Gulf of Aden Security Review - April 26, 2011

Yemen: JMP accepts GCC power transition initiative; AQAP ambushes Republican Guard convoy in al Bayda clash; one protestor killed and many more injured in nationwide demonstrations; number of migrants to Yemen are increasing

Horn of Africa: TFG deputy defense minister announces preparations for southern offensive; al Shabaab criticizes U.S.- and Ethiopian-sponsored administration in Hiraan region; Ahlu Sunna captures trucks accused of transporting weapons

Yemen Security Brief

• Yemen state news agency, SABA Net, reported that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants ambushed a Republican Guard convoy. Two militants were killed and eight Republican Guard soldiers were injured in a clash in al Zaher district of al Bayda governorate.[1]

• Yemen's opposition bloc, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), accepted the GCC's transition plan. A JMP spokesman, Mohammed Qahtan, said, "We have accepted the gulf proposal on condition that the protests are allowed to continue until Saleh leaves office." A Yemeni official reported that both sides will sign an agreement April 27.[2]

• Yemeni troops fired on protestors in Taiz killing at least one person and injuring over ten other people. There are reports that some of the fire came from nearby rooftops. In Aden, at least three people were injured when Yemeni security forces  fired on protestors. Yemeni riot police fired on protestors in the town of Beit al Faqih in Hudadyah governorate, wounding eight protestors.[3]
  

• The International Organization for Migration (IOM), an inter-governmental organization, reported that the number of migrants to Yemen have increased despite the political instability. IOM Middle East regional advisor Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa said, “In March 2011, we have seen 9,000 new arrivals at the coast of Yemen. I think the number is growing every month." The majority of immigrants are Somalis seeking asylum and Ethiopians searching for employment.[4]
  

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Deputy Defense Minister Abdirashid Mohamed Hiddig said that TFG soldiers have deployed to Lower and Middle Jubba regions, as well as Bay and Bakool regions. In the Jubba regions, TFG forces have massed outside Afmadow town in Lower Jubba with the intention of capturing Bu'aale town in Middle Jubba region. In Gedo region, TFG forces intend to control Bardhere and Garbaharey before engaging with al Shabaab militias in the Bay and Bakool regions. Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama’a spokesman for the Gedo region Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al Qadi said that the group’s forces were prepared to launch an offensive against al Shabaab in Gedo and Bay regions.[5]
  

• The al Shabaab administration in Beledweyne released a statement saying that the U.S.- and Ethiopian-sponsored administration in Hiraan region had failed to replace and uproot al Shabaab's parallel Hiraan administration. Al Shabaab alderman Sheikh Ali Yusuf said, "These American and Ethiopian Agents have been created and funded to fight and eradicate the Mujahedeen, but now it’s very obvious that they have miserably failed in achieving anything close to their despicable goals, we can all see them fleeing the battle fields with their Ethiopian friends.”[6]
  

• Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama'a fighters confiscated at least ten trucks and luxury cars in Beled Hawo in Gedo. Ahlu Sunna said that the vehicles were transporting weapons.[7]