ADEN, YEMEN — Gunmen carried out a coordinated ambush to abduct Lt. Col. Ali Ashaal in Aden, Yemen, on June 12, 2024, completing the kidnapping in approximately 30 seconds. The attackers used a Toyota Voxy minivan with tinted windows to trail Ashaal's SUV before speeding ahead and blocking his path on a single-lane street on Aden's western edge.

The abduction occurred on a street hidden from the highway by high buildings with few exits. Gunmen armed with firearms emerged from the minivan, grabbed Ashaal, and forced him into the vehicle while another assailant entered Ashaal's SUV and drove off. Both vehicles then left the scene.

Around 1 a.m., seven hours after Ashaal failed to return home, a cousin and brother-in-law contacted friends, hospitals, and security headquarters in Aden. Ashaal had been scheduled to meet with Sameeh Al-Nourji, a business acquaintance involved in real estate on behalf of top figures in Aden's UAE-supported Counter-Terrorism Unit.

Local surveillance video showed Al-Nourji waiting for Ashaal and then trailing his vehicle. Al-Nourji claimed he arrived after Ashaal. Police detained Al-Nourji for questioning on suspicion of misdirection. Security camera recordings traced Ashaal's SUV to the street where the Toyota Voxy blocked his escape.

Al-Nourji was released from detention two days later on orders of Yusran Al-Maqtari, head of the Counter-Terrorism Unit in Aden. Al-Maqtari said he would guarantee Al-Nourji's appearance when required by the police.

The day after his release, Al-Nourji, Al-Maqtari, and other associates disappeared from Aden, reportedly fleeing to the United Arab Emirates. It took investigators and family members roughly two weeks to sift through security camera recordings in their search for Ashaal.

They identified a dilapidated blue microbus, a nondescript sedan, and an Inkas armored truck following Ashaal's movements in the days before the abduction. Investigators and family members tracked Ashaal's SUV to a neighborhood that includes a prison operated by security services.

Ashaal was 42 years old at the time of his disappearance in June 2024. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel and commanded a battalion in Yemen's armed forces. Before his disappearance, Ashaal worked in real estate with a business partner.

After 2014, when Yemen fractured under rival governments, the scale and nature of kidnappings in Yemen changed. In Aden, hundreds of people disappeared into a secret prison network managed by the United Arab Emirates and its affiliated forces, where torture, beatings, and abuse were common, according to the Yemeni government, human rights organizations, and the United Nations.