Gulf of Aden Security Review - January 4, 2012

Yemen: Al Qaeda-linked militants storm and set fire to a hotel in Aden

Horn of Africa: Kenyan and Somali troops seize town; al Shabaab withdraws from Bulobarde; Kenyan security forces allegedly arrest hundreds of Somalis living in Mandera, Kenya; gunmen abduct Galmudug education minister in Galkayo; TFG soldier kills two civilians and injures one other in Mogadishu

Yemen Security Brief

• Al Qaeda-linked militants stormed and set fire to an Aden hotel, the Layali Dubai, that served alcohol killing two people and wounding 20 others. A hotel guest said that about five masked militants came into the hotel and shot at random. The militants then poured fuel on the hotel’s carpets and set it ablaze.[1]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed that Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) and Somali government troops seized Farfadun, a town south of Bardhere in Gedo region. One Kenyan soldier was injured and three al Shabaab militants were killed. Chirchir also reported that a “key” al Shabaab leader in Gedo, Sheikh Hassan Hussein, was killed.[2]

• Eyewitnesses reported that they saw vehicles with armed al Shabaab militants departing Bulobarde in Hiraan region in central Somalia towards the south. Bulobarde is located 120 kilometers north of Beledweyne and is the second largest town in Hiraan region.[3]

• The Kenyan military has reportedly arrested hundreds of Somalis living in Mandera in northeast Kenya in an attempt to find the mastermind behind the landmine attack on January 3.[4]

• Senior Galmudug officials reported that Somali gunmen abducted the education minister Burhan Samatar in Galkayo in central Somalia.[5]

• An eyewitness reported that a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldier opened fire and killed two civilians and wounded one other in Mogadishu.[6]