Gulf of Aden Security Review - May 16, 2013

Yemen: AQAP asks Muslims to help detainees in Yemeni government prisons; symposium on judicial reform is held in Sana’a; Yemeni government signs agreement with Qatari charity in Sana’a

Horn of Africa: Marehan tribe leader says he is the legitimate president of Jubbaland; car bombing kills Galgudud elder in Hodan district, Mogadishu; Somali forces arrest six suspected militants following a bombing in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle; unknown gunmen kill elder near Gelinsor and Adado, Galgudud region; highway robbers ambush mini-bus between Mogadishu and Afgoi, Lower Shabelle region; Kenyan president convenes security meeting in Nairobi, Kenya

Yemen Security Brief

• Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) asked Yemeni Muslims to provide assistance to people unjustly detained by the Yemeni government, specifically those waging a hunger strike. In a statement given to a reporter, and posted to the reporter’s Facebook on May 15, AQAP accused the Yemeni government of torturing and holding detainees with no affiliation to the group.[1]

• A symposium to inform policymakers on the best ways to implement effective judicial reform in the new constitution was held in Sana’a on May 15.[2]

• The Yemeni government signed an agreement with a Qatari charity in Sana’a on May 15 that will give $1.4 million to humanitarian projects in Yemen.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Marehan tribe leader Barre Aden Shire declared that he, not Ras Kamboni and Ogandeni tribe leader Ahmed Madobe, was elected president of Jubbaland in Kismayo, Lower Jubba on May 15. According to Shire, there were two separate committees voting, and the legitimate committee elected him president. Madobe, who first announced his presidency on May 15, is allied with Kenyan forces in the area. Several politicians and elders from the Jubbaland convention rejected Madobe’s claim to the presidency. Many residents have evacuated the city for fear of clan fighting.[4]

• The May 15 car bombing that targeted Abdi Liman Sharmake killed Galgudud elder and former Somali military officer Artan Sheikhdon Osman.[5]

• Somali forces arrested six suspected militants who are allegedly behind an explosion in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region on May 15. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.[6]

• Unknown gunmen shot and killed a clan elder near Gelinsor and Adado, Galgudud region on May 15.[7]

• Men dressed in Somali Army uniforms robbed a mini-bus traveling between Mogadishu and Afgoi, Lower Shabelle region on May 15. The robbers stole money and gold and tortured the passengers.[8]

• Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta convened top security personnel in Nairobi, Kenya on May 16 to hold an emergency meeting about rising security concerns in the country. Kenyatta called for the meeting after a wave of violent crimes erupted, including two separate incidents in which a government official and two police officers were killed in Nairobi on May 13.[9]