Gulf of Aden Security Review - October 4, 2019

Yemen: Saudi-led coalition accuses al Houthi movement of missile strikes in Yemen; suspected AQAP militant kills commander of UAE-backed unit; al Houthi movement denies entry to UN human rights official

Horn of Africa: SFG pledges new constitution by June 2020; security forces and ethnic militia clash in northern Ethiopia

Yemen Security Brief

Saudi-led coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al Maliki accused the al Houthi movement of firing two missiles at targets in northwestern Yemen on October 4. Maliki stated that the al Houthi movement continues to inflict causalities on Yemeni civilians.[1]

A suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militant fatally shot a commander of a UAE-backed al Hizam Security Forces unit, Abdullah Abdulmutallab, on October 3 in Abyan governorate in southern Yemen, according to Russian media. AQAP regularly attacks military positions in Abyan.[2]

Al Houthi forces denied entry to a UN official from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) when he landed in the al Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on October 1. Al Houthi forces withdrew the official’s travel permit and ordered the plane to leave. The OHCHR recently published a negative review of the human rights situation in Yemen that included allegations against the al Houthi movement.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

The Somali Federal Government (SFG) pledged to draft a new Somali constitution by June 2020. The SFG made the pledge in a communique on October 2 following the conclusion of the Somali Partnership Forum, which convened SFG officials and international diplomats in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.[4]

Regional security forces and local militants clashed in Amhara region in northern Ethiopia in late September, killing at least 20 people total. Militants ambushed a minibus transporting civilians on September 27 and subsequently ambushed a military convoy on September 28. Regional government officials attributed the attacks to the Kimant Committee, a group that is campaigning for self-determination for Amhara’s ethnic Kimant minority.[5]