Amid yet more reports of violence in Yemen southern provinces, local officials in the south seaport city of Aden confirmed that a high ranking senior intelligence has been gunned down at his place of residence, in the district of al-Qalua.
Colonel Marwan al-Muqbali never stood a chance, said a security source, adding that a gunman directly aimed at his head, intent on shooting him dead on the spot. Al-Barakish.net, a local online news organization also quoted a source as saying that the Colonel had been shot twice directly on the head.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the recent frequency in attacks against intelligence and security officers, as well as Tuesday’s attack against a military checkpoint points directly to al-Qaeda, raising fears that the terror group activated its cells within the city.
While state officials have often warned that ultimately al-Qaeda would attempt to seize control of the seaport of Aden, or at least establish a presence in the immediate region, due to its strategic vantage point, a heavy military and security footprint has managed so far to keep terror militants at bay.
Ongoing political instability and resurgence in dissident sentiments on the part of al-Harak (Southern Secessionist Movement) has created a vacuum which al-Qaeda has been prompted to utilize by setting up shop in Aden. Striving on mayhem and chaos, security experts have already warned that Sana’a central government will only continue to lose ground to terrorists if its reach remains limited and its institutions fractured.
At this moment in time, only unity will act a barrier against radicalism.