Gulf of Aden Security Review - October 8, 2019

Yemen: Southern Yemeni media report alleged details of Hadi government-STC agreement; anti-STC media report attempted coup in Socotra; unidentified militants blow up oil pipeline in Shabwah

Horn of Africa: Suspected OLF militants attack local security forces in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

Yemen Security Brief

Southern Yemeni media reported that the Transitional Political Council for the South (STC), a southern Yemeni secessionist group, had tentatively reached an agreement with President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government that would have the UAE withdraw the remainder of its forces from Yemen. STC-aligned forces and Hadi government-aligned forces have fought since August, when the STC seized Yemen’s de facto capital, Aden, from the Hadi government. The STC and Hadi government are close to reaching an agreement in Saudi-brokered talks, according to multiple media reports.[1]

STC-aligned security forces attempted to seize control of Socotra, a Yemeni archipelago in the Gulf of Aden, on October 4, according to anti-STC media. STC-aligned forces attempted to seize the security headquarters on the main island in coordination with the recently dismissed security director of Socotra, Ahmad al Rajdahi, according to these sources.[2]

Unidentified militants blew up an oil pipeline in Shabwah governorate in southern Yemen on October 7.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

Suspected Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) militants attacked Amhara region security forces in Ataye town in Amhara region in north-central Ethiopia on October 5. The attack killed up to six people. The OLF, which seeks self-determination for Ethiopia’s Oromo ethnic group, denied responsibility for the attack.[4] 

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