Gulf of Aden Security Review - March 27, 2013

Yemen: Suspected AQAP militants detonate suicide vest in al Wuday, Abyan governorate; security forces arrest three individuals with suicide vest, bomb-making materials and weapons in Wusab al Safil, Dhamar governorate; Yemeni Military Intelligence employees protest; protests break out in National Dialogue Conference hall; internally displaced persons in Sa’ada protest in Sana’a city; security forces in Aden remove Southern Movement roadblocks

Horn of Africa: Unknown gunmen shoot and kill two bank workers in Boosaaso, Bari region; Somali prime minister meets with Kismayo administrators in Kismayo, Lower Jubba region; Sierra Leone to send 850 soldiers to Mogadishu; jihadist posts biography of killed martyr; Somali parliament speaker travels to Baidoa, Bay region; regional politicians hold talks in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region

Yemen Security Brief

• A suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militant detonated a suicide vest, killing only himself, in al Wuday, Abyan governorate on March 27.[1]

• Security forces arrested three individuals and seized a suicide vest, bomb-making materials and weapons in Wusab al Safil district, Dhamar governorate on March 27.[2]

• Employees of the Yemeni Military Intelligence service began protesting on March 25. They demanded the departure of Military Intelligence Director Brigadier General Ahmad Mohsen al Yafei, citing corruption and the illegal smuggling of weapons.[3]

• Protests broke out in the National Dialogue Conference hall in Sana’a, after Southern Movement supporters took the stage and called for revolution on March 27.[4]

• A number of internally displaced persons from Sa’ada governorate cut off Nasr Street in Sana’a on March 26, protesting the non-payment of allowances from the government organization tasked with dealing with displaced peoples.[5]

• Armored cars belonging to the Yemeni Army forcibly removed Southern Movement roadblocks and fired on protesters in al Mansoura and al Mualla neighborhoods of Aden on March 27.[6]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Unknown gunmen stormed a money transfer company in Boosaaso, Bari region on March 27. Two employees were shot and killed and the gunmen were able to steal an unspecified amount of money before they fled the scene.[7]

• Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon, along with other representatives from the Somali government, met with Ras Kamboni leader and interim Kismayo leader Ahmed Madobe on March 27. The discussion focused on a long-term government plan for Kismayo and the Jubbaland region. Talks came to a standstill after Prime Minister Shirdon suggested that the Somali government help form the new Kismayo administration. Madobe rejected the proposal and said that the Somali government had no part in forming the new Jubbaland government. [8]

• Sierra Leone is sending 850 troops to Mogadishu on March 27 in an effort to increase and strengthen AMISOM forces in the country.[9]

• A jihadist posted the third installment of a biographical series of martyrs to a jihadist website on March 26. Aboud Rogo Mohammed was a Kenyan cleric who supported al Shabaab and was shot and killed by gunmen in Mombasa, Kenya in August 2012. Before his death, Mohammed was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department for his support to al Shabaab.[10]

• Somali Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari traveled to Baidoa, Bay region to meet with local administrators and assure the people that the Somali government would help form a representative administration in the region.[11]

• Regional politicians traveled to Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region on March 27 in order to assess the security situation in the town and discuss development opportunities for the area.[12]