ADEN, Oct. 17 — Mohammed Aidroos, head of the People’s Committees in Lawdar, in Abyan governorate, died Wednesday morning along with one of his guards while traveling to Aden. Six others were wounded in the traffic accident.

Ali Aeda, a spokesman for the People’s Committees in Abyan, said the accident happened near the Al-Alam checkpoint, located near Aden and exactly opposite to Aden Iron Factory.

Aeda said the injured were taken to Basehi Hospital in Aden. Al-Aidroos and one of his guards died at the hospital. Other guards sustained minor injuries.

Al-Aidroos led fierce battles against Ansar Al-Sharia—an extremist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—in Abyan. With help from People’s Committees fighters, Al-Aidroos foiled numerous attacks by militants attempting to control Abyan.

Militants affiliated with Ansar Al-Sharia have recently started their activities in Abyan anew by targeting military checkpoints through sporadic confrontations and car bombings.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber succeeded in detonating a vehicle at a checkpoint run by the People’s Committees, leaving six dead and two others wounded.

Ali Hassan, a member of the People’s Committees in Modia area, said those who died in the explosion were Ahmed Al-Sha’aira, Ali Huseein Al-Hard, Sulaiman Al-Haithami, Fadhl Saleh and Ali Fadhl Saleh. Hassan said they were all members of the People’s Committees.

He said Mohammed Saeed Al-Dohaimi and Nasser Jamal Badr died from gunshot wounds in confrontations with Ansar Al-Sharia affiliates just hours after Tuesday’s explosion.

Hassan added that Ansar Al-Sharia affiliates distributed many brochures to people living in Modia during the few past days, threatening to regain control over Abyan districts and calling on citizens to advocate Islam and to help jihadists establish an Islamic state.