![A picture taken August 8th, 2018 shows a Yemeni soldier attending a mine clearance and dismantling training along the coast north of the Hadramaut provincial capital of al-Mukalla. [Karim Sahib/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2019/09/20/20025-Yemen-mine-training-700_496.webp)
The 1st Military District reiterated its resolve to continue with the war on terror after Yemeni civilians and soldiers and Saudi military personnel, including an Arab coalition commander, were killed in Thursday (September 19th) attacks.
On Thursday morning, Col. Bandar bin Mazid Maqbul al-Otaibi, commander of the Arab coalition forces in Wadi Hadramaut, was killed, along with two Saudi and two Yemeni soldiers, by an improvised explosive device (IED).
"Six of our men, including the chief of staff of one of our battalions, also were wounded in the blast," which occurred as they worked to dismantle IEDs that had been planted in the province by terrorists, the 1st Military District said.
In a separate incident, two Saudi soldiers and three Yemeni civilians traveling in a civilian bus were killed at noon Thursday when an IED that had been planted on the roadway exploded in the province's al-Abr district.
The attacks come a week after a motorcycle rigged with explosives detonated at a 1st Military District checkpoint in the Wadi Hadramaut town of Shibam, wounding a soldier and a civilian and burning three vehicles.
The 1st Military District mourned "the Saudi and Yemeni martyrs" and described them as "a group of the best Arabs, foremost among whom is Col. al-Otaibi".
It offered condolences to "our brothers in the kingdom’s leadership, the Saudi army and the families of martyrs in Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the death of this group of great men".
The district described al-Otaibi (Abu Nawaf) as "one of the best commanders", and said he played a major role in the effort to secure Wadi Hadramaut from groups such as al-Qaeda and the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).
"During his tenure as commander of coalition forces in the wadi and desert areas, the martyr mobilised all capabilities to eliminate terror cells," it added.
"His efforts led to the arrest of several perpetrators of terrorist operations and those providing support to them in several raids on terrorists' hideouts."
Hadramaut will continue to fight terrorism
Hadramaut's battle against terrorism "will continue until we have taken them out and cleansed Yemen of their evils", Hadramaut deputy governor Sheikh Abdul Hadi al-Tamimi told Al-Mashareq.
"The people of Hadramaut reject terrorism and condemn it in the strongest possible forms, especially when civilians are killed, as was the case in the bus attack," he said.
In light of the Thursday attacks, political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Mashareq, "the 1st Military District has to tighten its security measures".
This especially applies to "the entry and exit of Saudi military personnel who are taking part in efforts to restore the legitimate government and combat the terrorist groups", he said.
"The bus attack indicates that the terrorists were able to monitor their movements and targeted them, without regard to Yemeni civilians who were on their way to Saudi Arabia," he said.
"The people of Hadramaut seek peace and security, and they co-operate with the security and military agencies to achieve just that," Ahmed added.
"Al-Qaeda, ISIS and other groups do not pay much regard to civilians when they carry out their terrorist operations," he said.
