Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh in talks to end the conflict in Yemen; Army Officers defect from al Houthi movement in Sana’a

Horn of Africa: CNN links Gedo region airstrikes to U.S.; Kenyan Defense Forces kill 24 al Shabaab militants in Gedo region

Yemen Security Brief

• Representatives of ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s political party, the General People’s Congress, are currently involved in negotiations with British, American, and Emirati officials within Cairo to bring about an end to the conflict in Yemen. Representatives of Saleh and his party are stating that prolonged conflict within Yemen will only further strengthen jihadist groups within the country.[1]

• Various army officers in Sana’a that are loyal to ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh are refusing to take part in the fight with the al Houthis against local popular resistance forces in Aden and Taiz. Reports have indicated that members of the al Houthi movement have followed defecting army officers back to their homes and have had them arrested.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• CNN alleged that the United States has conducted at least six airstrikes targeting al Shabaab militants in the past week. The article cites intelligence that that group was planning an attack on Kenya as the reason for the airstrikes and suggests that the strikes were timed with President Barack Obama’s visit to Nairobi later this week.[3]

• The Kenyan Defense Forces announced that they killed 24 al Shabaab militants during an attack on Bardhere Bridge, one of al Shabaab’s main supply routes, before forces friendly with the Somali government captured the group’s stronghold of Bardhere, Gedo region, on July 22. The soldiers also seized weapons during the attack.[4]