A commander in the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militias was killed on Thursday in Mudiyah district of Abyan province, south of Yemen.
Sources familiar with the matter revealed the leader of the “Security Belt” factions of the STC, Abdul Latif Al-Sayed, was targeted by an explosive device planted in his car in Wadi Omran of the district, amid accusations that Emirati intelligence was behind the assassination.
The sources indicated that the assassination came just a week after he was appointed commander of the “Security Belt” factions in the province.
Al-Sayed’s funeral took place hours after his assassination in the Batis area, in the presence of a limited number of leaders of the STC factions in the province.
Among the killed were also the head of the so-called Security Belt Staff, Salah al-Yousifi al-Yafei, and a tribal sheikh affiliated with the STC, Mohammed Karid al-Jaadani, in addition to three of Al-Sayed companions, the sources added.
Al-Sayed was one of the most prominent leaders of Al-Qaeda factions that brought down the city of Ja’ar in Khanfar area of Abyan in the beginning of 2011.
After the war on Yemen in March 2015, he had became one of the most senior commanders of the UAE-funded factions in Abyan.
Al-Gaeda organization claimed responsibility for the assassination of Al-Sayed in Abyan.
