Yemen: State Department investigates reports that US weapons fell into wrong hands in Yemen; UN official calls for end to al Hudaydah clashes; airport in al Mukalla set to reopen
Horn of Africa: US Ambassador to Somalia meets with SFG Prime Minister in Mogadishu
Yemen Security Brief
The US Department of State announced on November 19 that it is looking into reports that US-made Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles have fallen into the wrong hands in Yemen. The Department of State is planning an oversight visit to Saudi Arabia in November to follow up on CNN reports that various militant forces in Yemen have acquired US weapons that were delivered to the Saudi-led coalition.[1]
UN official Lieutenant General (Ret.) Abhijit Guha urged all parties to discontinue fighting in al Hudaydah port city on November 25. Guha, who is the Head of the United Nations Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement, stated that the increase in fighting in al Hudaydah in recent days had been discouraging. Guha is working to implement a UN-brokered cease-fire in parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coast.[2]
Local officials plan to re-open the international airport in city in Hadramawt governorate in southeastern Yemen on November 27. The UAE has helped rebuild the airport in recent months. The airport closed in 2015 when al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) captured al Mukalla. Saudi-led coalition-backed Yemeni forces recaptured the city in 2016.[3]
Horn of Africa Security Brief
US Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto met with Somali Federal Government (SFG) Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in Somalia’s capital, , on November 26. Ambassador Yamamoto reiterated that degrading al Shabaab and supporting Somalia’s stabilization are top US priorities in Somalia.[4]
[1] “State Department looking into reports US weapons ended up in wrong hands in Yemen”, The Hill, November 26, 2019, https://thehill.com/policy/defense/472139-state-department-looking-into-reports-us-weapons-ended-up-in-wrong-hands-in.
[2] “Note to Correspondents: Statement by the Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Abhijit Guha on airstrikes in Hudaydah”, United Nations Secretary General, November 25, 2019, https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/note-correspondents/2019-11-25/note-correspondents-statement-the-chair-of-the-redeployment-coordination-committee-lt-gen-%28ret%29-abhijit-guha-airstrikes-hudaydah.
[3] “Spotlight: UAE continues rehabilitating airports in war-ravaged Yemen”, Xinhua, November 26, 2019, http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/26/c_138585125.htm; and al-Batati, Saleh and Fitch, Asa, “Yemeni Troops Retake al Qaeda-Controlled City,” The Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2016, https://www.wsj.com/articles/yemeni-troops-advance-into-al-mukalla-1461568822.
[4] “US Ambassador to Somalia holds key talks with country’s PM,” Garowe, November 26, 2019, https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/us-ambassador-to-somalia-holds-key-talks-with-countrys-pm.