Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Saudi prisoner escapes to Yemen and joins AQAP; gunmen shoot and injure Yemeni Oil Company manager; Yemeni embassy in Saudi Arabia negotiating on Yemeni guest worker issue; security forces find and defuse car bomb in Hadramawt governorate; Tihami Movement supporters clash with security forces in al Hudaydah city; tribal gunmen cut off Sana’a-Ma’rib road at multiple locations; protesters clash in Taiz governorate; protesters shut down public works office and cut off roads in Ibb governorate

Horn of Africa: Improvised explosive device explodes outside Dahabshiil Bank headquarters in Mogadishu; al Shabaab claims to be in possession of Somali classified materials; three prisoners reportedly killed by Somali troops; Somali prime minister begins trip to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Burundi; AMISOM troops reopen Mogadishu-Baidoa road; Puntland authorities order closure of three radio stations

Yemen Security Brief

• Arwa Essam Baghdadi, a Saudi security prisoner released on bail, fled from Saudi Arabia to Yemen, where she joined al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), according to a posting on her Twitter account on April 3.[1]

• Gunmen loyal to businessman Tawfiq Abdul Rahim shot and injured the manager of the Yemeni Oil Company’s Aden Branch, Suhail Awadh, on April 3 in Aden.[2]

• The Yemeni Embassy in Saudi Arabia is negotiating with the Saudi government to alter the Saudi policy of deporting Yemeni guest workers not working for their visa sponsors. The embassy announced in a statement on April 3 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a Saudi company operating under the Saudi Ministry of Labor to accommodate these workers.[3]

• Security forces found and defused a car bomb planted in the car of Brigadier General Nasser Lakhtam, the deputy traffic chief of Hadramawt governorate, on April 3.[4]

• Tihami Movement supporters attempted to storm a police station in al Hudaydah city, al Hudaydah governorate on April 2. One Central Security officer and one soldier were killed in the incident, as were two Tihami Movement supporters. Fifteen others were also wounded in Central Security efforts to disperse protests outside the building using tear gas.[5]

• Tribal gunmen demanding concessions from the government cut off the Sana’a-Ma’rib road at multiple locations, including the al Qardh and al Dhaleel areas, on April 2.[6]

• Protesters demanding the reinstatement of the Taiz director of education clashed with the families of those wounded and killed in the 2011 Yemen uprising in Taiz governorate on April 2. Two were wounded in the incident.[7]

• Protesters have shut down the Public Works Office and cut off a number of roads in Ibb governorate since March 30, demanding the replacement of the office’s director-general due to allegations of corruption and denying workers’ rights.[8]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded outside the headquarters of Dahabshiil Bank in Mogadishu, wounding two, on April 2.[9]

• Al Shabaab’s HSM Press Office announced that al Shabaab had taken and would soon distribute documents containing classified information from the office of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a press release on its Twitter account on April 3.[10]

• Three prisoners in Somali government custody were reportedly shot and killed by Somali troops in Baled Hawo, Gedo region on April 2.[11]

• Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon left Somalia on April 3 to meet with foreign leaders in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Burundi.[12]

• AMISOM troops recaptured and reopened the Mogadishu-to-Baidoa road on April 1.[13]

• Puntland authorities ordered that three radio stations, Radio Daljir, Radio One Nation, and Radio Voice of Peace, be shut down, alleging that the radio stations violated internal security protocols and threatened Puntland security.[14]