Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Nigerian men face court charges for AQAP connection; security services discover a landmine in Dhamar governorate; German government donates € 77 million to Yemen

Horn of Africa: AMISOM assumes command of Kenyan troops in Somalia; Somalia challenges Kenyan oil claims; captured militant to face charges; Kenyan police arrest man in Nakuru and in Mwingi; over 3000 people arrested in Mogadishu; al Shabaab beheads local sheikh

Yemen Security Brief

• According to the Nigerian Federal High Court, two Nigerian men collected close to $6,200 from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in order to fund Nigerian military training. Lukaman Babtunde “provided facilities for a meeting . . . connected to an act of terrorism,” and Olaniyi collected the money to “recruit and transport members” from Nigeria to Yemen for “combat training in terrorism,” according to the court document.[1]

• September 26 reported a landmine discovered in the market of Mabar city in Dhamar governorate, on the main road connecting the southern governorates to Sana’a. Security services barricaded the area and evacuated bystanders while special teams cleared the streets. In the process of dismantling the mine, special teams found at least three others.[2]

• The German government allocated € 77 million to Yemen for technical and financial advancements in resources, transitional government, and social protection. This was announced during the signing of the developmental cooperation minutes with Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed al Saadi.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• AMISOM has assumed formal command of Kenyan troops in Somalia, raising AMISOM’s force strength to about 17,000 after the addition of 4664 Kenyan personnel. A ceremony at the Kenyan Department of Defense headquarters in Nairobi marked the occasion. Special Representative of the Chairman of the AU Commission for Somalia, Ambassador Boubacar Diarra, said “the integration of Kenyan forces into AMISOM will provide a boost to the effort to secure the Somali peace process.”[4]

• Somalia’s Transitional Federal government (TFG) deputy energy minister, Abdullahi Dool, accused Kenya of awarding invalid oil contracts to Total and Eni off the Somali-Kenyan coast.[5]

• Mohamoud Nuh, an al Shabaab militant captured after leading a nighttime attack on a military base in Beled Hawo town in Gedo region, will face trial. A member of Somalia’s parliament, Mohamoud Sayid Adan, pledged that Nuh, who was injured in the attack, will soon appear in court to face charges.[6]

• Kenyan police arrested a man attempting to sneak into an Agricultural Show in Nakuru with two grenades moments before Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki arrived. Separately, police arrested a man, Ahmed Adan, and his father, Abdi Mohamed, in Mwingi in Kenya on a bus destined for Nairobi. Adan claimed that he is a TFG soldier taking his father to Nairobi for medical treatment. Kenyan police have been on high alert since the July 1 attacks in Garissa.[7]

• The TFG national security agency reported that over 3000 people were arrested in the search operation in Mogadishu that began on July 5. Additionally, TFG and African Union Forces (AMISOM) arrested at least ten alleged al Shabaab militants in Bal’ad town, contributing to the joint search operation.[8]

• Al Shabaab militants beheaded a religious leader, Sheikh Abdisalam Mohamed Barre, in Bergaan village in Galgudud region. He had been in al Shabaab’s custody since the group seized control of Elbur district last month.[9]