Southern forces announce killing of AQAP leader in Abyan

Registering a major victory, the Southern forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) today announced the killing of a senior Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader and another member during a security operation in Mudiyah district of Abyan Governorate.

A statement by the Commander-in-Chief of the Security Belt Forces, a major security force within the Southern forces, said that AQAP senior leader Shaker Saleh Shatra was killed yesterday (Aug 18), during a security operation in the Al-Qaouz Junction area in Mudiyah.

The statement said that another AQAP element named Farouk Khamis Lashaab was also killed in the operation.

Explaining the modus operandi, the statement said that the Southern forces tracked the two terrorist elements via reconnaissance drones from the time they left one of their mountain hideouts in the west of Mudiyah district, until they reached Al-Qaouz Junction.

As the AQAP terrorist elements approached Al-Qaouz Junction in a military vehicle, they were ambushed by soldiers of the Southern security forces who were lying in wait for them. A firefight ensued for about half an hour that ended with the killing of the two AQAP elements and soldiers who were onboard the vehicle, the statement said.

The commander of the Security Belt Forces in Al-Mahfad district, Hussein Al-Rabih, and one of his escorts were also killed in the clash.

The statement did not provide details about the military vehicle that the AQAP elements were on, or the identities of the soldiers who were killed in the firefight.

A security source told ‘South24 Center’ that the AQAP elements likely took advantage of the passage of one of the military vehicles to board it while impersonating local tribal militants from the region.

Since August 2022, the Southern forces have continued their security and military operations to complete the elimination of AQAP in the governorates of Abyan and Shabwa as part of the Arrows of the East campaign launched by Major General Aidrous Al-Zubaidi, Commander-in-Chief of the Southern forces.

The STC has called for international support, especially from the United States and regional countries, for the counter-terrorism efforts, most notably to combat the ISIS and AQAP.