Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Al Houthi militants attack Saudi-led coalition forces in al Hudaydah governorate; Hadi government forces shoot down al Houthi drone in al Hudaydah governorate

Horn of Africa: Somali special forces attack al Shabaab north of Mogadishu; al Shabaab spokesman argues for ethnic Somalis in Kenya to help al Shabaab

Yemen Security Brief:

Al Houthi militants reportedly launched an attack on Saudi-led coalition forces in Jabal al Saqiya in al Hudaydah governorate in eastern Yemen on February 26. The al Houthi movement claimed it made new advancements and seized Wadi Shuwiq in al Ghail district in the northern al Jawf governorate following the attack.^[1]

Hadi government forces claimed to have shot down an al Houthi drone over al Durayhimi district in southern al Hudaydah governorate on February 25. Local sources reported that the Saudi-led coalition forces have shot down five al Houthi drones in al Hudaydah governorate over the past week. The Saudi-led coalition conducted an artillery barrage and shot down an al Houthi drone in al Durayhimi district in southern al Hudaydah governorate in mid-February.^[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief:

US-trained Somali Danab special forces conducted an operation against al Shabaab near the village of Basra north of the capital Mogadishu on February 26. The late-night offensive killed and captured a number of militants occupying the surrounding village farmland. Al Shabaab maintains a strong presence in the rural outskirts of Mogadishu.^[3]

Al Shabaab’s spokesman Ali Mohamad Rage (Ali Dheere) released a twenty minute audio recording on February 26 persuading ethnic Somalis in eastern Kenya to support al Shabaab. Rage cited Kenyan police brutality against Muslims, the Kenyan Army’s presence in Somalia, and unemployment as reasons for Somalis to betray the Kenyan government. Local residents spotted al Shabaab cells operating in eastern Kenya’s Wajir County in early February.^[4]