Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Reported U.S. airstrike kills suspected AQAP militants in al Jawf governorate

Horn of Africa: Kenyan airstrike targets al Shabaab in Gedo region; Somali Prime Minister hosts meeting with foreign ambassadors regarding Somali stabilization efforts; mayor of Mogadishu announces security reform

Yemen Security Brief

• A reported U.S. airstrike killed a local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader, Moajab bin Aiz, and his bodyguard, Ali Hasan Hadhban, in Jabel Jame area in al Jawf governorate on March 12, according to a tribal source. Xinhua reported that three AQAP militants were killed in the strike.[1]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• The Deputy Governor of Gedo region, Ali Matan, reported that Kenyan forces carried out an airstrike on an al Shabaab base near Bardera in Gedo region on March 11. According to Matan, the airstrike killed 32 al Shabaab militants and injured 10 more.[2]

• Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed hosted a meeting of Somali government officials and foreign ambassadors on March 12. Ahmed briefed the meeting on the ongoing AMISOM and Somali joint offensive against al Shabaab in central Somalia, emphasizing the need for stabilization of liberated territory. According to Ahmed, the Somali government has sent a deputy minister and group of religious scholars to recently liberated towns to coordinate stabilization efforts.[3]

• The recently appointed mayor of Mogadisu, Hassan Mohamed Hussein, announced his intention to reform and improve security in Mogadishu within 90 days. Hussein, also known as Mungab, stated that the intended changes include replacing the leadership of the Somali police and the National Intelligence and Security Agency as well as more effective oversight.[4]