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A surveillance camera documented the altercation between Mohammed Al-Junaidi, standing on an island in the center of the street, and the soldiers.

Security Belt Forces allegedly flee Aden after killing civilian over traffic dispute

Soldiers involved in the murder of a civilian in Yemen’s interim capital Aden have fled the city and escaped responsibility for the crime, according to a security official in the city. 

Mohammed Al-Junaidi, 29, was shot dead by a member of the Security Belt Forces (SBF), the elite paramilitary wing of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) that controls Aden, after confronting seven soldiers for speeding down a busy street in the Abdul Aziz neighborhood in Mansoura district.

A surveillance camera documented the altercation between Al-Junaidi, standing on an island in the center of the street, and the soldiers. One of the soldiers, Nasser Mustafa Al-Ja'ari, is seen jumping out of a military truck and kicking Al-Junaidi before shooting him point blank. Al-Ja’ari and the other soldier’s then jump back in the truck and flee the scene.

Without specifying where they were going, Al-Ja'ari and some of the soldier present during the shooting left Aden two days after the incident, another Adeni security official familiar with the case said. Al-Ja’ari may have fled to a governorate other than Abyan, where he is from, the official said, adding that no arrests have been made.

Rumours that an existing dispute between Al-Junaidi and the gunman led to the shooting are false, the official said, claiming that Al-Junaidi had directed his frustration at all of the soldiers in the truck. 

An eyewitness at the site of the murder told Almasdar Online that Al-Junaidi was walking down the road, when a military truck passing by splashed dirty water onto his clothes.

Al-Junaidi expressed his annoyance at the soldiers, which apparently upset them. The dispute erupted before they all climbed out of the vehicle, the witness said.

This is the second time a civilian has been shot dead by an SBF member in Aden for criticizing the driver of a speeding military vehicle. The last incident was in the Al-Sawlaban neighborhood of Khormaksar district.

Last week, Hani Bin Brik, vice president of the UAE-backed STC, said that all soldiers in the vehicle had been arrested and dismissed from their posts. After initially claiming that the altercation between Al-Ja’ari and Al-Junaidi was due to a family dispute, Ben Brik said the soldiers were being investigated.


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