Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Yemeni fighter jets bombed al Houthi positions in al Jawf; government troops continue offensive in the old city of Sa’ada; two injured by bomb in Lahij province; population has doubled in the main camp for IDPs

Horn of Africa: President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed vowed to escalate war against insurgents; the December 3 suicide bomber was reportedly a Somali-Danish man; al Shabaab has banned the selling of qat in Afmadow and Dhobley districts; two students killed by Hizb al Islam militants

Yemen Security Brief

• Government forces are conducting clearance operations in the old city of Sa’ada.  Reportedly, the government had originally hesitated advancing into the old city because of the high-risk posed to civilians.  The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that special forces killed two al Houthi field commanders and arrested six others during special operations in Sa’ada city.[1]

• In al Jawf province, Yemeni fighter jets bombed al Houthi rebel positions in al Zaher area.  Military sources report that the air strikes destroyed the house of Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hamtan, where the rebels frequently held meetings, and killed everyone inside.  Tribal sheikhs reportedly cooperate with the al Houthi rebels not for ideological reasons, but as a form of opposition to the government.[2]

• In Lahij province, separatists detonated a bomb during a march protesting a new cabinet decision to require licenses for motorcycles.  A civilian and a soldier were seriously injured by the explosion.[3]

• Government officials report that the population of Yemen’s main camp for internally displaced persons has doubled over the past few weeks with the escalation of fighting between al Houthi rebels and government forces.  Al Mazraq 1 camp now has about 20,000 IDPs and al Mazraq 2 was already established, with funding from the UAE, as an overflow camp.  A third camp is due to be created to further reduce the number of IDPs currently in al Mazraq 1.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed vowed to escalate the war against insurgents in his country.  The Transitional Federal Government only controls a few districts of Mogadishu and its troops are attacked daily by Islamists.[5]

• Reports have surfaced that the suicide bomber was a Danish-Somali man.  According to a Danish intelligence service (PET) press release, the 25-year-old man had moved to Denmark when he was five and is one of many with Danish connections to have trained as a terrorist abroad.[6]

• Al Shabaab has banned the selling of qat, a narcotic root, in the Afmadow and Dhobley districts in the Lower Jubba region.[7]

• Witnesses report that two students were killed Tuesday afternoon when Hizb al Islam militants opened fire on students who were demonstrating against the group in Elasha Biyaha, approximately 15 km south of Mogadishu.  Students threw stones at Hizb al Islam vehicles, and the militants responded with gunfire.  These students are from the school that Hizb al Islam militants had entered, replaced the Somali flag with an Islamist one, and arrested the headmaster.[8]