Death sentence for Yemeni officer convicted of terrorist attacks in Aden

Today, the Criminal Court in Aden, South Yemen, issued a death sentence in absentia against a Yemeni officer convicted of involvement in a series of terrorist bombings that sent shockwaves through the city in 2021.

Included in the death sentence were Amjad Khaled Farhan Al-Qahtani, the commander of the pro-Yemeni government Transport Brigade, and six others convicted of being directly involved in the bombing of the convoy of the governor of Aden, and another bombing at the entrance to Aden International Airport in October 2021.

The list of those sentenced to death included: Haroun Khaled Mohammed, Saleh Wadee Saleh Al-Haddad, Ibrahim Wadee Saleh Al-Haddad, Fahad Faheem Marei, Ahmed Ali Ahmed Al-Mashdali, and Mohammed Ahmed Yahya Al-Maysari.

The court issued a judicial ruling sentencing Amjad Khaled to ten years in prison for participating in an armed gang, along with 15 others.

While some of the convicts arrested earlier attended the judicial session, Amjad Khaled remains a fugitive from justice.

Security sources suggest that Amjad Khaled, who is considered the most prominent criminal wanted in Aden in connection with numerous cases related to terrorism, assassinations, and bombings, is currently residing with his aides in the Al-Turbah area in Taiz Governorate in North Yemen, which is under control of the Yemeni government.

On November 26, 2023, police in Aden released video confessions of a member of a terror cell led by Amjad Khaled, in which he revealed a terrorist plot run by the Houthis targeting security and military leaders affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council in Aden.

The video showed segments of virtual conversations between the cell member and Amjad Khaled, during which they discussed carrying out bombings and assassinating security leaders.

On October 10, the convoy of Aden’s Governor, Ahmed Lamlas, was attacked by a car bomb, killing six people, including three journalists from his accompanying delegation and one civilian who had been passing by just as the explosion occurred, near a kindergarten.

On October 30 of the same year, another car bomb exploded in front of the gate of Aden International Airport, killing five civilians and wounding about 25 others, including children.

In June 2022, the Counter-Terrorism Service in Aden published the confessions of those involved in the assassination of Major General Thabet Jawas using a car bomb north of Aden on March 23, and a failed assassination attempt targeting Major General Saleh Al-Dharhani, head of operations of the Southern Armed Forces, on May 15 of the same year.

The confessions at the time referred to the mastermind: Amjad Khaled, and to the Houthis’ financing of the operations.

In other related news, the Criminal Court issued a four-year prison sentence to the accused Ahmed Maher for his participation in an armed gang led by Amjad Khaled.

Ahmed Maher, who was identified as a journalist and activist by Reporters Without Borders, was arrested in August 2022 in Dar Saad in Aden. According to an official security source who spoke to South24, Ahmed holds the rank of first lieutenant and belongs to the Transport Brigade led by Amjad Khaled.