AL-MUKALLA, Sept. 16 – An explosive device planted on the main road in Al-Mukalla detonated Sunday in the capital of Hadramaut, leaving four soldiers dead and wounding six others.

Fahmi Mahroos, Hadramaut’s security manager, said Central Security Forces special commander Colonel Abdulwahhab Al-Wali was in Hadramaut and traveled the road—in a military vehicle— which is the main road in Bwais district, a suburb in Al-Mukalla. On the road, there was a pile of bricks placed in a suspicious manner, he said.

Mahroos said the driver stopped and went to remove the bricks from the road; however, the explosive detonated, killed him and two soldiers who were in the vehicle.

Mahroos said that when he received the news, he sent a number of military vehicles to the scene to snatch the corpses of the soldiers. However, another explosive detonated, killing a third soldier and critically wounding six others.  

Hadramaut’s security administration relocated the dead and the wounded to Sana’a, where those wounded are to be treated. Some experts said there was a possibility of further explosive devices planted on Al-Mukalla road, according to Mahroos, who expressed concern about the increase in innocent people falling victim to crimes.

This accident occurred following a statement released by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Saturday calling for its supporters and militants to stage protests and to target American diplomats in Yemen.