Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Mediation team seeking ceasefire between al Houthis and tribesmen returns to Sana’a; Hadramawt Tribal Confederacy clashes with soldiers in Hadramawt; gunman kills Yemeni solider in Ma’rib; Southern Movement fighters steal truck in al Dhaleh; Yemeni police find and clear IED in Sana’a

Horn of Africa: AMISOM and Somali forces clear an al Shabaab outpost in Lower Jubba region; unidentified gunmen kill prominent Somali cleric in Mogadishu; Kenyan police threaten to close mosque in Mombasa

Yemen Security Brief

• The presidential committee charged with forging a ceasefire between the al Houthis and Arhab tribesmen in Sana’a governorate returned to the capital on February 6. The committee said the al Houthis would not give up their roadblocks and checkpoints as outlined in the ceasefire.[1]

• Fighters from the Hadramawt Tribal Confederacy (HTC) clashed with soldiers guarding oil installations in Ghayl Bin Yamin district in Hadramawt governorate on February 7. The exact number of casualties remains unknown. The fighting comes after the HTC announced on February 6 that it would prevent attempts to repair a damaged oil pipeline in the governorate to stop oil production.[2]

• An unknown gunman riding a motorcycle shot and killed a Yemeni soldier just north of Ma’rib city on February 6.[3]

• Southern Movement militants stole a truck in Damt, al Dhaleh governorate on February 6 transporting chickens to Aden city. Southern Movement fighters stole a similar truck the weekend before and used it in a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack on government compound in al Dhaleh on February 2.[4]

• Yemeni police in Azal, Sana’a found and cleared an IED on February 6. The police began an investigation into the bomb.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• AMISOM and Somali government forces attacked an al Shabaab outpost on February 6 in Hagar near Afmadow in Lower Jubba region. The joint operation effectively cleared the outpost, killing seven al Shabaab militants as well as recovering arms and equipment.[6]

• Unidentified gunmen killed a prominent cleric, Sheikh Abdihamid Sheikh Abdil Bari Fiqi, on February 6 in Wadajir district in Mogadishu. No group has claimed responsibility for the targeted killing.[7]

• A Kenyan police spokesman confirmed on February 6 that Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) recommended closing Mussa Mosque in the Majengo neighborhood of Mombasa. The spokesman stated that Kenyan police may enforce the closure if Muslim leaders fail to curb extremist preaching at the al Shabaab-linked mosque, which was the site of the February 2 Kenyan police raid that inspired several days of violent protest.[8]