Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Al Houthi drone and missile strikes kills dozens at military camp in Aden; unidentified militants conduct multiple SVBIED attacks on police station in Aden; al Houthi movement claims ballistic missile strike in eastern Saudi Arabia

Horn of Africa: Suspected US aircraft conduct airstrikes in Lower and Middle Jubba regions; suspected al Shabaab militants kill clan elder in Kismayo; Mogadishu mayor dies from injuries sustained in al Shabaab attack; SFG President renounces US citizenship

Yemen Security Brief

The al Houthi movement conducted a drone and ballistic missile strike on al Jalaa military camp in Aden city in southern Yemen on August 1. The strike killed at least 40 people, including the commander of the First Support Brigade of the UAE-backed al Hizam Security Forces, Brigadier General Munir Mahmoud al Yafa’i AKA Abu Yamama. The al Houthi movement conducted the attack during an al Hizam graduation ceremony and parade at the camp.[1]

Unidentified militants detonated multiple suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIEDs) at a police station in Omar al Mokhtar neighborhood in Aden city on the morning of August 1. Multiple suicide bombers drove a car, a bus, and three motorcycles rigged with explosives into the gates of the police station during the police’s morning roll call. The attack killed at least 11 people and wounded at least 29 others. No group has claimed the attack.[2]

The al Houthi movement claimed a ballistic missile strike on a military base near al Dammam city in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern region on August 1. The Saudi-led coalition has not commented on the claim.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

Suspected US aircraft conducted multiple airstrikes against al Shabaab militants in southern Somalia on August 1. Aircraft conducted a strike in Jamame town in Lower Jubba region and a strike in Jilib town in Middle Jubba region. Somali Federal Government (SFG) officials claimed that US aircraft conducted the strikes and said that they had killed senior al Shabaab officials. United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has not confirmed the strikes.^[4]

Suspected al Shabaab militants killed clan elder Sultan Rashid Durre Omar in Kismayo, the capital of Jubbaland state in southern Somalia, on July 31.^[5]

The mayor of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Abdirahman Omar Osman, died in Doha, Qatar on August 1 from injuries sustained during a recent al Shabaab attack in Mogadishu. An al Shabaab militant attacked Mayor Osman’s office with a suicide vest on July 24.^[6]

SFG President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo voluntarily renounced his US citizenship on August 1. President Farmajo began the process to renounce his US citizenship after being elected President in 2017. The SFG’s provisional constitution allows Presidents to hold dual citizenship.^[7]

Visit our Yemen, Somalia and Saudi Arabia.