South24 Center (Aden)

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Sources told South24 Center on Tuesday (September 1) that ISIS figure Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari was killed in a ground raid carried out by U.S. forces in Seiyun, Wadi Hadramout.

The sources described the operation as a ground raid inside the city but provided no details about the exact location, the circumstances of Al-Ansari’s death, or whether Yemeni or Saudi forces had participated.

Hours later, Yemen’s Central State Security Agency issued a more detailed account, saying Al-Ansari—whom it identified as the spokesman for ISIS—was killed during an operation conducted before dawn on Tuesday that had initially sought to arrest him.

According to a statement carried by Yemen’s state-run Saba News Agency, the operation was jointly conducted by special forces from the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s Counterterrorism Force 22. It followed intelligence sharing, surveillance and operational planning involving the State Security Agency and the coalition’s Joint Forces Command.

The official statement did not identify the nationalities of the coalition personnel involved or say whether U.S. forces had participated, leaving a difference between the government’s account and the information obtained by South24 Center.

The agency said Al-Ansari was hiding in a residential house with eight civilians—one man, two women and five children. It added that another person inside the house was wounded while resisting arrest, received medical treatment and was subsequently taken to a secure location. The statement said the women and children were evacuated unharmed.

According to the agency, the force recovered an explosive belt while searching the site and collecting evidence. The belt was defused and safely detonated. Two laptops, five mobile phones and two tablets were also seized.

The nom de guerre “Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari” matches that used by ISIS’s central spokesman since August 2023. Al-Ansari first emerged publicly when he announced the death of ISIS leader Abu Al-Hussein Al-Husseini Al-Qurashi and the appointment of Abu Hafs Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi as his successor, according to the Long War Journal, which specializes in militant groups.

In February 2026, ISIS released an official audio recording under the same name calling for attacks against Syria’s transitional government and praising the group’s operations and ISIS-inspired attacks in several countries. The Counter Extremism Project said it was Al-Ansari’s first audio message in more than two years.

Yemeni researcher Mohammed bin Faisal, citing what he described as jihadist sources, identified the man killed in Seiyun as Yemeni national Mithaq Thabit Haitham Al-Radfani, who came from the Radfan area of Lahj Governorate.

Bin Faisal said Al-Radfani served simultaneously as ISIS’s central spokesman, the “governor of Yemen Province” declared by the group, and one of its most prominent religious officials.

ISIS’s branch in Yemen has declined significantly from its previous peak and remains considerably smaller than Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group no longer controls territory but continues to operate through small cells, particularly in remote and conflict-affected areas.

Southern Transitional Council President Aidarous Al-Zubaidi said on Monday that the deployment of Southern forces in Hadramout and Al-Mahra late last year had helped curb terrorism and smuggling.

Al-Zubaidi argued that Saudi airstrikes against those forces and their subsequent withdrawal from their positions had enabled extremist groups to return to some of their former safe havens.