Gulf of Aden Security Review - October 2, 2014

Yemen: AQAP militants reclaim territories in Abyan; Ansar al Sharia claims attacks in Sana’a and Shabwah; GCC holds emergency security meeting in Jeddah; unidentified forces launch airstrike in Shabwah; unidentified assailants raid newspaper office in Aden

Horn of Africa: Kenyan Air Force jets target al Shabaab bases in Middle Jubba region; Puntland president announces thirty-day amnesty for al Shabaab militants

Yemen Security Brief

• Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants reclaimed territory in Ahwar and al Mahfad, Abyan on October 1 after having been driven out by a May military campaign. Additionally, suspected AQAP gunmen ambushed soldiers from the 115th Brigade just west of Mahfad, wounding three, on October 2. In response, the Yemeni army moved additional forces to Mahfad.[1]

• Ansar al Sharia claimed credit for wounding two al Houthi militants in an October 1 grenade attack on Airport Road in Sana’a on October 1. Separately, Ansar al Sharia claimed credit for killing two Yemeni soldiers in an October 1 supply convoy ambush in Malbuja, Shabwah on October 1.[2]

• The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held an emergency meeting in Jeddah on October 1 to discuss the security situation in Sana’a. The GCC condemned unspecified foreign intervention and demanded that the al Houthis return full control of the state to the government.[3]

• Unidentified forces launched an airstrike on a vehicle traveling in Nisab, Shabwah on October 1. No casualties were immediately reported. Separately, soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade temporarily closed a road connecting the towns of Azzan and Huta in Shabwah on October 2.[4]

• Unidentified assailants raided the headquarters of a newspaper in Aden, as well as the owner’s home in Sana’a on October 2. Separately, unidentified assailants detonated a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) in Sana’a on October 2, wounding two people.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Two Kenyan Air Force jets launched airstrikes targeting suspected al Shabaab bases in Jilib, Middle Jubba region on October 2, resulting in an unknown number of casualties. [6]

• Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas announced a thirty-day amnesty program for al Shabaab militants that surrender to the Puntland administration. The announcement came one day after Puntland security forces seized al Shabaab bases, killing approximately twenty militants, in the Galgala mountain area near Boosaaso, Bari region.[7]