Senior Yemeni Military Leader assassinated

A car bombing killed a senior Yemeni military leader and three of his entourage in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday, three security sources and a local television station said.

The defense ministry confirmed that Brigadier General Thabet Gawas was killed in a “cowardly attack carried out by several terrorist elements” but provided no further details.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Houthis however did not hide their glee at Gawas' assassination with social media posts celebrating his death.

Supporters of the legitimate forces tweeted their sadness and condolences, describing Gawas as an extraordinary figure and hero, adding that they were not surprised with the Houthis' rejoicing of his death.

Gawas had long been an enemy of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, fighting the group in their northern stronghold of Saada even before it ousted the internationally-recognized government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

He participated in operations that expelled the Houthis from the southern Lahj region in 2015, the year that an Arab Coalition intervened in Yemen against the Iran-aligned militia.

Aden has been the seat of the internationally recognized government since the Houthis seized the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014, triggering the country’s conflict.

The coastal city however has been rocked by several explosions in past years, which were blamed on local affiliates of Al-Qaeda and the Daesh groups. The Iran-backed Houthi militia has also targeted the city with ballistic missiles and explosives-laden drones.