Shabwa (South24)

The Yemeni government's official news agency Saba announced today the arrest of a Houthi cell in Shabwa governorate, South Yemen.

In a statement, the agency stated that the governorate's security services "arrested a Houthi terrorist cell that was preparing to carry out offensive operations targeting a number of senior officials."

According to the agency, the cell's target list included the current Governor of Shabwa, Awad Al-Awlaki, prominent commanders in the Arab Coalition, the Shabwa Defense Forces, and the Southern Giants Forces.

The statement stated that the Houthi cell "planted two explosive devices in the city of Ataq [the capital of Shabwa] last October, one of which targeted a vehicle of the Giants' Forces, and wounded soldiers and civilians."

The other explosive device, according to the agency, also killed the son of a former security commander in Shabwa and wounded three others, on October 20 in the city of Ataq.

So far, there has been no official response from the Houthis on this government statement. Also, no additional statement was issued by the Ministry of Interior or the security services in Shabwa.

In the past weeks, Shabwa witnessed a number of attacks that targeted the STC-affiliate Shabwa Defense Forces and the Southern Giants Forces.

AQAP claimed responsibility for some of the attacks that targeted the Shabwa Defense Forces, in addition to other operations in the neighboring Abyan governorate.

In a separate context, the Southern forces declared a state of emergency and a curfew in Al-Mahfad district, Abyan governorate, starting today.

Related: Southern Forces: Abyan's «Arrows of the East» Operation is Completed

The Southern forces had entered in mid-October Al-Mahfad district, as part of the fourth phase of the "Arrows of the East" military operation against AQAP.