Yemen’s Presidential Council vows response after Aden convoy attack

The Saudi-backed Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council has vowed to pursue those responsible for a deadly bombing that targeted the convoy of Hamdi Shukri, a leader in the al-Amalikah Brigades in Aden.

In a statement published by the official Saba News agency, the council condemned what it described as a “treacherous terrorist crime” that led to the death of five soldiers and injury of three others. The attack occurred on Wednesday as Shukri’s convoy was passing through a northern district of Aden.

“We renew our pledge to the Yemeni people that the blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain,” the council said, adding that the perpetrators, their financiers, and collaborators will be pursued and that “all necessary deterrent measures” will be taken under the law.

Attempt to destabilize Yemen’s security
The council stated that the attack is part of ongoing efforts to undermine national stability, considering it a “cowardly crime that represents a new link in a chain of desperate attempts to disrupt the security situation and confuse matters at a sensitive national moment,” the statement added.

The council warned that the timing and nature of the bombing suggest collusion between terrorist groups and smuggling networks, aimed at weakening state structures and threatening national security.

Call for national unity and vigilance
The Presidential Leadership Council reiterated its commitment to holding those responsible accountable, stating: “We renew our pledge to the Yemeni people that the blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain, and that the state will pursue the perpetrators and all those who stand behind them, collude with them, or finance them, and will not hesitate to take all deterrent measures in accordance with the law.”

Emphasizing the broader implications of the Aden car bomb attack, the Council noted that “the State is in an open confrontation with terrorism, as it is an existential threat to sovereignty, stability and development,” highlighting the dangerous connection between terrorist groups and smuggling networks.

It also called on “all national forces and political components to rise to the level of the challenge and to deal with this crime as an attack on the entire state, calling for unity, rejecting differences, and protecting the gains achieved on the path to restoring state institutions.”

Emergency Measures and Pursuit of Perpetrators
The Council urged citizens to remain alert and avoid “calls for incitement or chaos that would threaten civil peace, exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, disrupt the work of state institutions, and jeopardize national gains that were strengthened by the blood of martyrs and the sacrifices of heroes.”

It also stressed the importance of the full mobilization of security and military institutions: “all security and military agencies and law enforcement authorities [must] bear their full national responsibilities in maintaining public order, strictly implementing the declaration of a state of emergency, and pursuing terrorist cells and their logistical and financial networks, to deter such crimes and consolidate the prestige of the state and the rule of law in all governorates.”

The Aden car bomb attack has intensified concerns over the fragile security situation in southern Yemen and raised questions about ongoing efforts to unify security and military institutions amid continued threats from terrorist groups and smuggling networks.