![A member of Yemen's security forces checks a motorbike as part of a tight security campaign in second city Aden on December 9th. [Saleh al-Obeidi/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2019/12/20/21584-Yemen-Aden-security-700_496.webp)
Yemeni forces on Wednesday (December 18th) raided a hideout in Aden featuring surveillance chambers and a welding workshop for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The raid, carried out by support units from the Security Belt Forces' 5th Brigade, was based on a tip-off that pointed to the site at a suspicious building located behind Aden Hospital, in Crater district.
In a statement, the UAE-trained Security Belt Forces said they clashed with militants present at the site for more than one hour, arresting seven of them.
They continued to comb the area "in search of other members of the gang", the statement said.
In a separate incident, the Security Belt Forces in the western sector in Aden's al-Buraiqeh district on Tuesday found ballistic detonators and other unidentified detonators.
"These two operations are a security achievement," political analyst Hossam al-Jaadni told Al-Mashareq.
"Members of the gang need to be referred to court so they may receive their punishment and so we can determine who is behind them," he said.
Security co-ordination required
The security situation in Aden has been complicated by the "slow implementation of the Riyadh Agreement and the failure to appoint a governor and security chief", political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Mashareq.
Additionally, the presidential protection forces have yet to take their positions within the provisional capital while the remaining brigades have not evacuated per the Riyadh agreement, he said.
"There needs to be security co-ordination," he added, "and the Interior Ministry must oversee the security forces from a single operations room to prevent terror groups from exploiting security gaps".
