Five killed in ‘treacherous’ attack on military convoy in Yemen

Bombing targeted convoy carrying Giants Brigades’ commander, an ally of the Saudi-backed government, authorities say.

A bombing targeting a convoy of a group allied with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has killed five people and wounded three others, Yemeni authorities have said.

The attack on Wednesday targeted a convoy carrying Hamdi Shukri, a commander in the pro-government Giants Brigades, Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council said in a statement carried by state-run media.

The bombing was a “desperate attempt” to undermine efforts to stabilise the security situation in the country at a time when “tangible progress” was being made with the support of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-backed council said.

Authorities would take “practical and decisive measures” following the “treacherous terrorist attack”, including pursuing the perpetrators and dismantling related support networks, the council said, according to the Saba News Agency.

The government did not attribute the attack to a particular group.

“The Yemeni government calls on all national forces and political components to unify ranks in the face of chaos, saboteurs, and terrorism, and to treat this crime as one that affects everyone without exception,” the council said.

“Political differences do not justify silence or hesitation when the state itself is being targeted,” it added.

A security source told the AFP news agency that a car bomb on the side of the road in the Ja’awla area in the north of Aden exploded as Shukri’s convoy passed by.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since Iran-backed Houthi rebels ousted the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from the capital Sanaa in 2014.

The country ⁠has been a source of tensions between Saudi Arabia and the neighbouring United Arab Emirates in recent months amid armed clashes between the internationally recognised government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE had ‌previously participated in a coalition battling Houthi rebels in Yemen’s civil war, which led to a devastating humanitarian crisis.