Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: U.S. State Department issues travel warning for U.S. citizens in Yemen; Yemeni 9th Brigade arrives in Amran; al Houthi militants capture Yemeni soldiers in al Jawf; tribal sources report major al Houthi movement toward al Jawf; unidentified gunmen open fire in Lahij

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab militants attack SNA forces in Bay region; car bomb kills local government administrator in Mogadishu; Kenyan police conduct security operations in Kenya’s Coast Province; unidentified assailants attack Puntland military checkpoint in Mudug region

Yemen Security Brief

• The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning on July 21, calling for U.S. citizens to depart from Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest and to avoid travel to Yemen.[1]

• The Yemeni 9th Brigade arrived in Amran to take over control of the city from the Yemeni 310 Armored Brigade on July 21.[2]

• Al Houthi militants captured two soldiers from the Yemeni 115th Brigade in al Safra, al Jawf on July 22.[3]

• Anonymous tribal sources reported that hundreds of al Houthi militants traveled to Barakish and al Safra areas in al Jawf on July 22.[4]

• Unidentified gunmen, riding on a motorcycle, opened fire near the security administration building in al Hawtah, Lahij on July 21, wounding one Yemeni security officer.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Al Shabaab militants attacked Somali National Army (SNA) bases near Baidoa, Bay region on July 22. SNA forces, supported by troops from the Kenyan contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), repelled the attack.[6]

• A car bomb killed a district administrator, identified as Hussein Dini Doli, as he was driving in the Wardhigley district of Mogadishu on July 22. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.[7]

• Kenyan police arrested eight suspects on July 21 in connection with a July 20 attack in Mombasa, Kenya that killed four people. A Kenyan police official dismissed the stated motive of the attackers, who distributed leaflets identifying the violence as retribution for the June 15 Mpeketoni attack, instead asserting that the motive was merely to sow discord among the people of the region. Separately, Kenyan police arrested an unidentified terror suspect, confiscating arms and ammunition, in Kwale in Kenya’s Coast Province on July 21.[8]

• Unidentified assailants attacked a Puntland military checkpoint, detonating an unspecified explosive and killing one soldier, in Galkayo, Mudug region on July 22. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.[9]