Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Republican Guard bases removed in Arhab district; Tunisian fighter reported killed in south Yemen

Horn of Africa: Suicide bombing in Beledweyne; KDF repel al Shabaab attack in Fafadun; TSC rejects 70 applicants to parliament; Diarra congratulates 602 AMISOM training graduates

Yemen Security Brief

• Yemen’s Military Affairs Committee took steps to remove troops from contested areas in Arhab district on August 16. Republican Guard forward-operating bases were removed in the district in an attempt to ease tensions.[1]

• A message posted on Shumukh al Islam forum on August 15 reported that Muhammad bin Muhammad, also known as Abu Hafs al Tunisi, was killed in Yemen. Muhammad was alleged to be a Tunisian fighter who had been killed “days ago” in al Manasih area in al Bayda governorate. He is from Benzert al Jala’a, possibly Bizerte, in Tunisia, and had spent years in a Tunisia prison.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• A suicide bomber blew himself up near Transitional Federal Government (TFG) commander Captain Sirad Omar Hish in Beledweyne in Hiraan region on August 16. Hish’s security guards were able to halt the bomber before the detonation, which did not result in any TFG casualties.[3]

• Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) killed 73 al Shabaab fighters during a large attack on their base in Fafadun in Gedo region late on August 15 according to Kenyan military sources. The KDF, who had foreknowledge of the attack, repelled the raid and sustained only two deaths and three injuries.[4]

• The Technical Selection Committee (TSC) tasked with choosing members of the next parliament rejected more than 70 applicants to parliament, including Abdulkadir Ali Omar, the former TFG Minister of the Interior and former leader in the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), and Mohammed Qanyare Afrah, a former member of parliament and the United Somali Congress (USC).[5]

• A group of 602 Somalis graduated from a training program in Uganda and Mogadishu led by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on August 14. AMISOM representative Ambassador Boubacar Diarra hailed the graduation on August 17, saying that the graduates would contribute to the AMISOM mission.[6]