A series of car bombings in Aden in south Yemen have targeted high-ranking government officials. Further, al Qaeda-linked militants in neighboring Abyan remain in control of towns seized over the course of Yemen’s unrest.

A car bomb killed a high-ranking police official in Aden. The official, Ali al Hajji, was the head of Yemen’s counter-terrorism force in Abyan. The explosives-rigged vehicle also injured two other people

A Yemeni official reported that three al Qaeda-linked militants were killed and six others injured in a drone strike in Shaqra. Yemeni army shelling killed three other militants in Zinjibar. Fighting between militants and Yemeni troops injured two soldiers.

Thousands marched in protest in Sana’a today. A mass protest march went from Tagheer (Change) Square toward al Zubayri Street peacefully on Thursday. Activists reported that security forces in Taiz opened fire on demonstrators carrying the bodies of those killed in recent days.

The ongoing political crisis in the capital has placed the Yemeni state at risk of a broader armed conflict. Further, the Yemeni state has been undergoing fragmentation. Al Qaeda has seized control of territory in south Yemen and the current situation has increased the organization’s operating space in the country.