Gulf of Aden Security Review – March 22, 2021

Yemen: Saudi Arabia proposes cease-fire in Yemen; al Houthis claim drone attacks in Riyadh; Saudi-led coalition conducts airstrikes on al Houthi positions in Sana’a and Ma’rib governorates

Horn of Africa: SFG schedules presidential elections conference with select federal member states; al Shabaab attacks AMISOM base in Middle Shabelle region; al Shabaab interviews prisoners released from Bari region; SNA claims arresting al Shabaab militants in Lower Shabelle region

Yemen Security Brief:

Saudi Arabia announced a cease-fire plan for Yemen’s ongoing civil war on March 22. A Saudi official said the kingdom would formally present the plan to the al Houthi movement and the internationally recognized Yemeni government later the same day. The plan includes reopening Sana’a’s airport in the al Houthi–held Yemeni capital of Sana’a. Saudi Arabia announced a unilateral cease-fire in Yemen in April 2020, however, the cease-fire collapsed.[i]

The al Houthi movement claimed to launch six drones on Saudi Aramco oil facilities in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on March 19. The attack caused a fire but did not cause any casualties. The al Houthi movement claimed to target Riyadh’s international airport with a drone on March 22.[ii]

The Saudi-led coalition claimed to target al Houthi workshops for assembling drones and ballistic missiles in Sana’a city on March 21. Saudi-led coalition airstrikes targeted al Houthi militants in the capital of central Yemen’s Ma’rib governorate, east of Sana’a, on March 20.[iii]

Horn of Africa Security Brief:

The Somali Federal Government (SFG) scheduled a meeting with Hirshabelle, Galmudug, and South West State representatives to discuss a plan for presidential elections in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on March 22. Puntland and Jubbaland State representatives will not attend the meeting. Puntland and Jubbaland State Presidents formed the National Salvation Council with Somali opposition presidential candidates and the Chairman of the Somali Upper House on March 18 to advocate for efficient and fair presidential elections.[iv]

Al Shabaab attacked a Burundian African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base in Mahaday town in central Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region on March 21. Al Shabaab attacked a Burundian AMSIOM base in Middle Shabelle region in late February.[v]

Al Shabaab released a sixth interview on March 18 with a prisoner the group released in a prison raid in Boosaaso in northern Somalia’s Bari region. Al Shabaab claimed Puntland State security officials wrongly accused the man of a crime while he was a student and tortured him in prison. Al Shabaab released a fifth prisoner interview on March 17.[vi]

Somali National Army troops claimed to arrest six al Shabaab members and to seize their weapons in villages across southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region on March 18. Somali special forces claimed to thwart an al Shabaab suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in Lower Shabelle region on March 15.[vii]