Gulf of Aden Security Review – November 9, 2020

Yemen:  AQAP releases video of detained al Houthis; Saudi-led coalition claims destroying two al Houthi drones in Saudi Arabia; al Houthi militants launch ballistic missile toward Ma’rib city; Hadi government–aligned forces claim halting al Houthi advance in Ma’rib governorate

Horn of Africa: IS-linked militants behead and kidnap civilians in Cabo Delgado province; SNA forces reportedly seize village in Galgudud region; SNA forces reportedly seize towns in Bay region

Yemen Security Brief:

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video featuring seven captured al Houthi militants on November 9. The prisoners implored al Houthi leadership to secure their release through a prisoner exchange with AQAP. AQAP previously attacked al Houthi forces in al Sawma’ah district in central Yemen’s al Bayda governorate in early November.[1]

Saudi-led coalition forces claimed destroying two al Houthi drones targeting an unspecified location in Saudi Arabia on November 9. The Saudi-led coalition claimed intercepting two al Houthi drones in late October.[2]

Forces aligned with the internationally recognized Yemeni government of Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi claimed halting an al Houthi advance toward al Makhdara front in northern Yemen’s Ma’rib governorate on November 9. Hadi government–aligned forces previously clashed with al Houthi militants in Ma’rib governorate’s Sirwah district in late October.[3]

Al Houthi forces reportedly launched a ballistic missile toward Ma’rib city, the capital of Ma’rib governorate, on November 6. Al Houthi forces previously claimed launching several unidentified missiles toward Ma’rib city in late October.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Brief:

Islamic State–linked militants reportedly beheaded one man and kidnapped two women from a village in Macomia district in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province on November 7. The militants allegedly decapitated fifty-one men and boys during a male initiation ceremony in Cabo Delgado province’s Muidumbe district in early November.[5]

Somali National Army (SNA) forces reportedly seized El Ali village, located on the outskirts of Dhusamareb city, in central Somalia’s Galgudud region on November 7. SNA forces allegedly caused at least ten militant casualties. SNA forces allegedly seized several villages on the outskirts of Dhusamareb city in late September.[6]

SNA forces reportedly seized several towns from al Shabaab in the Gof-Gadud area in Somalia's southern Bay region. SNA forces ambushed militants near Dinsor town in Bay region in late October.[7]