Gulf of Aden Security Review – June 1, 2022

Yemen: The PLC created the Military and Security Committee; the Yemeni government said negotiations with the Houthis in Jordan failed; the PLC may have agreed to extend the truce; likely Islah-affiliated militants detonate two IEDs targeting UAE-aligned security forces in Shabwah governorate

Somalia: Danab clears village in southern Somalia; al Shabaab IED targets an SNA convoy in Mogadishu; SNA clears village in southern Somalia; SNA clears town in central Somalia

Yemen Security Brief:

The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) approved the creation of the Military and Security Committee.[i] The PLC appointed former head of Joint Forces Command on the West Coast Maj. Gen. Haitham Qassim Taher as the committee chairman. The committee will have 59 members.

The Yemeni government’s negotiating delegation in Amman, Jordan announced that the negotiations with the Houthis to re-open roads around Taiz failed on May 29.[ii] The delegation said a second round of negotiations would still take place “in the next few days.” The delegation head said on May 27 that the government would end negotiations if the Houthis failed to reopen roads around Taiz.[iii]

An anonymous Yemeni diplomat said the PLC agreed to extend the UN-brokered truce for an additional two months, from June 2 to August 2. The Houthi deputy prime minister said he welcomed an extension, but the truce must be “contingent on alleviating the suffering of the Yemeni people.”[iv]

Possibly Islah-aligned militants detonated two improvised explosive devices (IED) targeting a UAE-aligned Shabwah Defense Forces (SDF) convoy in separate attacks near Ataq city and Mafya’a district, Shabwah governorate, southern Yemen, on May 31.[v] The first blast near Ataq killed three soldiers and wounded five others.[vi] The second blast near Mayfa’a district killed two soldiers and wounded four others. [vii] The attacks may have been a response to a possibly Southern Transitional Council-backed assassination attempt targeting an Islah-aligned brigade commander in Ataq on May 28.[viii]

Somalia Security Brief:

US-trained Danab special forces ambushed al Shabaab militants in Berhane, Kismayo district, Lower Jubba region, southern Somalia, on June 1.[ix] Danab officials claimed they killed four militants and captured Mohamed Abdi Muqtaar, an al Shabaab officer.

Al Shabaab detonated an IED targeting a Somali National Army (SNA) convoy in Mogadishu, on June 1.[x] The IED killed one soldier, wounded one other, and wounded two civilians.

SNA cleared Tuulo Bawaaqo village from al Shabaab in Garbaharey district, Gedo region, southwestern Somalia, on June 1.[xi] SNA officials claimed they killed at least four al Shabaab militants and wounded several others. Al Shabaab killed two soldiers.

SNA forces cleared Booca town from al Shabaab in Bulo Burde district, Hiraan region, central Somalia, on June 1.[xii] SNA officials claimed they killed two militants.