Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Al Houthis fight with former Republican Guard units near Sana’a; Security Forces clash with Ansar al Sharia in Ma’rib; security forces raid suspected Ansar al Sharia home in Ma’rib; Ansar al Sharia militants destroy Islamic shrine in Lahij

Horn of Africa: Somali forces capture al Shabaab militants in Gedo region; AMISOM forces liberate town in Lower Jubba region; Kenyan police arrest al Shabaab militant behind 2014 attacks in Mandera, North Eastern Region

Yemen Security Brief

• Al Houthi militants fought with former Republican Guard units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on January 28 at a military camp in Arhab, directly north of the capital Sana’a. Al Houthis reportedly looted weapons from the camp.[1]

• Suspected Ansar al Sharia militants ambushed a military convoy on January 29 in Jada’an, Ma’rib, near the Sana’a-Ma’rib border. Two soldiers were killed in the attack, and two others were wounded.[2]

• Security forces carried out a raid on a residence suspected of housing members of Ansar al Sharia on January 29 in Majzar, Ma’rib. Two soldiers and two of the militants were killed in the ensuing gunfight.[3]

• Suspected Ansar al Sharia militants destroyed an Islamic shrine in Hawta, Lahij on January 28. The act is consistent with the Wahhabi Salafism practiced by AQAP which views such shrines as un-Islamic.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Somali Government forces captured an undisclosed number of al Shabaab fighters during clashes on the outskirts of Garbaharey, Gedo region on January 29.[5]

• African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops liberated Janaa Cabdalle, Lower Jubba region from al Shabaab fighters on January 29. This comes after similar clashes between AMISOM forces and al Shabaab fighters in the Lower Jubba region on January 27.[6]

• Kenyan police arrested a man they claim to be an al Shabaab member in Mandera, North Eastern region on January 29. Kenyan authorities claim that they have enough information to prove that the suspect was behind two attacks in the city in 2014.[7]