Gulf of Aden Security Review - July 17, 2014

Yemen: suspected AQAP militant attack Yemeni security forces in al Bayda; al Houthi militants continue clashes with local tribesmen and Yemeni military in al Jawf; Yemeni security forces track team of assassins in Sana’a

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab militants attack SNA base in Middle Shabelle region; Somali security forces attack al Shabaab militants in Bay and Lower Jubba regions; IED blasts target SNA forces in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle region; AMISOM and SNA forces intercept VBIED in Lower Shabelle region; Kenyan security forces raid camps of suspected assailants in Kenya’s Coast Province

Yemen Security Brief

• Suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants, riding on motorcycles, attacked the security administration building and political security building in Rada’a, al Bayda on July 16, killing two soldiers and wounding one soldier.[1]

• Al Houthi militants continued to clash with al Islah tribesmen supported by an unidentified military unit in al Safra and al Hajr, al Jawf on July 16, resulting in 35 total deaths.[2]

• Unconfirmed sources reported that Yemeni security forces tracked the movement of a team of assassins from Arhab, Sana’a to Sana’a city on July 16. The sources added that the assassins drove motorcycles and carried large bags filled with improvised explosive devices (IED) that the assassins produced in Bayt Maran, Sana’a.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Al Shabaab militants attacked a Somali National Army (SNA) base in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region on July 16. SNA forces conducted security operations throughout Jowhar after repelling the attack, detaining seven suspected al Shabaab militants.[4]

• AMISOM and SNA forces attacked an al Shabaab base near Awdinle, Bay region on July 17. Local government officials claimed victory for the AMISOM and SNA forces after the fighting, which killed at least three combatants. Separately, Kenyan AMISOM and Jubbaland security forces attacked an al Shabaab stronghold near Kismayo, Lower Jubba region on July 17.  The Kenyan and Jubbaland forces reportedly conducted the operation in response to al Shabaab’s disruption of charcoal trade in the area.[5]

• An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near a SNA vehicle in the Hodan district of Mogadishu on July 17. The blast killed one SNA soldier and injured two others travelling in the vehicle. Separately, a vehicle-borne IED (VBIED) detonated at a checkpoint manned by SNA forces, killing two, in Danow near Qoryoley, Lower Shabelle region on July 17.[6]

• The governor of Lower Shabelle region, Abdikadir Nur Sidi, reported on July 17 that AMISOM and SNA forces intercepted a VBIED and detained a suspected al Shabaab militant in Lower Shabelle region. The security forces reportedly intercepted the militant as he was travelling from Barawe, Lower Shabelle region to conduct a suicide VBIED (SVBIED) attack in Mogadishu.[7]

• A Kenyan task force, consisting of Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF), police, and other security personnel, raided four camps in the Boni Forest of Kenya’s Coast Province on July 16. The task force suspected the camps were used by a group of assailants, identified as radicalized youth trained by al Shabaab, responsible for a recent series of raids along the Kenyan coast.[8]