Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Ceasefire announced in Amran; Yemeni security forces interdict vehicle carrying weapons in Hadramawt

Horn of Africa: AMISOM and SNA forces seize territory from al Shabaab in Bakool region; Somali government official accuses ONLF of fighting with al Shabaab in Somalia

Yemen Security Brief

• A ceasefire between the Yemeni military and al Houthi rebels in Amran governorate will go into effect the afternoon of June 4, according to Yemen’s defense ministry website. Ongoing clashes have been reported. Under the ceasefire agreement, neutral military observers will deploy to Amran to supervise the process, order both sides to halt military activities, and open the main road to Sana’a. The agreement requires the al Houthis to withdraw from the Central Prison in Amran and release its security employees. On June 2, the al Houthis raided the Central Prison and released more than 430 prisoners; eight have been recaptured.[1]

• Yemeni security forces intercepted a vehicle carrying explosives, ammunition, and heavy weapons at a checkpoint in Hadramawt governorate on June 4. Clashes with suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) gunmen resulted in killing two gunmen, detaining four gunmen, and injuring two policemen. Separately, a Yemeni security official reported that units from the 37th Armored Brigade fired mortar shells at suspected AQAP positions in Wadi Hadramawt on June 3.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• AMISOM and Somali National Army (SNA) forces seized Rabdure in Bakool region from al Shabaab on June 4. The al Shabaab militants reportedly withdrew from the area after heavy clashes with the AMISOM and SNA forces. The extent of the casualties suffered during the confrontation remains unclear. After the fighting, a Bakool region government official, Mohamed Moalim Ahmed, declared that al Shabaab now only controls one district, Tayeglow, in Bakool region.[3]

• The governor of Bakool region, Mohamed Abdi Tall, announced that members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an ethnic Somali insurgent group operating in the Ogaden region in eastern Ethiopia, are fighting alongside al Shabaab in Somalia. Tall indicated that the shared enemy of Ethiopia has prompted the two groups to conduct joint attacks against villages and Ethiopian forces along the Ethiopian-Somalia border.[4]