Gulf of Aden Security Review - July 24, 2019

Yemen: Sudan partially withdraws forces from Yemen; UAE-backed security forces conduct raids in Aden; Hadi government-aligned forces clash with al Houthi forces in al Jawf

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab SVEST attack injures Mogadishu’s mayor; al Shabaab attacks SNA bases in Lower Shabelle region; al Shabaab releases video showing June 2018 ambush on Somali MPs; SNA special forces unit graduates from Turkish training facility in Mogadishu

Yemen Security Brief

Sudan recently withdrew part of its forces from three areas in Yemen’s Red Sea coast, according to a military spokesman for Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government. The UAE partially withdrew its forces from Yemen, particularly along the Red Sea coast, in June. Sudanese troops have fought in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led coalition since 2015.[1]

Emirati-backed al Hizam Security Forces conducted raids targeting unknown militants in Aden port city in southern Yemen on July 23. The forces seized weapons and ammunition as part of what they labeled a campaign against destabilizing elements in the city.[2]

Hadi government-aligned Yemeni forces and al Houthi forces clashed in al Jawf governorate in northern Yemen on July 24. Hadi government-aligned forces claimed to kill a senior al Houthi commander during the clash.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

An al Shabaab militant detonated a suicide vest (SVEST) during a municipal security meeting in the mayor’s office in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on July 24. The explosion killed two Mogadishu district commissioners and injured Mogadishu’s mayor, Abdurahman Omar Osman. Al Shabaab claimed that the attack was an assassination attempt on UN Special Representative for Somalia James Swan, who had met with Mayor Osman in the same building earlier in the day.[4]

Al Shabaab militants attacked Somali National Army (SNA) troops at a training facility near Markatown in Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia on July 24. Al Shabaab militants separately attacked an SNA base in El Salin village in Lower Shabelle on July 24. SNA troops repulsed both attacks.[5]

Al Shabaab released a video on July 23 documenting a June 2018 ambush on an SNA convoy that was carrying two Hirshabelle state parliamentarians in central Somalia. The video is the thirteenth installment in al Shabaab’s “Disperse those who are behind them” video series.[6]

A new unit of SNA special forces graduated from a Turkish training facility in Mogadishu on July 24. The soldiers and officers received two years of training at the facility. A second SNA unit will be airlifted to Turkey for training later on July 24.[7]

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