Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: Clashes in Malahaidh and Harf Sufyan, capture of al Houthi leader Abud Shamlan; confirmation of senior anti-terrorism officer’s execution; new camp for IDPs opened in Mizraq; President Saleh to call for comprehensive national dialogue

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab takes over Dhobley from Hizb al Islam; Eritrean President warns against imposing sanctions on his country; Hizb al Islam orders government troops to leave Martini Hospital in Mogadishu; two journalists released after fifteen months of captivity; AMISOM troops’ payments in arrears since May

Yemen Security Review

• Fighting in Malahaidh left at least eight al Houthi rebels and four pro-government tribesmen dead. Fighting also took place in Harf Sufyan between the rebels and the Yemeni presidential guard. The Yemeni Defense Ministry reported that it had captured an al Houthi leader, Abud Shamlan, in addition to gaining control of Sabkhanah Hill in Malahaidh.[1]

• Yemen’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that a captured senior anti-terrorism officer was executed by a group with al Qaeda ties. A video of the killing has been posted online and has been transferred amongst mobile phone users in Mar’ib, al Jawf, Hadramawt, Abyan and Aden provinces. The video accused Major Bassam Tarbush, the captured officer, of being behind the assassination of al Qaeda leader Ali Qaed Sunian al Harithi, also known as Abu Ali, who was killed in Mar’ib by a U.S. Predator drone in 2002.[2]

• A new camp for internally displaced persons has been opened in the Mizraq region of Hajjah governorate. Residents of Mizraq I will be moved to Mizraq II in order to ameliorate conditions for them.[3]

• Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is to announce a new initiative for a comprehensive national dialogue. Reportedly, he will urge political forces to cooperate in order to strengthen the country.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Review

• Al Shabaab reportedly took over control of Dhobley, a strategic town near the Kenyan border. Hizb al Islam militants fled the town prior to al Shabaab’s arrival, along with many of the residents.[5]

• Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki warned the international community against imposing sanctions on his country as the U.N. Security Council reviews draft plans for punitive measures. He denied accusations that Eritrea has violated the arms embargo on Somalia saying “There is no reason at all for Eritrea to send arms to Somalia where there exists huge arsenal of armaments for a long time and is still the centre of arms sales.”[6]

• Hizb al Islam has called on all Transitional Federal Government forces to leave the Martini Hospital. The hospital is in Mogadishu and is a home for disabled veterans from the 1977 war with Ethiopia.[7]

• Two freelance journalists were released after being held hostage for fifteen months. Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian Nigel Brennan were kidnapped in Mogadishu in August 2008 when they went to visit a refugee camp. Both report that they were tortured and feared being sold to al Shabaab.[8]

• The African Union’s Special Representative to Somalia has reported that the Burundi and Uganda troops contributing to AMISOM have not been paid since May, which is undermining the mission in Somalia. Of over $295 million pledged in Brussels in April, only three million has been given – two million from the U.S. and one million from the Arab League.[9]