Gulf of Aden Security Review – January 6, 2023

Yemen: AQAP denies responsibility for January 3 IED attack; AQAP detonates IED targeting STC-backed forces in Abyan; Saudi news outlet reports Houthis seized $3.3 billion of commercial bank assets

Somalia: Al Shabaab conducts a second suicide attack in three days in a complex suicide raid targeting a recently liberated village in south-central Somalia

Yemen Security Brief:

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) denied responsibility on January 4 for the January 3 improvised explosive device (IED) attack targeting a tribal sheikh in Mudiyah district, Abyan governorate.[i]

Likely AQAP fighters detonated an IED targeting Southern Transitional Council (STC)-backed forces in Wadi Omran, Mudiyah district, Abyan governorate, southern Yemen, on January 6.[ii]

Saudi news outlet al Sharq al Awsat reported that the Houthis seized $3.3 billion of commercial bank assets in government debts “a few days before” January 6.[iii]

Somalia Security Brief:

Al Shabaab conducted a complex suicide raid targeting a Somali National Army (SNA) and local militia camp in Hilowle Gaab, El Dheere district, Galgadud region, south-central Somalia, on January 6.[iv] Al Shabaab used multiple suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (SVBIEDs) to begin the attack. Clan militia officials said the attack killed at least six anti-al Shabaab fighters, including some SNA officers.[v] Al Shabaab claimed the attack killed at least 31 soldiers and released photos of dead bodies.[vi] Al Shabaab also claimed to briefly capture the area and loot the base, but local officials and residents said defending forces repelled the attack.[vii] Anti-al Shabaab forces first entered Hilowle Gaab on December 29.[viii] This is the first significant al Shabaab counterattack and the first suicide raid in central Somalia since November 2022.[ix] Al Shabaab also used two isolated SVBIEDs in an attack nearly 75 miles north of Hilowle Gaab, near the Galgadud-Hiraan regional border on January 4.[x]