Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: AQAP claims attacks against al Houthis in al Bayda; SVEST attack targets al Houthi checkpoint in Lahij governorate; VBIED attack targets al Houthis in al Bayda

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab kills two Somali intelligence officers; unclaimed attack leaves Beledweyne elder dead

Yemen Security Brief  

• Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility on for a June 22 suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) attack at al Rawdha checkpoint in al Bayda as well as the killing of dozens of al Houthi members after clashes in the al Zowb area of al Bayda. Additionally AQAP stated that they executed an attack on June 22 on a prison and police building in the al Kud area of Abyan governorate as well as a rocket attack targeting an al Houthi gathering in al Hudaydah governorate.[1] 

• Unidentified militants detonated a suicide vest (SVEST) at an al Houthi-controlled checkpoint in Lahij on June 23.  It is unclear if AQAP is responsible for the attack.[2]

• Unidentified militants detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) targeting al Houthis near the eastern entrance to al Bayda city on June 22.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Al Shabaab militants reportedly killed two Somali intelligence officers in the Huriwa district of Mogadishu on June 22. The attack comes two days after al Shabaab’s attempted attack on an intelligence training center in the city was thwarted by security forces.[4]

• Suspected al Shabaab militants killed local elder Xassan Oog in Beledweyne, Hiraan region, on June 22. Local authorities believe al Shabaab is behind the elder’s death due to his support of the African Union Mission in Somalia’s presence in the town. Al Shabaab is believed to be behind the June 20 death of local elder Mumin Barre in an unknown fashion in Beledweyne.[5]