UN official released by Al-Qaeda after 18 months in captivity

A UN worker kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in Yemen was released after a year and a half in captivity, local media reported Thursday. Akam Sofyol Anam, a Bangladeshi national, was the UN Department of Security and Safety field coordination officer in Aden. Al-Qaeda militants abducted him in February last year, along with four UN employees. Their car was intercepted as they returned to Aden following a field mission, and they were taken to an unknown location. Anam arrived in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Wednesday evening.

Yemen's Defense Ministry has issued a strong warning about the ongoing aggressive actions of the Iran-backed Houthi group against the Yemeni army, urging the international community to take a stronger stance against the Houthi's refusal for peace. During a meeting with the UN Special Envoy for Yemen's political division team in Aden, Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri highlighted the concerning collaboration between the Houthi group, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS to destabilize liberated areas. 

A high-ranking commander of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces was assassinated Thursday in a convoy bombing in Abyan province to the south of Yemen, security sources said. The Security Belt Forces' commander, Abdul Latif Al-Sayyed, and three of his companions were killed in a roadside bomb in Mudiyah village of Abyan. Al-Sayyed was a prominent military figure in southern Yemen and played a vital role in expanding the military presence of secessionists in some southern provinces. 

The National Command Center for Safer Operations in Aden said Wednesday that one million and 105 thousand barrels of the oil on the decaying ship, Safer, have been offloaded. The daily report issued by the center explained that 96% of the total quantity of the oil in the Safer tanker had been emptied in 14 days.

The UAE provided military equipment to Sudan's "Rapid Support" forces, disguising it as humanitarian aid destined for Khartoum, said a report by The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cited unnamed Ugandan officials who revealed that on June 2nd, they uncovered "weapon shipments aboard an aircraft intended for delivering humanitarian assistance from the UAE to Sudanese refugees" in Chad.