Gulf of Aden Security Review – June 22, 2022

Yemen: AQAP attacks in two governorates; Houthi media claims ROYG head seeks normalization with Israel

Somalia: The Kenya Air Force bombs areas in southern Somalia; al Shabaab IED targets a communications tower in eastern Kenya

Yemen Security Brief:

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants attacked in two governorates in southern Yemen on June 22. AQAP militants ambushed a Shabwah Defense Forces checkpoint near Ataq city in Shabwah governorate.[i] The attack killed five soldiers and wounded an unspecified number of others. AQAP militants also ambushed troops of the Abyan Military Axis on patrol in Ahwar district in Abyan governorate.[ii] The militants killed three soldiers in the initial ambush and later executed two soldiers they captured during the ambush.

Houthi-run newspaper Al Thawrah claimed on June 18 that Yemeni President Rashad al Alimi met with Israel’s deputy foreign minister, the Israeli ambassador to Egypt, and an Egyptian intelligence official at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt.[iii] The report, which Al Thawrah claimed Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote, claimed al Alimi discussed normalization with the Israeli officials.

Somalia Security Brief:

The Kenya Air Force reportedly bombed areas in Elwaq, Beled Hawo, and Dolow districts, Gedo region, southern Somalia, on June 22.[iv] The airstrikes hit al Shabaab-controlled areas. The Kenya Air Force bombed some of the same villages in the area on June 15.[v]

Al Shabaab militants detonated an improvised explosive device targeting a communications tower in Rhamu, Mandera County, eastern Kenya, on June 21.[vi] Al Shabaab claimed to capture Rhamu on June 19.[vii]