Aden (South24 Center)

A military source said on Monday (January 19) that two soldiers from the Saudi-backed Nation's Shield forces were killed and a third was wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) targeted their vehicle on the Al-Abr road in Hadramout Governorate, South Yemen.

The source added that the attack occurred on Sunday (Jan 18) as the patrol was passing along the international road linking Hadramout and Al-Mahra governorates, noting that the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment.

The attack comes at a time when the Wadi Hadramout regions are witnessing a dense deployment of the Saudi-backed Nation's Shield forces, following the withdrawal of Southern Forces from the area in early January, amid security warnings of escalating activity by extremist groups exploiting the security vacuum.

On January 6, the commander of the Second Brigade of the Nation's Shield forces, Fahd Ba-Moumen, warned that part of the weapons recently looted from military camps and security institutions in Hadramout may have reached the hands of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS, given the security chaos witnessed in some coastal and Wadi areas.

South24 Center quoted an expert on armed groups as saying that information indicates AQAP's efforts to purchase quantities of the looted weapons through tribal mediators, in addition to communication between its elements in Wadi Abida in Marib Governorate and groups that participated in looting acts within Hadramout.

The Nation's Shield forces had previously announced that they foiled attempts to smuggle weapons looted from camps in the governorate and arrested a number of those involved, stressing that their operations aim to prevent weapons from reaching armed groups and terrorist organizations.

On December 6, 2025, a military source reported the death of two officers and two soldiers from the Southern Forces due to an IED explosion planted by terrorist elements on the Al-Khashaa – Al-Abr international road. 

A spokesman for the Southern Forces said at the time that AQAP elements expelled from Wadi Hadramout were behind the attack, noting that the IED technology used is the same as that adopted by terrorist cells in Abyan and Shabwa governorates.