AQY had written a message in their e-magazine a week prior to the attack vowing to free their jailed members and exact revenge for the killing of their militants.

[4] The four militants were waiting in a Toyota pickup truck parked by the side of a speed bump along a rural road the Wadi Dawan near the city of al-Hajarayn.

[5] At around 12:15 p.m. AST (UTC+3), coinciding with the time of Friday prayers, the masked militants opened fire on the convoy as it slowed down by the speed bump.

[9] The attackers killed two Belgian women, identified as 65-year-old Claudine Van Caillie and 54-year-old Katrine Glorie, and their Yemeni driver Ahmed al-Amiri.

[4][2] Twelve of the tourists returned to Belgium on 19 January, while Coucke was transferred to Sanaa amid arrangements for his repatriation in coordination with the Belgian government.

[11] AQY's official information officer Sayf Muhammad later issued a statement denying that the interview with al-Wasat was legitimate or that the caller had a relationship with the group.

[10] Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt denounced the attacks as "dramatic and unacceptable" in a statement, issuing condolences to the victims and urging the Yemeni government to track down the perpetrators.

[25] The Wadi Dawan attack, in conjunction with the Marib bombing in 2007, lead to a significant negative effect on the tourist sector in Yemen.