around the coalition camp in Al-Shaab area and Al-Buraiqa district remain stable, noting that gunfire was heard during the interception.

The source did not provide further details regarding the origin of the drone, the party that launched it, or the objectives it was intended to carry out.

In a separate but simultaneous incident on Thursday, the Southern Giants Forces announced the interception and downing of an Iranian-manufactured Houthi drone in the airspace of Bayhan district in Shabwa governorate. Field sources said the drone was conducting reconnaissance and surveillance missions over positions held by the Shabwa Defense Forces and the Southern Giants.

The developments come a day after a car bomb attack on Wednesday, January 21, targeted the convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, commander of the Second Brigade of the Southern Giants Forces, while it was passing through the Ja’oula area north of Aden. Security and local sources said the attack killed four soldiers and wounded five others from the southern forces.

 Read more at: Dead and Wounded in Car Bomb Attack Targeting Southern Military Commander in Northern Aden

Following the attack, both the Southern Transitional Council and the Yemeni government issued separate statements condemning what they described as a “treacherous terrorist crime.”

At the international level, the United States, the European Union, and Germany formally denounced the attack through their diplomatic missions and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, activists close to the Houthis and suspected of links to the extremist Al-Qaeda organization — including Adel Al-Hasani — had posted warnings on X hours after the attempted assassination of Hamdi Shukri and prior to the drone incident, cautioning of an assassination attempt targeting the Saudi forces commander in Aden, Falah Al-Shahrani.