Iran-backed Houthis train al-Qaeda operatives to manufacture and operate (IEDs)

Security sources revealed a close connection between the Iran-backed Houthis and Al-Qaeda in the assassination of the commander of the Security Belt in Abyan province, Colonel Abdul Latif Al-Sayyed, by an improvised explosive device (IED) that targeted his convoy in Wadi Omran.

Security sources told Khabar Agency that the roadside bomb used by Al-Qaeda operatives in targeting Colonel Al-Sayyed bears the hallmarkss of the Houthis.

The (IED) was a disguised body filled with explosive materials and shrapnel, and it was the same type of (IEDs) used by the Houthis in their various terrorist operations. The sources said.

The sources who declined to be identified said that the Houthis have played a pivotal role in training and equipping Al-Qaeda elements in the manufacturing, installation, and operation of guided explosive devices, noting that "these devices have been manufactured and developed by Iranian experts and have been tested in the western coast in various ways and types."

Al-Qaeda elements have not previously used such (IEDs) in previous operations, whether in Abyan or elsewhere. The sources added.

According to the sources, the roadside bomb was detonated in Wadi Omran, between Abyan and Shabwah provinces (southeast of Yemen).

Al-Sayyed was killed on August 10th as a result of this terrorist plast, along with several soldiers, three of whom were charred, according to a source at Mudiyah Hospital where they were taken after the incident.

The powerful explosion of the roadside bomb created a deep cone-shaped crater with a depth of about a meter and a half and a similar diameter.