Gulf of Aden Security Review - July 10, 2015

Yemen: New AQAP leader pledges allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri in video, calling for attacks on the U.S.; Yemeni humanitarian ceasefire in effect until Eid al Fatr

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab attacks Mogadishu hotels and mortars fall on Mogadishu AMISOM base; al Shabaab releases Kenyan police officers held since 2013

Yemen Security Brief

• In a new video posted to Twitter on June 10, the new leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Qasim al Raymi, eulogized the death of former AQAP leader Nasser al Wahayshi and pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri, calling for attacks upon the United States. Nasser al Wahayshi’s death was confirmed by AQAP on June 16 after a U.S. airstrike in al Mukalla, Hadramawt governorate killed the leader.[1]    

• A humanitarian ceasefire has been agreed upon between the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the al Houthi movement and is expected to last until Eid al Fitr, the end of the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan. The ceasefire will allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Yemen, but it has left key issues unresolved for further negotiations; notably the withdrawal of al Houthi militants from key cities as well as the cessation of Saudi Arabia led-coalition airstrikes.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Local reporting indicates that al Shabaab militants detonated an unknown number of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices outside of Hotel Wehliye and Hotel Siyad, both of which are located near the Villa Somalia compound in Mogadishu, before launching attacks on July 10. Several mortar shells fell on an African Union Mission in Somalia base near the Mogadishu Stadium, but it is unclear if the events are linked.[3]

• Al Shabaab released two Kenyan police officers whom the group captured in Garissa County in May 2013. Kenyan Police Inspector General Joseph Boinnet specified in his statement on July 9 that the officers’ release occurred on June 25 and that they are in good health.[4]