Confessions from an individual implicated in the abduction and assassination of a local official in Aden have revealed the resurgence of terrorist cells affiliated with the Houthi militia in liberated areas.
The Aden Security Administration released televised confessions on Saturday from a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Engineer Wissam Qaed, the acting executive director of the Social Fund for Development Committee in Aden. Qaed was killed on May 3rd.
The confessions, made by suspect Omar Nasser Saleh, identified the perpetrators of the assassination as Saleh Wadie Haddad, Mahdi Mohammed Al-Suwaidi, and Abdo Mohammed Naji. Saleh admitted to transporting the perpetrators from Al-Dhale'e to Aden using his own passenger bus, a tactic intended to evade suspicion and conceal weapons within luggage during transit.
The re-emergence of Saleh Wadie Haddad's name brings to the forefront prominent terrorist cells linked to the Houthi militia, which have been responsible for numerous terrorist acts in Aden over recent years. Haddad is considered a key operative within a terrorist cell led by Amjad Khalid, a figure significantly wanted by the Yemeni government for orchestrating bombing and assassination operations in Aden and Lahj governorates.
Amjad Khalid has been formally implicated in these acts following a high-level security committee meeting chaired by the President of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi. Khalid, along with Haddad, has been sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court. The court issued two death sentences against Khalid in May 2024, one of which included Haddad.
Previously, the court had imposed death sentences on Amjad Khalid and six of his associates in connection with the bombing of the convoy of Aden's former governor, Ahmed Hamed Lamlas, and the attack on Aden International Airport in October 2021. Security investigations had established Haddad's role in leading the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) that detonated near the airport, causing approximately 30 casualties.
Security agencies had previously issued a wanted notice for Saleh Wadie Haddad, offering a reward of 30 million Yemeni Riyals for information leading to his arrest. The cells operating under Amjad Khalid have been linked to several significant terrorist incidents, including the assassination of prominent military commander Thabet Ju'a in March 2022 via a car bomb.
After years of denial, Amjad Khalid appeared in a video late last year admitting his ties to the Iran-backed Houthi militia and receiving support from them to target liberated areas. Khalid vowed to work towards "cleansing" liberated governorates, particularly Aden, of the coalition and southern forces, with the backing of the Houthi militia, claiming this would happen "soon."
Analysts are cautioning against the renewed activity of Houthi-affiliated terrorist cells in liberated regions, especially following the militia's recent call for general mobilization and threats to retake these areas.
