ADEN, Yemen, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Saturday it had dismantled a major terrorist cell and arrested the primary suspects in the 2023 assassination of a World Food Programme (WFP) official.

The government accused the cell of operating in the Ash Shamayatayn district of the southwestern Taiz province and orchestrating attacks across the provinces of Aden, Lahj, Taiz, and Al Bayda, the state-run Saba news agency reported.

It described the cell as "one of the most dangerous" in the region and linked it to an October 2021 bombing that targeted the convoy of Aden's governor, Ahmed Hamed Lamlas, killing several of his aides.

Security forces also arrested the main suspects in the killing of UN World Food Program director Moayad Hameidi in the town of At Turbah in 2023, the report said. During raids on residential hideouts, authorities uncovered bomb-making laboratories and seized explosive devices and mines.

The announcement was made during a meeting of the Supreme Security Committee in the southern port city of Aden, chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council.

Yemeni government officials, military leaders, and political figures have been frequently targeted in bombings and shootings, particularly in southern areas.

Yemen has been fractured by a civil war since 2014, when the Houthi group seized the capital Sanaa. The ensuing conflict has allowed extremist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to expand their foothold, especially in the south. ■