Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Yemeni Prime Minister refuses al Houthi unity government proposal; UN Special Envoy for Yemen urges both delegations to take responsibility in their participation in the UN-led peace talks; Saudi-led coalition conducts more than 10 airstrikes on al Houthi positions in Amran

Horn of Africa: AMISOM troops arrive in Beledweyne, Hiraan region to mediate clan clashes; UNSC delegation arrives in Mogadishu to discuss disputed federal election system

Yemen Security Brief

• Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Daghir rejected an al Houthi proposal for a unified government during a cabinet meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18. Bin Daghir accused the al Houthis of collapsing the nation’s economy by spending $3 billion of Yemen’s monetary reserves. He reiterated the Hadi government’s position that the al Houthi forces and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh disarm and withdraw from seized territory before any discussion of a unified government.[1]

• UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed met with President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s delegation in Kuwait on May 19 to dissuade the delegation from leaving the UN-led peace talks. President Hadi’s delegation suspended its participation in the negotiations on May 17 and threatened to withdraw from the talks due to the al Houthi and General People’s Congress (GPC) party delegation’s refusal to acknowledge President Hadi and implement UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls for al Houthi-Saleh forces to disarm and withdraw from seized territories. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Twitter that the UN offers flexibility to both delegations but insists that the delegations take initiative in achieving progress towards a peace agreement.[2]

• The Saudi-led coalition conducted more than 10 airstrikes on al Houthi positions in Harf Sufyan, Amran governorate on May 18. The coalition targeted military positions recently seized by al Houthi-Saleh forces from the 29th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, also known as the Giants, who have remained neutral in the current conflict. Al Houthi-Saleh forces seized the Giants Brigade’s base on May 1, from which they may have launched a ballistic missile toward Saudi Arabia on May 13.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops entered the Howlwadag neighborhood of Beledweyne, Hiraan region in an attempt to stop ongoing clan clashes, which began on May 17. Attempts by the Somali National Army (SNA) and local government officials to halt the violence have failed.[4]

• Representatives of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) arrived in Mogadishu on May 18 to meet with high-level Somali Federal Government officials to discuss disagreements over the proposed unified electoral model for the 2016 Somali Federal elections. Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had asked the Somali Parliament to accept the unified system before the UNSC meeting.[5]