Yemeni Army: The crime of targeting Saudi officers will only increase our vigilance and coordination with the Coalition to Support Legitimacy

The Yemeni Ministry of Defense and the General Staff confirmed today, Sunday, that the "cowardly criminal crime" that targeted Saudi officers in the coalition forces camp in the city of Sayoun (eastern Yemen) will only increase the Yemeni armed forces' vigilance and coordination with the coalition to support legitimacy.

This came in a statement mourning the martyrdom of an officer and a non-commissioned officer, and the injury of another officer, from the coalition forces supporting the legitimate forces, following a cowardly criminal operation inside the coalition forces camp in the city of Seiyun, and pledging to arrest the perpetrator of the treacherous crime and bring him to justice to receive his deterrent and just punishment.

The statement published by the armed forces website, September Net, explained that the treacherous and criminal attack took place on the evening of Friday, November 8, 2024, at the camp of the coalition forces supporting our armed forces in training and supporting the forces of the First Military Region in combating terrorism and smuggling in the city of Sayoun, where the incident occurred while they were practicing sports training.

The statement stressed that "the perpetrator of the cowardly and treacherous attack does not represent the honorable people of Yemen and our armed forces, who highly appreciate the efforts of the coalition forces led by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support and restore legitimacy and support humanitarian work to alleviate the suffering of our Yemeni people."

The statement pointed out that "this reprehensible incident will only increase the armed forces' vigilance and coordination with the forces of the Coalition to Support Legitimacy, to confront common challenges, and lead the country towards a safe and stable future."

The statement explained that the Ministry of Defense and the Chief of Staff are continuing their efforts and coordination with the joint forces to follow up on the investigations, find out the reasons and motives, and work to quickly arrest the perpetrator of the treacherous crime and bring him to justice to receive his deterrent and just punishment.

The statement offered its sincere condolences and sympathy to the joint forces and to the families and relatives of the two martyrs, asking God Almighty to accept them among the righteous martyrs and to grant them paradise, and to grant the injured a speedy recovery.

For his part, the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Mohsen Mohammed Al-Daari, sent a telegram of condolences and sympathy to the Saudi Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman and the Commander of the Joint Forces of the Coalition to Support Legitimacy, Lieutenant General Fahd Al-Salman, in which he offered his condolences for the martyrdom of two officers of the Saudi duty forces participating in the coalition, following a treacherous criminal operation committed by one of the soldiers in the city of Seiyun in Hadhramaut.

The Minister of Defense expressed "deep sorrow and grief over this heinous and reprehensible crime, which attempts to target the depth of the strong fraternal ties that unite the two brotherly armies and peoples, and the efforts of the brothers to establish the pillars of security in our country and to build, support and rehabilitate our armed forces."

Lieutenant General Al-Daari stressed that "this reprehensible incident does not represent the brave members of our armed forces who have great appreciation and gratitude for our brothers in the coalition after the fraternal relations were sealed with blood in the battle of destiny and the common Arab existence."

The Minister of Defense pointed out that investigations are continuing in coordination with our brothers in the joint forces to find out the motives and causes of the crime, arrest the perpetrator of the heinous operation, and bring him to justice to receive his deterrent punishment.

On Friday evening, informed sources told Yemen Youth Channel that two Saudi soldiers were killed and a third was injured, who were accompanying the Arab coalition representative, as a result of gunfire by a soldier from the 135th Brigade, which is under the command of the First Military Region.

The sources added that the soldier, "Mohammed Saleh Al-Arousi" from the Al-Sharqi area of Hajjah Governorate, started shooting at the escorts while the coalition representative was in the military area, which resulted in the killing of two Saudi soldiers, "Walid Al-Balawi and Mohammed Hussein Mutlaq", and the injury of a third.

According to the sources, the soldier opened fire on the Saudi soldiers while they were jogging inside the region's command camp, and the perpetrator fled.

Following the incident, Hadhramaut Valley Police announced a reward of 30 million riyals for anyone who provides information about the accused in the incident and who arrests him.

Despite the passage of about two days, the search for the perpetrator is still ongoing, as the concerned authorities have not issued any new statement regarding him so far.