Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: AQAP asks for help from Ma’rib tribes, promises retaliation for airstrike; International Red Cross says Yemen removed most landmines from 1980s

Horn of Africa: Mogadishu fighting kills 20 after rebels attack TFG positions; U.S. Sen. Feingold demands end to Somali aid over TFG enlistment of child soldiers; Ethiopia agrees to ceasefire with ONLF rebels; Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama’a leader accuses TFG of failing to uphold deal; Himan and Heeb administration executes man in Galgudud

Yemen Security Brief

• AQAP issued a communiqué calling on tribes in Ma’rib province to join an insurgency against the government and urged them not to turn in al Qaeda operatives. The statement also promised retaliation for a botched airstrike last month that killed a provincial official.[1]

• Yemen has successfully removed about 80 percent of the landmines planted throughout the country in the 1980s according to an International Red Cross official.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Fighting between TFG forces and Islamist militants killed at least 20 people throughout Mogadishu Friday after the rebels attacked government positions.[3]

• U.S. Senator Russ Feingold denounced the TFG for its use of child soldiers and demanded that the American government cut aid to the Somali government until it addresses the issue.[4]

• The Ethiopian government and ONLF rebels agreed to a ceasefire following direct talks between the two parties.[5]

• An Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama’a leader accused the TFG of failing to honor a power-sharing agreement between them. Sheikh Omar Abdulkadir said his group submitted names for government posts, but the TFG has acted slowly in making those appointments.[6]

• The Himan and Heeb administration executed a man in Adado in Galgudud region for the murder of another man.[7]