Gulf of Aden Security Review – June 12, 2020

Yemen: Saudi-led coalition airstrike kills al Houthi official in al Jawf governorate; al Houthi militants forcibly close UN offices in Sana’a

Horn of Africa: Al Shabaab militants raid Jubbaland State security force base in southwestern Somalia; al Shabaab claims IED attacks on SNA fuel convoy in southern Somalia; al Shabaab COVID-19 committee announces COVID-19 healthcare facility in southwestern Somalia; former Somali president calls for non-AMISOM Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia

Yemen Security Brief:

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike reportedly killed an al Houthi official in al Jawf governorate in northern Yemen on June 11. Forces aligned with the internationally recognized Yemeni government of Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi claimed capturing several al Houthi-held positions and militant vehicles in al Jawf governorate in late May.[1]

Al Houthi militants forced the closure of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office and other UN offices in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a on June 11, reportedly due to the UNHCR conducting activity harmful to Yemen’s national security. The al Houthi movement accused UN staff of covering up three coronavirus cases in UN offices in Sana’a in mid-April.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief:

Al Shabaab militants attacked a Jubbaland State security force base near Elwaq in southwestern Somalia’s Lower Jubba region on June 10. The battle killed two militants and wounded two others and wounded three Jubbaland State security members, according to a Jubbaland State security official. Al Shabaab militants raided a Jubbaland State security force base near Dhobley in Lower Jubba region in late May.[3]

Pro-al Shabaab media outlet Somalimemo reported that al Shabaab militants detonated two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) targeting a Somali National Army (SNA) fuel convoy near Afgoi in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region on June 12. The IEDs allegedly destroyed two fuel tankers and inflicted unspecified SNA casualties. Al Shabaab claimed ambushing and killing two SNA soldiers near Afgoi on June 10.[4]

The head of al Shabaab’s COVID-19 response committee announced on June 12 the creation of a COVID-19 isolation and care facility in al Shabaab’s stronghold of Jilib town in southwestern Somalia’s Middle Jubba region. Al Shabaab created its COVID-19 response committee in mid-May.[5]

Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called on June 9 for non-African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) Ethiopian forces to leave Somalia. Several Somali opposition parties signed a statement in late May condemning the presence of non-AMISOM Ethiopian troops in Somalia. Hundreds of non-AMISOM Ethiopian troops crossed the Somali-Ethiopian border into southwestern Somalia’s Gedo region in late March.[6]