Intelligence information about Houthi plans to transfer weapons to the Somali "Al-Shabaab" movement.
Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special
**((Arab Sea)) Newsroom:** The non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, specializing in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, Gold Ahmed Waliq, revealed a dangerous development in the Horn of Africa, represented by plans to transfer weapons from the Yemeni Houthi group to the Somali "Al-Shabaab" movement, in an indication of increasing coordination between the two sides that may lead to a broad security escalation in East Africa. Waliq is the author of the book "Al-Shabaab Mafia Inc," which is considered a pioneering study on the secret economy of the Al-Shabaab movement, and has a wide presence in regional academic and political circles. According to intelligence information revealed by Waliq, the Houthis intend to deliver a shipment of weapons to the "Al-Shabaab" movement to carry out planned terrorist attacks in the Somali Adale region and two neighboring villages. No exact date has been set for the implementation of these operations, but the danger was described as "high." Sources suggest that the smuggling operation will take place through the Gulf of Aden or through maritime routes in the Indian Ocean, routes previously used by smuggling networks linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and armed groups in the region. This development comes at a time when the Horn of Africa is witnessing increasing tensions, especially with the growing Iranian influence through the Houthis in Yemen, and Tehran's attempts to extend its maritime and ideological influence to the Horn of Africa, amid worrying regional silence. It is feared that this cooperation - if confirmed and activated - will lead to the opening of a new front of violence, linking the conflicts in Yemen and the security disturbances in Somalia, and directly threatening the security of navigation in the Gulf of Aden and international trade routes in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. So far, there has been no official comment from the Somali government or the African forces deployed in the region, nor have the international forces concerned with securing navigation in Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden commented. The talk about a Houthi plan to transfer weapons to the Somali "Al-Shabaab" movement comes in the context of a complex entanglement between armed groups supported by Iran and arms smuggling networks active in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean. In recent years, UN and international institutions have monitored attempts to transfer weapons and military equipment from the Houthis to extremist groups in the Horn of Africa, as part of a broader Iranian strategy to extend influence and destabilize the region. Previous reports by the Security Council and UN experts indicated that maritime smuggling is sometimes carried out via fishing vessels or small boats traveling between the Yemeni and Somali coasts, or through cross-border smuggling networks with close ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This overlap between the Houthis and the "Al-Shabaab" movement is a worrying development, because it threatens to link the paths of conflicts in Yemen and the Horn of Africa together, and open a new front that may exacerbate the state of instability in the region. It also poses a direct threat to the security of navigation in one of the most important maritime routes for global trade: the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab, where a large proportion of oil and goods exports from the Middle East to Europe and the world pass. While no official comment has been issued so far from government parties or international forces, observers believe that any confirmation of this cooperation will double the need for stricter monitoring of maritime routes and combating smuggling, which is a fundamental pillar in the continuation of armed groups and the extension of their regional influence.
