![This picture taken on August 30th shows people riding motorcycles along a road in the coastal city of Zinjibar in Abyan province. A motorcycle rigged with explosives detonated on September 12th at a military checkpoint in the Wadi Hadramaut town of Shibam, wounding a soldier and a civilian. [Nabil Hasan/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2019/09/13/19927-yemen-motorcycle-attack-700_496.webp)
A motorcycle rigged with explosives on Thursday (September 12th) detonated at a 1st Military District checkpoint in the Wadi Hadramaut town of Shibam, wounding a soldier and a civilian and burning three vehicles, local officials said.
"Terrorist elements on Thursday morning targeted a force of the 1st Military District as they carried out a security mission in the historic town of Shibam," the 1st Military District said in a statement.
A soldier and a civilian were wounded in the blast, according to the statement, which also confirmed that three vehicles had caught fire during the attack.
A security and military force deployed in the area in an effort to apprehend the perpetrators of the attack, and sealed off the town, the statement said.
The 1st Military District has been reinforcing security checkpoints in Shibam with additional security personnel and equipment, Hadramaut deputy governor Sheikh Abdul Hadi al-Tamimi told Al-Mashareq.
"We are supporting the district with some personnel and units that took positions in an old building that had been used as ministerial offices in the past," he said.
'Criminal acts will not dissuade us'
The checkpoint attack appeared to be an attempt "to break our will", he said, noting that it has had the opposite effect.
"Such criminal acts will not dissuade us from forging ahead with the enhancement of security and stability," he said.
"The security and military agencies have raised the level of preparedness since the Aden events," he said, referring to an August 30th "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) suicide attack that killed three separatists in the southern port city.
Future attacks of this nature are anticipated, he said, as al-Qaeda and other extremist groups like ISIS "attempt to undermine Hadramaut’s security and stability".
"The security agencies are investigating the attack, and God willing, they will identify the perpetrators," he said.
In a separate incident, an improvised explosive device (IED) hit a military vehicle in Hadramaut's al-Abr district, killing one soldier, wounding two others, and damaging a vehicle.
The intended target of the attack appeared to have been the 23rd Brigade commander, but the IED exploded when another vehicle was passing by.
