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Violence targeting Yemen security forces and government officials in Aden, a major port city and capital of former south Yemen, has increased.
A roadside bomb killed one soldier and injured two others when they were on patrol in Aden. A similar report indicates that the explosives were planted in the police car. A bomb planted outside Aden’s general security headquarters exploded Saturday, injuring four soldiers. Friday, four soldiers were injured when a bomb exploded at a checkpoint near a police station. Yemeni security forces arrested five suspects Friday after the assassination of Colonel Ali a Hajji.
Tribal sources reported that loyalist troops shelled areas in Nihm and Arhab, north of the capital. The Republican Guard’s 62nd brigade, stationed in the area, hit a gas station in Arhab, north of the capital. Four people were killed and 13 others injured. A military source denied these reports.
Clashes continue to occur in Taiz and Sana’a. There was an exchange of gunfire at a demonstration in Taiz that injured five people. Additionally, government forces fired at a car in Taiz, killing one person and injuring two others. A Yemeni security source reported that opposition tribesmen attacked the loyalist 314th armored brigade base in Sana’a. Overnight fighting occurred between defected First Armored Division troops and loyalist soldiers.
A Southern Movement demonstration calling for leader Hassan Baoum’s release in al Mukalla in Hadramawt governorate turned violent Saturday. Security forces fired on the demonstrators, killing one person.
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.