Shabwa (South24 Center)

In a pre-dawn security operation, the Shabwa Defense Forces arrested two prominent Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leaders as they were attempting to infiltrate Marib Governorate from Abyan on Monday (May 12), according to Dera AlGanoob, a media outlet affiliated with the Southern Armed Forces.

The arrests were made at one of the Shabwa Defense Forces’ security checkpoints. AQAP field commander, Abu Asim Al-Walidi, and operative, Hussam Musaffar, were apprehended while they were moving in disguise and carrying forged identification documents.

Dera AlGanoob cited a high-ranking military source as stating that the operation followed precise intelligence efforts in tracking the militants’ movements, thus enabling the forces to execute the arrest at a critical moment without clashes or casualties.

The source noted that the detained Al-Qaeda leaders were involved in multiple terrorist attacks targeting the Southern Forces in Shabwa and Abyan when the forces were carrying out their Arrows of the East operations against the AQAP terror group. The Arrows of the East operation, launched in August 2022, has been a major success in thwarting the AQAP, and has led to many casualties among the group’s operatives in recent years.

The source described the operation as a "preemptive qualitative strike” against the AQAP, reflecting the "high readiness and intelligence efficiency" of the Shabwa Defense Forces. The forces affirmed the continuation of security campaigns to eradicate the terrorist strongholds and stabilize southern Yemen.

The AQAP has not yet commented on the reports.

The operation aligns with the intensified efforts by the Southern Forces to counter extremist groups and reinforce security in Abyan and Shabwa.

Earlier on Monday, the Dera AlGanoob reported that the Hadrami Elite Forces had conducted a separate security operation targeting suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts in Wadi Arf, Shehr District, in Hadramout Governorate.

The operation followed confirmed intelligence inputs about an active terrorist cell in the area, prompting the forces to launch a sweeping raid and storm multiple suspected sites.

The Hadrami Elite Forces—established with Emirati support in 2016—are among southern Yemen’s most prominent local units and have played a key role in expelling the AQAP from Mukalla, Hadramout’s capital, in April of the same year.

Meanwhile, the Shabwa Defense Forces (formerly the Shabwani Elite Forces) have actively combated the AQAP in Shabwa Governorate in recent years.