Yemen nabs top al-Qaeda militant in Aden

By Mohamed al-Samai

ADEN, Yemen

Yemeni police forces on Monday detained a high-profile al-Qaeda militant in the southern Aden city.

In a statement, police said a senior al-Qaeda militant was arrested for his involvement in a spate of bombings and assassinations of security and military officials in Aden.

According to the statement, the militant, who was identified as “Aboudi”, and two other militants were planning a car-bomb attack in the city.

The statement described Aboudi as one of the most wanted militants for security agencies in Yemen.

Yemen fell into a civil war in late 2014 when the Shia Houthi group overran capital Sanaa and other provinces, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country’s south -- including provisional capital Aden -- but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.

By Mohamed al-Samai

ADEN, Yemen

Yemeni police forces on Monday detained a high-profile al-Qaeda militant in the southern Aden city.

In a statement, police said a senior al-Qaeda militant was arrested for his involvement in a spate of bombings and assassinations of security and military officials in Aden.

According to the statement, the militant, who was identified as “Aboudi”, and two other militants were planning a car-bomb attack in the city.

The statement described Aboudi as one of the most wanted militants for security agencies in Yemen.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.