Aden (South24)

A security source said on Friday (June 12) that several people were killed and wounded in a shooting incident in the Al-Dareen area of the capital, Aden, after a guard assigned to secure the house of Aden Governor opened random fire, before security forces managed to end the situation by killing him.

The source, according to the Security Media Office of Aden Security Department, said one of the guards opened fire randomly on Thursday evening near the house of the Governor of the capital, Aden, in the Al-Dareen area, initially killing one of his fellow guards and wounding others.

The source added that a security force immediately moved to deal with the incident and arrest the suspect. However, he continued shooting, killing a soldier from Al-Dareen Police and wounding another officer. A member of the Facilities Protection Forces was also injured, along with a guard of Al-Sahaba Mosque, who was taken to intensive care after sustaining serious injuries.

According to the source, the incident also killed Syrian doctor Sameh Hassan and his wife, doctor Samaher Al-Mousa, who happened to be near the scene at the time of the shooting.

The killing of the two doctors sparked widespread local outrage among residents of Aden, amid calls to uncover the circumstances of the incident and hold those responsible to account. This came as social media users circulated what they said were inciting posts that had preceded the incident and targeted Dr. Sameh Hassan. The posts were attributed to accounts close to Yemeni religious groups and accused Dr. Hassan of being a supporter of former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The source confirmed that security forces began pursuing and tracking the suspect from the first moments of the incident. Later, after besieging and cordoning off his location, they dealt with him, resulting in his death at the scene. A member of the National Security forces was also wounded during the operation.

The source said security forces continue to impose a security cordon in the area and its surroundings, while field measures are ongoing to fully secure the site and uncover the circumstances of the incident.

The shooting came about 24 hours after an ammunition depot explosion rocked a camp belonging to the Southern Giants Brigades in the Al-Mamdara area, northeast of Aden. The blast killed 10 people and wounded nine others, according to a military source who gave South24 the preliminary toll.

While official sources said the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit, residents said they had seen a drone flying over the camp before the incident. There has been no official confirmation of this account so far.

Aden has witnessed angry popular protests for days over deteriorating services, including the continuous power outages that have reached around 20 hours per day. Security forces in Crater suppressed protesters and arrested a number of them before releasing them, while security soldiers assaulted several young men with beatings and rifle butts, according to video footage published earlier by South24.