Gulf of Aden Security Review - August 13, 2013

Yemen: Possible drone strike targets AQAP in Shabwah; President Hadi meets with U.S. ambassador; security services transfer AQAP prisoners; security forces arrest three of most-wanted AQAP members; U.S. to stop reconnaissance flights over Sana’a; Islah members kill al Houthis; al Houthis blockade al Quhsah, al Jawf; al Houthis and tribesmen clash in al Radma, Ibb

Horn of Africa: Security forces detain al Shabaab suspects in Mogadishu; U.S. indicts Kenyan for providing support to terrorist groups; Somali forces clash with al Shabaab in Garas Weyne, Bakool; pictures show Somalis supporting ISIL; Barclay’s ends partnership with remittance agencies; Kenya to allow al Qaeda suspects to appeal conviction

Yemen Security Brief

• Sources reported that a U.S. drone strike killed two suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants in Shabwah on August 12. However an official in Shabwah denied there was a strike.[1]

• President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi met with U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein in Yemen on August 13. They discussed the recent security warnings and the closing of the embassy in Sana’a, which is expected to reopen in the next few days.[2]

• Yemeni security services transferred about 60 AQAP prisoners to secret locations in response to Nasser al Wahayshi’s threat that he would free AQAP prisoners.[3]

• A Yemeni security official said that Yemen had arrested three people from the list of 25 most wanted AQAP members released last week.[4]

• Wefaq Press reported that the U.S. and Yemeni governments reached an agreement that the U.S. would stop reconnaissance flights over Sana’a, which causes popular discontent and embarrassment for the Yemeni government. The agreement allows for continued drone strikes against AQAP targets.[5]

• Gunmen associated with the Islah Party killed two al Houthis in al ‘Asha, Amran governorate on August 12.[6]

• Al Houthis blockaded al Quhsah, in al Murashi, al Jawf governorate and arrested 13 people on August 13.[7]

• Al Houthis and tribesmen renewed clashes in al Radma, Ibb governorate, killing one and wounding one on August 11.[8]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Abdikarin Hussein Guled, the Interior and Security Minister of Somalia, stated that security forces detained 40 al Shabaab suspects during search operations on August 12 in Mogadishu.[9]

• On August 8 the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami indicted Mohammad Hussein Said, a Kenyan, on 15 counts of attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda, al Shabaab and Jabhat al Nusra.[10]

• Clashes between Somali government forces and al Shabaab militants killed six and wounded 20 in Garas Weyne, Bakool region on August 12.[11]

• Al Sham Jihadi Media Foundation published images of Somalis holding flags and signs in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on jihadi forums on August 12.[12]

• Barclay’s Capital announced on August 12 that it will end its partnership with 250 remittance agencies in Somalia. Barclay’s expressed concern about the lack of oversight and inability to track cash flows which could be financing terrorists.[13]

• Kenya’s High Court announced on August 11 that it will allow three al Qaeda suspects to appeal their conviction of entering the country illegally.[14]