Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: State Department confirms 3 of 12 detained Americans held on terrorism charges; 14 wounded in raid on home of al Qaeda operative

Horn of Africa: TFG ministers resign, former Defense Minister Indho Adde says governmentt has failed; explosion kills seven TFG security officers in Mogadishu; al Shabaab issues fatwa against UK-based Somali station; al Shabaab militants surround five Mogadishu radio stations, prevent relocation; Mareeg: Shabaab deputy leader wounded in Mogadishu fighting; TFG MP accuses AMISOM of civilian massacre; Ahlu Sunna blames TFG for failing power-sharing agreement

Yemen Security Brief

• The U.S. State Department confirmed Tuesday that 3 of 12 Americans being held in Yemen were detained on terrorism charges.  However, officials said none of these individuals had been arrested in recent weeks, contrary to earlier reports.  The remaining individuals are being held on other criminal charges.[1]

• Yemeni forces raided the home of a suspected al Qaeda operative, Saleh Areydan, in Wadi Abeida in Ma’rib province.  Areydan is suspected to have killed Yemeni military brigade leader Mohamed Saleh al Shaief.  Residents report the home belonged to second AQ operative, Hassan al Aqili, also wanted for the officer’s death.  Tribesmen clashed with the Yemeni forces and ten soldiers and four civilians were wounded.  The suspect managed to escape.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• At least three TFG ministers resigned Tuesday, including Defense Minister Indho Adde, who  said he quit because the government was ineffective and failed to live up to its promises. Higher Education Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar and the State Minister for the Presidency Hassan Moalim Mohamud resigned as well. The BBC reports that Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, Minister of International Co-operation also quit the government.[3]

• An explosion killed seven TFG security officers in Mogadishu Wednesday. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.[4]

• Al Shabaab issued a fatwa Wednesday concerning U.K.-based Somali station Universal TV, with which it severed ties last week. The group denounced the station’s report on a cartoon depicted the Prophet Mohammed published by the South African Globe and Mail, and called for the killing of the reporter and the station’s managers.[5]

• Al Shabaab militants surrounded five radio stations in Mogadishu’s Bakara Market to prevent them from relocating to government controlled areas in the city.[6]

• Mareeg reports that al Shabaab deputy leader Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali Abu Mansur was wounded in last week’s Mogadishu fighting.[7]

• Somali MP Dahir Abdulqadir Muse accused AMISOM troops of massacring Somali civilians and demanded they withdraw from the country immediately.[8]

• Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama’a’s Sheikh Omar Adan said the TFG is to blame for the failure of their power sharing agreement. He said all of his group’s internal divisions on the agreement are settled, but the government has failed to follow through on its end of the deal.[9]