Gulf of Aden Security Review
A regularly updated review of both Yemen and the Horn of Africa covering topics related to security, governance, and militant activity.
Yemen: Saudi-led coalition claims killing al Houthi officials in airstrikes in northern Yemen
Horn of Africa: SNA forces claim killing suspected al Shabaab leader in southern Somalia; IS-linked militants threaten attack in Mozambique’s Mueda district
Yemen Security Brief:
The Saudi-led coalition claimed to kill several al Houthi officials in an airstrike in al Dhahra front in northern Yemen’s al Jawf governorate on November 16. Forces aligned with the internationally recognized Yemeni government claimed surrounding al Jawf governorate’s capital in early November.[1]
Horn of Africa Security Brief:
Somali National Army forces claimed to kill a suspected al Shabaab leader following operations in southern Somalia’s Middle and Lower Shabelle regions on November 15. Somalia’s Danab special forces allegedly killed a top al Shabaab commander in Afgoi town in Lower Shabelle in late October.[2]
Islamic State–linked militants threatened to attack Mueda district in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province. The insurgents urged Mueda residents to flee the district by November 20. Islamic State–linked militants reportedly attacked several villages and beheaded more than fifty civilians in Cabo Delgado’s Muidumbe and Macomia districts in early November.[3]
[1] “The commander of the eastern sector of Saada and the deputy of the border guards ... a valuable catch for the Arab coalition aircraft in Al-Jawf,” Al Mashhad al Yemeni, November 16, 2020, https://www.almashhad-alyemeni.com/185323; and Sarah Gordon and Hannah Kuperman, “Gulf of Aden Security Review – November 2, 2020,” Critical Threats Project at American Enterprise Institute, November 2, 2020, https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-november-2-2020.
[2] “Al-Shabaab Head of Radicalisation Killed in Operation–Somali Army,” Hiiraan, November 16, 2020, http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2020/Nov/180727/al_shabaab_head_of_radicalisation_killed_in_operation_somali_army.aspx; and Hannah Kuperman and Sarah Gordon, “Gulf of Aden Security Review – October 26, 2020,” Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, October 26, 2020, https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-october-26-2020.
[3] “Insurgents Threaten to Attack Mueda in 7 Days,” Pinnacle News, November 15, 2020, http://pinnaclenews.net/cabo-delgado-insurgentes-ameacam-atacar-mueda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cabo-delgado-insurgentes-ameacam-atacar-mueda; “Mozambique Tension in Mueda for Fear of Approaching the Insurgency,” E-global, November 15, 2020, https://e-global.pt/noticias/lusofonia/mocambique/mocambique-tensao-em-mueda-pelo-medo-de-aproximacao-da-insurgencia/; and “Militant Islamists ‘Behead More Than 50’ in Mozambique,” BBC, November 10, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54877202?ref=mwat.
