Salim Ali Qatan was the recently appointed military commander for the southern region of Yemen. He was killed by a suicide bomber, suspected of being a Somali, who threw himself at the vehicle according to official reports. A medic who is a relative of the commander gave a different account that the suicide bomber approached the man and shook his hand, then detonated himself.

During the 2011-2012 revolution, the government of deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh ceded large areas of territory to a previously unknown militant group called Ansar Al-Sharia. The anti-terror forces retreated and gave their weapons to the group. His loyalist forces were mostly diverted away to the capital Sanaa. This resulted in the pro-revolution army taking up the fight against the militants, which analysts say was the tactical aim. The government of Saleh was accused by Western diplomats of being behind the growth of the militant group, in order to distract from the problems being faced by the highly corrupt government in the face of an uprising, and to divert attention away from calls for Ali Saleh to leave power.

Qatan was recently appointed after the fall of Saleh, and to the extreme annoyance of Saleh loyalists. He was successful at coordinating the campaign against Ansar Al-Sharia. It has been reported from inside government sources that the suicide bomber was set up by the Yemeni intelligence (Arabic language report at http://aden-city.com ).

Video 1: The suicide bomber on the back of a pick up truck, with people saying that he looks like a Somali.

Video 2: The original resting place of the suicide bomber before he was placed on the back of the pick up.