Gulf of Aden Security Review – July 20, 2020

Yemen: Hadi government forces exchange artillery with STC forces in Abyan governorate; Hadi government forces clash with al Houthis in Dhaleh governorate; Hadi government forces withdraw from port in Socotra

Horn of Africa: Unidentified militants detonate IED targeting Somali deputy security minister; al Shabaab attacks AMISOM base in south-central Somalia; Jubbaland State security forces and SNA soldiers attack al Shabaab in southwestern Somalia; SNA soldiers attack al Shabaab in south-central Somalia

 Yemen Security Brief:

Unknown gunmen killed a high-ranking military official of the internationally recognized Yemeni government of Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi in al Mahfid district in southern Yemen’s Abyan governorate on July 20. Hadi government officials claimed that Transitional Political Council of the South (STC) members killed the official. Hadi government forces reportedly exchanged artillery with STC forces near Shaqra city in Abyan governorate the same day. Hadi government forces previously clashed with STC forces in Abyan governorate on July 16.[1]

Hadi government forces clashed with al Houthi militants in al Husha district in southern Yemen’s Dhaleh governorate on July 19. Hadi government forces claimed taking control of territory from al Houthi militants in Dhaleh governorate in on July 16.[2]

The Yemeni Coast Guard and Hadi security forces announced on July 19 withdrawing from Socotra port in Socotra, a Yemeni archipelago in the Gulf of Aden. Hadi government officials stated that the increased involvement of STC forces in their duties caused their withdrawal. The STC took control of Socotra from Hadi’s government in mid-June.[3]

Horn of Africa Security Brief:

Unidentified militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting the Somali deputy security minister’s car in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on July 18. The explosion killed a Somali civil servant inside the vehicle and injured three civilians. The deputy security minister was not in the car during the explosion. Al Shabaab claimed a suicide vehicle-borne IED attack targeting Somalia’s Chief of Armed Forces in Mogadishu on July 13.[4]

Al Shabaab militants attacked an Ethiopian African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) base near Halgan town in south-central Somalia’s Hiraan region on July 18. AMISOM killed multiple al Shabaab fighters without incurring casualties, according to local residents. Al Shabaab attacked a non-AMISOM Ethiopian base in central Somalia’s Bay region in early June.[5]

A joint Somali National Army (SNA) and Jubbaland State security operation killed six al Shabaab militants near Koban and Bula Haji villages in southwestern Somalia’s Lower Jubba region on July 18. Somalia’s Danab special forces captured four al Shabaab–held towns in southern Somalia’s Lower Jubba region in late June.[6]

SNA forces killed four al Shabaab militants near Dinsor in Bay region on July 19. A SNA spokesman claimed government forces drove al Shabaab out from several nearby villages. SNA forces attacked al Shabaab near Bardale in Bay region on July 12.[7]