"Ansar al-Sharia are coming", read a warning on the walls of Huta, the southern regional capital of Lahj, just north of Aden and south of Abyan, a region previously under the control of Ansar al-Sharia, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in the region.
Just as the coalition government reclaiming its sovereignty over the southern province of Abyan where al-Qaeda had established and proclaimed two Islamic Caliphates: one in Jaar and the other in Zinjibar, security analysts' warnings the terror threat had only subsided a little is becoming all too real as Islamic militants are more and more boldly coming out of the wood work to carry out attacks against security officials and military personnel, preparing the ground for a larger assault.
On Thursday, officials in Lahj confirmed that a police officer was killed in a kill and run incident by two gunmen believed to be linked to Ansar al-Sharia.
"Two gunmen on a motorbike intercepted the police officer, a member of the political security services," in Huta, the provincial capital of Lahij, said the official.
This attack comes a day after three airforce pilots posted in al-Anad airbase were shot by terror operatives.
Over the past few months al-Qaeda in Yemen reverted to guerrilla warfare, having learned that it could not yet pretend to outweigh the impoverished nation's military might, especially since the central government is being back by its western allies in its opposition of Islamic extremism in the region.
However if al-Qaeda has lost its ability to control large swathes of lands, its continuous attacks against Yemen military and security services is slowly eroding confidence and moral, with officers having to live under constant vigilance.
Favoring motorbike attacks as they provide a fast and conspicuous mean to escape al-Qaeda has been replicating its kill and run tactics all over the country.
Despite recent efforts to clampdown on such attacks by the government through the issuance of a ban on all unregistered bikes, al-Qaeda has continued its targeting of officers almost undeterred.
To add insults to injuries, residents in Lahj have told the press al-Qaeda militants had been distributed leaflets warning of their upcoming arrivals in the provinces of Hadhramawt and Lahj.