Gulf of Aden Security Review - August 29, 2012

Yemen: U.S. drone strike kills AQAP operatives in eastern Yemen; the Committee on Military Affairs meets in Sana’a to discuss security progress

Horn of Africa: Mohammad Osman Jawaari is elected as Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia; international community congratulates Somalis on electing a new Speaker of Parliament; a grenade attack kills a Kenyan police officer and wounds 16 others in Mombasa; fighting continues in Somali port city of Marka; a UN Food and Agriculture staff member is gunned down in Marka

Yemen Security Brief

• Yemeni military officials reported August 28 that a U.S. drone strike killed suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives traveling in the Qahb al Hisan region in eastern Yemen, between Ma’rib and Hadramawt governorates. The drone strike targeted two separate vehicles; however, only one of those vehicles was hit. The other vehicle was able to flee the scene unharmed. Yemeni military officials reported that Salim Mubarak al Saiary, a suspected Saudi AQAP operative, was killed.[1]

• The Committee on Military Affairs met August 29 in Sana’a to review its progress in ending armed conflicts and security breaches. The committee approved new, undisclosed security measures and also emphasized the need to remove illegal checkpoints in the capital of Sana’a.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Mohammad Osman Jawaari was elected Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia August 28, receiving 228 votes during the election.  The elections were held at a police training academy in Mogadishu.[3]

• Dr.  Augustine P. Mahiga, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, offered congratulations August 28 to Somali people for electing a Speaker of Parliament and called for presidential elections to occur in the next ten days. In similar comments, the Puntland government congratulated Somalis and urged that the remaining steps in the transition process be completed with the same transparency and urgency. British Ambassador to Somalia Matt Baugh expressed similar remarks, welcoming Mohammad Osman Jawaari as the new Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia.[4]

• A grenade attack killed a Kenyan police officer and wounded 16 others August 28 during clashes with Muslim youth in the port city of Mombasa. The Muslim youth are protesting the assassination of Aboud Rogo Mohammed, a radical Muslim cleric and spiritual leader of al Shabaab. The protests have occurred primarily outside a Msikiti Musa market and along the Buxton-Nyali road. Mombasa police have already arrested twelve people in connection to the protests.[5]

• Somali and AMISOM troops recaptured the port city of Marka from al Shabaab militants August 27; however, fighting is still intense according to reports from Radio Kulmiye. After Somali and AMISOM troops cleared the city, they assumed defensive positions in the Shalambood neighborhood of Marka.[6]

• Yassin Mohammad Hassan, a member of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), was killed August 27 in the Somali port city of Marka. Yassin Mohammad Hassan was reportedly killed by a group of armed gunmen. The UN condemned the killing and urged security forces to better protect civilian aid workers operating in conflict regions.[7]