Gulf of Aden Security Review - June 26, 2015

Yemen: ISIS Wilayat Sana’a claims responsibility for IED attack on Saba News headquarters in Sana’a; UN envoy Ould Sheikh Ahmed travels to Kuwait, Riyadh, and Sana’a for preliminary Yemeni peace agreement

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab attacks AMISOM base in Lego, Middle Shabelle region; Somali parliament to table vote of no confidence against Somali President

Yemen Security Review

• Wilayat Sana’a, an Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS)-affiliated group, claimed responsibility for a June 24 improvised explosive device (IED) attack on the al Houthi-controlled Saba News headquarters in Sana'a. This is the sixth ISIS-claimed attack within Sana'a since the beginning of Ramadan and it further reinforces the belief that ISIS is conducting a Ramadan bombing campaign targeting al Houthi-affiliated sites within Sana'a.[1]

• United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Ould Sheikh Ahmed will be travelling to Kuwait on June 25 as well as both Riyadh and Sana’a in an effort to produce a preliminary Yemeni peace deal between the al Houthi movement and the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi based upon the draft principles paper, written during the failed UN-led Yemeni peace talks in Geneva.[2] 

Horn of Africa Security Review

• Fighting began after al Shabaab militants detonated a suicide vehicle-borne IED targeting an African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base in Lego, Middle Shabelle region, on June 26. Local reporting indicates the Burundi AMISOM troops guarding the base have retreated to Balidogle airport in Lower Shabelle region, and the militants briefly held the base before looting it and lighting it on fire. Al Shabaab’s military spokesman reported that militants killed at least 35 troops, but Somali, Burundian, and AMISOM officials have not yet confirmed or denied this report.[3]

• Several members of the Somali parliament reportedly are preparing to bring a vote of no confidence against Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed. The charges against President Mohamed include mismanagement of national assets, delayed salaries for civil servants, and diverted member of parliament stipends. The vote needs a two thirds majority, or 184 votes, to pass the parliament.[4]