Aden (South24 Center)

The director of Al-Nawras Private Schools in Aden, Abdulrahman Al-Shaer, was killed on Saturday (April 25) in an assassination carried out by unidentified gunmen in the Mansoura district. The Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Al-Islah) described him as one of its leaders, without providing further details about the nature of this role.

According to local and security sources, the gunmen were in a vehicle and intercepted Al-Shaer near the school in the Kabota area. They opened fire on him as he arrived, inflicting fatal gunshot wounds to the head and chest, killing him instantly before fleeing the scene.

The attack occurred while Al-Shaer was on his way to attend the “Fifth Al-Nawras Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Championship 2026.”

Following the incident, security forces cordoned off the area, while forensic teams began collecting evidence and reviewing CCTV footage. A spokesperson for Aden police confirmed that initial investigative procedures had been launched to identify the perpetrators.

In its initial reaction, the Islah Party (the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Yemen) mourned Al-Shaer, describing the attack as a “cowardly crime” targeting the city’s security and stability. The party warned of a potential return to a wave of assassinations and called for an urgent and transparent investigation.

For its part, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) condemned the incident, describing it as an attack on the educational process and social stability. It stated that the recurrence of such incidents reflects flaws in the current security arrangements and called for a reassessment of security plans and enhanced field deployment.

The Yemeni government and the Local Authority in Aden also condemned the crime, describing it as a dangerous escalation aimed at destabilizing the city. Both confirmed that security agencies had been instructed to intensify investigations and pursue those responsible.

The incident has brought back into focus the wave of assassinations that Aden witnessed between 2015 and 2018, which targeted political, military, and religious figures — some linked to the Islah Party and others affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council and its forces.

These operations had significantly declined in recent years following the deployment of Southern Forces in Aden and their takeover of the city in 2019. These forces implemented multiple security measures, including the establishment of checkpoints, enhanced intelligence coordination, and counterterrorism operations.

However, the latest assassination comes at a sensitive political moment, coinciding with Saudi-sponsored consultations and arrangements aimed at restructuring security and military formations in southern Yemen, alongside circulating reports about a potential U.S. move to designate Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Islah Party) as a terrorist organization.

Warnings are increasing that any dismantling, weakening, or uncoordinated restructuring of the existing security framework — without clear command structure and unified decision-making — could undermine the fragile stability achieved in Aden.