Yemen: Al Qaeda-linked militants attack military base in Abyan

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab arrests three youths in Lower Shabelle region; Baidoa resident reports al Shabaab arrested imams from local mosques; al Shabaab bans loudspeakers for prayer in Jowhar; al Shabaab militants display captured vehicles in Gedo region

Yemen Security Brief

  • Al Qaeda-linked militants operating in Abyan governorate attacked a military camp in Dofes. The militants were armed with rocket-launchers and automatic weapons. At least six Yemeni soldiers and an officer were killed, and thirty others were injured in the attack. Thirty militants were reported killed, including a Saudi, Abu Bakr, reportedly the local head of al Qaeda, and forty others were wounded.[1]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

  • Al Shabaab arrested three youths in Barawe in Lower Shabelle region. The group accused the youths of spying for Transitional Federal Government (TFG) intelligence agencies.[2]
  • A local resident in Baidoa, the capital of Bay region, reported that al Shabaab militants arrested the imams from three mosques in Baidoa’s Towba, al Qudus, and Hawl Wadag neighborhoods.[3]
  • Al Shabaab in Jowhar in Middle Shabelle region ordered imams to keep the tahajjud prayer, which is a voluntary, nighttime prayer, secret. The group forbade the use of loudspeakers during that prayer.[4]
  • Al Shabaab militants displayed six captured vehicles and trucks, taken from TFG forces in Busar, near Elwaq in Gedo region.[5]


[1] “Yemen Army Hits Back After al-Qaeda Attack: Officials,” AFP, August 23, 2011. Available: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRPi13PvqIYl3Rx8SMMx580kClbw?docId=CNG.3e0b0bf5d6ffc0bbe6aa04cf441762df.221
“Yemen Airstrikes Kill 30 Militants; 8 Soldiers Die,” AP, August 24, 2011. Available: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/08/24/general-ml-yemen_8639541.html
[2] “Al-Shabab Withdraws 3 Spy Suspects from Their Houses in Barawe,” Mareeg Online, August 24, 2011. Available: http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?Al-Shabab-withdraws-3-spy-suspects-from-their-houses-in-Barawe&sid=20843&tirsan=3
“Al Shabaab Arrests Young People Accused of Having Links with TFG,” Shabelle Media Network, August 24, 2011. Available: http://www.shabelle.net/article.php?id=10037
[3] “Al-Shabaab Detains Imams in Baidoa Town, Bay Region,” Radio Bar-Kulan, August 24, 2011. Available: http://www.bar-kulan.com/2011/08/24/al-shabaab-detains-imams-in-baidoa-town-bay-region/
[4] “Al-Shabaab Bans Loudspeakers in Jowhar Mosques,” Radio Bar-Kulan, August 24, 2011. Available: http://www.bar-kulan.com/2011/08/24/al-shabaab-bans-loudspeakers-in-jowhar-mosques/
[5] “Shabab Displays Captured Armed Vehicles from T.F.G. in Bardhere,” Mareeg Online, August 24, 2011. Available: http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?-Shabab-displays-captured-armed-vehicles-from-T.F.G-in-Bardhere&sid=20846&tirsan=3
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