Gulf of Aden Security Review

Yemen: UAE withdraws 200 troops from Aden; Hadi government-aligned forces intercept al Houthi drone in al Jawf; Hadi government-aligned forces repel al Houthi attack in Hudaydah governorate

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab militants detonate IED outside Mogadishu; Somali security forces arrest 60 suspected al Shabaab militants in Mogadishu; Mozambican security forces raid Salafi-jihadi militants’ base in Cabo Delgado province

Yemen Security Brief 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) withdrew 200 of its soldiers from Aden port city, Yemen’s de facto capital, on October 8. The Transitional Political Council for the South (STC), a UAE-backed southern separatist group that has controlled Aden since August, is close to reaching a deal with President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognized government that would end the Aden standoff and have Saudi forces take temporary control of the city.[1]

Hadi government-aligned forces intercepted an al Houthi drone in al Jawf governorate in northern Yemen on October 8. The drone was targeting Hadi government-aligned forces’ positions in the area. Hadi government-aligned forces previously claimed to intercept an Iranian-made al Houthi drone in Hajjah governorate in northwestern Yemen on October 5.[2]

Hadi government-aligned forces claimed to have thwarted an al Houthi offensive in southern al Hudaydah governorate on October 8. Pro-Hadi government media accused the al Houthi movement of violating the 2018 UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement, which calls for the demilitarization of parts of al Hudaydah governorate.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

Al Shabaab detonated a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) targeting Turkish-trained Somali National Army (SNA) troops on the outskirts of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on October 8. The explosion killed four soldiers and injured five others.[4]

SNA troops and Somali police arrested at least 60 suspected al Shabaab militants in raids in Bulla Hubey area in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district on October 9. Security forces interrogated the suspects for information on an IED blast that had occurred the previous night.[5]

Mozambican security forces raided a base belonging to Salafi-jihadi militants in Mitope village in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province on October 5. Security forces killed nine militants. One local official reported that a Russian national fighting alongside government forces died in the operation. A Kremlin spokesman denied any Russian military presence in Mozambique.[6]

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