Aden (South24)

Five members of the Hadrami Elite Forces were killed in an armed attack carried out late Thursday (December 19), by groups described by the Second Military Region as “mutinous,” while the unit was returning from a security mission in Ghayl Bin Yamin district, eastern Hadramout.

Hours after the ambush, aircraft of the Saudi Arabia carried out two airstrikes targeting positions of the Hadrami Elite Forces deployed in Wadi Nahb in Ghayl Bin Yamin during a security operation.

Riyadh did not officially claim responsibility for the strikes, though Saudi media acknowledged the attack and described it as “warning” strikes.

The Second Military Region condemned the airstrikes, calling them an “unwarranted targeting” of regular forces engaged in an open fight against terrorism and armed rebellion, noting that the targeted groups had carried out “multiple terrorist operations” threatening security and public interests.

On Sunday December 28, Faraj Al-Bahsani, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and Vice President of the Southern Transitional Council, mourned five soldiers killed in what he described as an armed ambush near Al-Shihr, while performing duties to maintain security, protect public order, and uphold the rule of law in Hadramout.

Al-Bahsani said the attack came amid a broader confrontation with projects of chaos and rebellion, stressing that the Hadrami Elite Forces have accumulated significant field experience and professionalism in counterterrorism operations, contributing—alongside Southern forces—to restoring stability in Wadi Hadramout.

He named the fallen soldiers as Omar Abdulrahman Al-Amoudi, Mohammed Badbyan, Abdullah Barawas, Saleh Al-Muallim, and Abdulwahab Mohammed Ali Mohammed, and called on residents of Hadramout and the South to rally behind the state project and participate in a mass rally in Seiyun to affirm unity and reject threats to local security.

Elsewhere, a Southern forces soldier was killed last week by a drone strike on the Al-Hadd front in Yafa. Frontlines in Al-Oud and Al-Fakher in northern Al-Dhalea, as well as Al-Musaymir in Lahj, also witnessed Houthi attacks and exchanges of artillery fire.

In parallel, Saudi-backed forces continued to mass in Al-Abr and Al-Wadiah areas, with sources telling South24 that some Yemeni units were redeployed from the Saudi–Saada border toward the Hadramout frontier.

These developments came as Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Defense and the coalition, warned on Saturday that the coalition would confront any military movements that violate de-escalation efforts in Hadramout.

South24 Center publishes this interactive map highlighting the most prominent security events that took place during the past week, from December 13 to 19, 2025.