Yemeni govt claims dismantling terrorist cell linked to UN official's assassination

Aden, Yemen, June 29 Yemen's internationally recognised government has said that it had dismantled a major terrorist cell and arrested the primary suspects in the 2023 assassination of a World Food Programme (WFP) official.

The government accused the cell of operating in the Ash Shamayatayn district of the southwestern Taiz province and orchestrating attacks across the provinces of Aden, Lahj, Taiz, and Al Bayda, reports Xinhua, quoting the state-run Saba news agency.

It described the cell as "one of the most dangerous" in the region and linked it to an October 2021 bombing that targeted the convoy of Aden's governor, Ahmed Hamed Lamlas, killing several of his aides.

Security forces also arrested the main suspects in the killing of UN World Food Program director Moayad Hameidi in the town of At Turbah in 2023, the report said.

During raids on residential hideouts, authorities uncovered bomb-making laboratories and seized explosive devices and mines.

The announcement regarding the dismantlement of the terrorist cell was made during a meeting of the Supreme Security Committee in the southern port city of Aden, chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council.

Yemeni government officials, military leaders, and political figures have been frequently targeted in bombings and shootings, particularly in southern areas.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Iran-aligned Houthi group seized several northern provinces, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee the capital, Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 after a Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government. After entering its second decade, the war has fueled what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Despite numerous mediation efforts, a lasting peace deal remains out of reach.

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