Gulf of Aden Security Review - November 21, 2013

Yemen: Al Houthi leader killed in Kataf, Sa’ada; mediation committee to deploy observers to Damaj; al Houthis shell Damaj

Horn of Africa: Kenyan political party wants force pullout of Somalia; Somali forces arrest 200 in Beledweyne, Hiraan region; landmine explosion kills one in Somaliland

Yemen Security Brief

• A Salafist source said that al Houthis and Salafists clashed in Kataf, Sa’ada governorate on November 20. He claimed that the clashes killed more than 100 al Houthis, including al Houthi leader Mansour Jarman. Twenty Salafists also died. He said Salafist fighters destroyed an al Houthi weapons cache, which included mortars, machine guns, and B-10 rockets.[1]

• The presidential and parliamentary mediation committees will deploy military units as observers to six conflict sites in Sa’ada. The statement by Saba News Agency did not specify where the observers would be sent.[2]

• A two-year-old child was killed by al Houthi shelling in Damaj, Sa’ada governorate on November 21.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Kenya’s National Alliance Party demanded the government withdraw the Kenyan Defense Forces from Somalia in response to the UN Security Council’s decision to support the International Criminal Court’s case against Kenyan President Ruto, on November 20.[4]

• Somali forces arrested over 200 suspected al Shabaab supporters in Beledweyne, Hiraan region on November 21, 2013. The crackdown came in response to the recent attack on a police station that killed 28 people.[5]

• A landmine explosion killed a civilian and injured three others in Burao town, Togher region of Somaliland on November 21.[6]