Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: President says Yemen willing to talk with disarmed al Qaeda militants; Southern Movement strike in Dhaleh and Lahj province; al Houthi sleeper cell arrested; at least twenty al Houthi rebels killed in Sa’ada

Horn of Africa: Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a executes al Shabaab commander in Dhusa Mareb; at least eighteen people killed in fighting in Beledweyne; Somali MP found dead in his hotel; al Shabaab arrests at least ten men in Kismayo; Somaliland thwarts bomb attack on mosque

Yemen Security Review

• President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that the government would crack down on all al Qaeda operatives; however, it would talk to any Qaeda follower who “renounces violence and terrorism.”  Last week, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al Qirbi said the government was mistaken to have ignored al Qaeda in order to address the northern and southern challenges.  “I think,” he said, “our fault was that maybe we should spare al Qaeda in the last year, but al Qaeda took advantage of that.”[1]

• A Southern Movement call for a strike has shut down Dhaleh and Lahj provinces, but in Abyan, business continued as usual.  The strike was in response to the “continuous harassment against the people of the south,” evidenced by the recent incident involving al Ayyam newspaper.[2]

• The Yemeni Interior Ministry reports that an al Houthi sleeper cell was arrested in al Wahda and al Thawra districts of Sa’ada.  Reportedly, the cell was plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in the capital.[3]

• A military statement reported that over twenty al Houthi rebels had been killed in fighting in different areas of Sa’ada.  At least ten rebels died in air strikes on the hideout of field leader Ali Ahmed Ghanim in Haidan.  Another ten were killed during a rebel assault on government forces in the area of al Khazan near the Saudi border.  Three Somalis were arrested in that area.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Review

• Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a executed an al Shabaab commander in Dhusa Mareb in public on Sunday.  Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a’s spokesman, spoke of the execution saying, “We don’t normally kill al Shabaab members.  We arrest them and make them understand that Islam means peace . . . This commander insisted that all people were infidels except his group . . . What else are we supposed to do to those who believe they will go to paradise for killing us and the whole human race?”[5]

• At least eighteen people have been killed in fighting between Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a and Hizb al Islam in Beledweyne.  Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a took over the eastern part of town Sunday.  Hizb al Islam regrouped and launched a counter attack this morning in an effort to regain control over the town.[6]

• The body of a Somali MP, Mohamed Hussein Ra’is, was found in a bathroom in Hotel Muna in Mogadishu, where he was living.  The Deputy Speaker of the House, Mohamed Omar Dalha, confirmed Ra’is’s death.[7]

• At least three people have been killed and eight more injured in fighting between al Shabaab and government forces in Abdul Aziz district in Mogadishu.  Government troops attacked al Shabaab bases in the area.  The total number of casualties from both sides is not yet clear.[8]

• A special unit of al Shabaab has arrested more than ten men in Kismayo for defying al Shabaab’s orders.  The men shaved their beards and have reportedly been tortured and harassed by al Shabaab militants.[9]

• Somaliland security forces report that they have thwarted an attack on Imam Sheikh Aden Sira’s mosque in the capital, Hargeisa.  Sheikh Aden Sira has spoken publicly against suicide bombings in Islam and was most likely targeted by al Shabaaab, which has threatened him.[10]