Gulf of Aden Security Review - July 12, 2013

Yemen: Gunmen kidnap Turkish citizens in Bin Aifan, Hadramawt; AQAP sightings in Abyan; deadly land dispute in al Ramad, Rima; assassination of Southern Movement leader in al Dhaleh; soldiers disperse southerners in Aden

Horn of Africa: Suicide bomber targets AMISOM convoy near Mogadishu airport; landmine targets Somali convoy in Heliwa district, Mogadishu; Somali prime minister asks al Shabaab to cease violence during Ramadan

Yemen Security Brief

• Gunmen kidnapped two Turkish citizens from a tour bus carrying 16 people in Bin Aifan, Hadramawt governorate on July 11. The leader of the armed gang was reportedly Anwar Salemin Wasel.[1]

• Sources reported seeing suspicious movements of men linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in valleys outside al Mahfad district, Abyan governorate on July 11. They also reported sightings of AQAP members on pickups in the city center. The popular committee of Lawder and the Second Mountain Infantry Brigade announced a high alert in anticipation of AQAP attacks.[2]

• A land dispute in the al Ramad village, Rima governorate killed four people on July 12.[3]

• Two men on a motorcycle assassinated Mohammad Fadhel Jabari in downtown al Dhaleh city on July 11. Jabari was the vice president of the Southern Movement in al Dhaleh.[4]

• Yemeni soldiers reportedly used live bullets to disperse southerners directing traffic in the streets of al Mansoura, Aden governorate on July 11. There were no injuries.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• A suicide bomber targeted an AMISOM convoy near the airport in Mogadishu on July 12. Two civilians were killed in the blast and it is not yet clear if any soldiers were injured. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.[6]

• A landmine targeted a Somali convoy in Heliwa district, Mogadishu on July 11. One soldier was reportedly injured. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.[7]

• Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon called on al Shabaab to cease its violence during Ramadan. The statement came on the same day that Sheikh Abdi Aziz Abu Mus’ab, al Shabaab’s military spokesman, warned that the group would undertake deadly attacks during Ramadan.[8]