Gulf of Aden Security Review - August 26, 2019

Yemen: Saudi Arabia and UAE form committee to oversee ceasefire in Shabwah; al Houthi movement claims drone attack against Riyadh; AQAP ambushes UAE-backed forces in Abyan

Horn of Africa: SNA forces seize al Shabaab-held town in Hiraan region; US-backed SNA forces kill al Shabaab commander in Lower Shabelle region

Yemen Security Brief

Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced a joint committee to oversee a truce between the Transitional Political Council for the South (STC), a southern Yemeni secessionist group, and President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government in Shabwah governorate in southern Yemen on August 25. Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced the joint committee in a communique in which both countries reaffirmed their commitment to Yemen’s territorial integrity and the Hadi government and called for urgent peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Pro-STC forces began clashing with Hadi government-aligned forces in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, on August 21, two weeks after the STC seized the de facto capital of Yemen from the Hadi government. The STC declared a ceasefire in Shabwah on August 23 but called on its forces to remain in their positions in the governorate. Hadi government-aligned forces subsequently took control of Belhaf, an industrial port town in Shabwah, and Azzan, the governorate’s second largest city.[1]  

The al Houthi movement claimed to conduct a drone attack against a Saudi military target in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on August 26. The al Houthi movement claimed to use multiple drones in the attack, which is the first attack the al Houthi movement has claimed against Riyadh in over a year. The Saudi-led coalition denied that there was any attack on Riyadh. The al Houthi movement separately claimed to conduct multiple drone attacks on King Khaled Air Base and Abha regional airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia on August 24 and August 25. The Saudi-led coalition claimed to intercept the drones involved in those attacks. [2]

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting UAE-backed al Hizam Security Forces in al Mahfad district in Abyan governorate in southern Yemen on August 24. AQAP militants then ambushed a convoy of emergency vehicles that was transporting the wounded into neighboring al Mudiyah district.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

Somali National Army (SNA) forces backed by Djiboutian African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces seized Burweyn town in Hiraan region in central Somalia from al Shabaab on August 25. The SNA claimed that the town had been a major tax hub for al Shabaab.[4]

US-backed SNA forces conducted an operation against al Shabaab in Sablale town in Lower Shabelle region on August 25. SNA forces claimed to kill 18 militants, including a senior commander named Mohammed Dubow along with the son of al Shabaab’s intelligence chief. The Kenyan government previously offered a reward of 20,000 US dollars for information on Mohammed Dubow.[5]

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