Gulf of Aden Security Review - September 28, 2011

Yemen: Anti-government tribesmen shoot down Yemeni jet; AQAP releases seventh edition on Inspire

Horn of Africa: TFG conducts security operation in Mogadishu; 10 dead and 12 wounded in fighting in Gedo; Somali president tells soldiers not to harm civilians

Yemen Security Brief

• Tribesmen from the Nihm and Arhab districts shot down a Sukhoi-22, a Russian-made fighter jet, with anti-aircraft missiles and captured its pilot in the village of Beit Azar in Arhab, north of Sana’a. Tribal fighters cite the attack as defensive saying that government warplanes have launched attacks against tribal fighters in the region. Yemen’s Defense Ministry confirmed that a warplane was shot down but blamed defected General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar and other opposition groups for the attack.[1]

• Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new issue of its English-language magazine, Inspire, on September 27. The 20-page issue praises the 9/11 terrorist attacks and features advertisements for future releases, a piece by Anwar al Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric and Adam Gadahn, the American spokesman for al Qaeda. A piece called "The Media Conflict," written by Samir Khan, discusses the importance of the media for propaganda and support. He notes that AQAP leader Nasser al Wahayshi said, “Remember, the media work is half the jihad.” The issue commemorates the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and features a collection of quotes and commentary from supporters of the AQ movement and from leading American and European politicians and media figures.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has begun a security operation in Mogadishu to clear the city’s roads.  The operation will focus on the road leading to Afgoi, the site of numerous recent attacks.[3]

• Heavy fighting between al Shabaab and TFG forces killed ten and wounded 12 others in the Gedo region near the city of Garbaharey.  Mohamud Sayid Adam, a Somali MP in the nearby city, said that the group al Shabaab attacked TFG forces, but TFG forces ultimately repelled the attack and captured the village from which the group was operating.[4]

• TFG President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed warned TFG soldiers not to harm civilians, especially the internally displaced persons (IDPs).  He commented that some soldiers had set up illegal checkpoints to rob civilians passing through them.  He said that all soldiers who continue to harass civilians would have strict action taken against them.[5]