Prime suspects in Aden bank robbery arrested, police say

The robbery resulted in the killing of the bank manager, who died in hospital four days later from injuries sustained

A general view shows the National bank of Yemen as fighters from the separatist Southern Transitional Council patrol the Old City of the government's de facto capital Aden, moving closer to taking full control of the southern city, on January 30, 2018.  
The government has accused the separatists of attempting a coup in Aden, where more than 36 people have been killed in clashes that opened yet another front in the country's devastating conflict. / AFP PHOTO / SALEH AL-OBEIDI
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The Yemeni authorities arrested on Saturday two prime suspects in a robbery of a National Bank and killing of its manager in the main southern city of Aden.

Forces known as the “Security Belt” in Abyan province, in collaboration with Aden police, arrested the two main suspects in a bank robbery that resulted in the killing of Abdullah Saleh Al Naqeeb, Aden police said in a statement.

On July 13 last year, 15 gunmen stormed a bank in Al Mansoura and shot Al Naqeeb in his office. He died from his injuries in hospital four days later.

Majed Khabtiyeh, 32, and Alaa Ahmed, 30, are “active members in the Al Qaeda organisation who will be interrogated, after which they will be transferred to the relevant authority so that justice is served”, added the police.

The two men were arrested in the Abyan province in the city of Jaar. It was not yet determined how much money the assailants stole from the bank, the authorities said.

Read more: Yemen's Houthis loot currency exchanges

"They are the leaders of the gang, which stormed the bank, killed the director, and stole heaps of money last year," Aden police spokesman Lt Abdulrahman Al Naqeeb told The National.

“They admitted during the first round of questioning that they are members of Al Qaeda and that they were active and living in Aden, but that they escaped after the infamous bank robbery.

“We arrested the rest of the gang members involved in the robbery a week after the incident, and based on information they provided us and through our collaborative work with the 'Security Belt' in Abyan province, we were able to arrest them.”

Lt Al Naqeeb said that the suspects kept travelling between the provinces of Aden, Abyan and Al Mahra.