Gulf of Aden Security Review - September 23, 2014

Yemen: Abdul Malik al Houthi gives speech praising recent al Houthi activities; President Hadi issued a statement claiming recent al Houthi activities in Sana’a are part of a wider conspiracy; Ansar al Sharia releases statements claiming credit for attacks in Sa’ada and Sana’a; Hadhrami tribes issue statement requiring Yemeni military to withdraw from Hadramawt; leaders of the Yemeni Southern movement issues statement of intent to secede from Yemen

Horn of Africa: AMISOM and Somali National Army forces seize village from al Shabaab in Hiraan region; Somali government officials announce that 41 al Shabaab defectors surrendered to the Somali Federal Government in Lower Shabelle region; al Shabaab militants detain eight religious men in Hiraan region

Yemen Security Brief

• The leader of the al Houthi movement, Abdul Malik al Houthi, gave a televised address praising Yemen’s recent “revolution” and stating the al Houthis will continue in their political demands. Al Houthi also expressed solidarity with Yemen’s Southern movement.[1]

• Yemeni president Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi spoke in Sana’a on September 23, stating that the recent takeover of Sana’a by al Houthi militants was part of a larger conspiracy by internal and external forces. President Hadi also denied rumors that he is planning on moving government operations from Sana’a to Aden.[2]

• Ansar al Sharia militants detonated a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) in Kataf, Sa’ada along the Yemen-Saudi border targeting a group of al Houthis on September 22. Ansar al Sharia later released two statements on September 23 claiming to have killed 50 al Houthi militants during the attack. Additionally, Ansar al Sharia released a statement claiming credit for detonating an IED near an al Houthi patrol on Telifiziyoun Street in Sana’a on September 23.[3]

• Unidentified Hadhrami tribesmen issued a statement on September 20 requiring all Yemeni military forces and owners of oil companies to withdraw from Hadramawt within 48 hours. Hadhrami tribesmen later killed Hussein Qahm, a military officer responsible for protecting oil companies in Hadramawt on September 23.[4]

• Leaders of the Yemeni Southern Movement held a press conference in Aden on September 23 stating they will begin the process of declaring independence from the North.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali National Army (SNA) forces seized Baar village, Hiraan region from al Shabaab militants on September 23. The militants fled without resistance in anticipation of the offensive, a component of the ongoing Operation Indian Ocean.[6]

• Lower Shabelle Governor, Abdukadir Nur Siidii, announced that 41 al Shabaab militants defected to Somali security forces in Qoryoley, Lower Shabelle, since September 22. The militants surrendered as part of the temporary government program that offers amnesty for defectors, announced on September 3.[7]

• Al Shabaab militants detained eight men of an alternate Islamic sect, Tablighi Jamaat, in Halgan village, Hiraan region on September 23.[8]