The Al-Qaeda terrorist organization increased the pace of its ground attacks in the south after receiving a “support package” from the Houthi militias.

On Thursday, the Southern Transitional Council forces announced their success in repelling a new terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda at the entrance to Wadi Omran in Abyan Governorate overlooking the Arabian Sea.

This is the second consecutive attack over the course of a week, and indicates a new wave of escalation by Al-Qaeda, which has recently begun to move under the guidance of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias, according to observers.

In their statement, the transitional forces said that "units of their forces were able, at dawn today, to confront an attack by members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization in Wadi Omran in the Mudiya District" to the east of the governorate known as the food basket of southern Yemen. 

The statement added, "Our heroes responded to an attack launched by terrorist elements on one of our forces' positions in Wadi Omran, where they were able to inflict heavy losses on those elements affiliated with the terrorist Al-Qaeda organization and supported by the Houthi militias." 

He pointed out that “our forces responded to this cowardly terrorist attack at the entrance to the town of Al-Baqira, east of Mudia, resulting in the death of a soldier, while the extremist elements retreated after sustaining deaths and injuries.

Houthi support

Al-Qaeda recently benefited from Houthi support, which included thermal missiles, drones, and reconnaissance equipment, and transformed Al-Bayda into a center for managing its operations, to raise the level of its attacks in southern Yemen, according to government sources. 

Reports of the Yemeni government repeatedly accused the Houthi militias of releasing more than 400 leaders and members of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, most of whom were in state prisons in Sanaa, and sending them to the liberated governorates to spread chaos. 

The Houthis and Al-Qaeda were also accused of joint coordination to carry out complex attacks to destabilize the region and international security and peace, coinciding with the escalation and continuation of the pace of Houthi attacks on the world’s trade line.