Weapons supplied by Iran to Houthi allies in Yemen smuggled into Somalia for Al Shabab insurgents
November 11, 2021, 8:43 am

Weapons supplied by Iran to Houthi allies in Yemen smuggled into Somalia for Al Shabab insurgents

The ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent distribute food from community kitchens/ICRC official Facebook page

The VOI reported according to an agency based in Geneva, Switzerland, weapons supplied by Iran to Houthi allies in Yemen are being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden into Somalia, where Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabab insurgents are battling a weak and divided government.

The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime said its study took data from more than 400 weapons documented at 13 locations across Somalia over eight months, and an inventory of 13 dhows intercepted by naval vessels.

This is the first publicly available study of the scale of illicit arms smuggling from Yemen to the Horn of Africa country.

"Weapons originating from the Iran-Yemeni arms trade are being trafficked to Somalia itself," said the study, which will be published on Wednesday, citing Reuters Nov. 10.

The study continued: "Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in arms trade to the Houthis. However, most of the evidence points to Iranian state supplies."

Iran's Foreign Ministry and a spokesman for Yemen's Houthi forces did not respond to requests for comment on the study. Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in arms trafficking to Houthi allies in Yemen, where a six-year civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Somalia government and the interior security minister did not return calls or messages seeking comment.

The study said investigators were unable to fully document gun buyers and sellers. But it said signs of the weapons were originally supplied by the Iranian state, including very close serial numbers indicating they were part of the same shipment, information from a satellite navigation system about confiscated dhows, and human intelligence from smuggling gangs.

One dhow carrying weapons seized by a US Navy ship had GPS with stored points in Iran, southern Yemen, and Somalia, the report said, including a small port near the port of Jask, which houses an Iranian naval base, and a 'home' ' as the port of Mukalla in Yemen, a notorious center for arms smuggling.

Additionally, the study said the weapons ended up with commercial smuggling networks, whose customers could include armed factions seeking to profit ahead of Somalia's repeatedly delayed presidential election, as well as clan militias and rival Islamist insurgent groups linked to Al Qaeda and the State. Islam.

Source: voi

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.