Gulf of Aden Security Review - October 29, 2019

Yemen: Prime Minister Netanyahu claims Iran deployed missiles to Yemen to strike Israel; President Hadi’s Transportation Minister accuses STC of assassination attempt; UN envoy meets with al Houthi leadership in Sana’a; al Houthis launch missile at Hadi government defense headquarters in Ma’rib

Horn of Africa: SFG deploys hundreds of troops to Galmudug ahead of regional elections; AMISOM, UN, UK announce measures to curb al Shabaab’s IED use

Yemen Security Brief

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on October 28 that Iran had deployed missiles to Yemen in order to strike Israel from the country. Netanyahu has warned of the possibility of conflict between Iran and Israel in recent days.[1]

President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s Transportation Minister, Saleh al Jabwani, claimed on October 29 that members of the Transitional Political Council for the South (STC), a southern Yemeni secessionist group, were behind a recent assassination attempt against him and another minister. Security forces in Shabwah governorate in southern Yemen arrested militants as they attempted to place an explosive device outside the residence of Interior Minister Ahmed al Maysiri in Ataq, Shabwah’s capital, on October 28 in a suspected assassination attempt against al Maysiri and al Jabwani. The two ministers have recently criticized a power-sharing agreement between the STC and Hadi government.[2]

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived in the al Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on October 28 to discuss the UN-led peace process with al Houthi officials. Griffiths is expected to discuss the implementation of ceasefire observation sites that the UN recently established in al Hudaydah port city in western Yemen. The Hadi government al Houthi movement signed a ceasefire agreement covering al Hudaydah in December 2018, but the agreement has yet to be fully implemented.[3]

Al Houthi militants launched missiles at the Hadi government’s Ministry of Defense headquarters in Ma’rib governorate in northern Yemen on October 29 while Hadi’s Defense Minister was meeting with military commanders. The Defense Minister survived the attack, which killed two soldiers.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

The Somali Federal Government (SFG) deployed hundreds of security forces to Dhusamareb, the capital of the Galmudug State in north-central Somalia, on October 26 ahead of regional elections planned for late 2019. The SFG and Galmudug administration are deadlocked over election oversight. Both parties have appointed parallel committees to verify the process and results.[5]

Representatives from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), UN Mine Action Service, and the British Army announced new measures on October 28 to counter al Shabaab’s use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Somalia. The measures include curtailing the importation of explosive materials used in IEDs and expanding pre-deployment training for AMISOM and Somali National Army troops.[6]

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