An alliance between the Somali militant sect al-Shabaab and Yemen’s Houthis is already adversely impacting trading activities along the Gulf of Aden, according to a recent report by the African Center for Strategic Studies.
”Growing collaboration between al Shabaab and the Houthis is enabling both militant groups and contributing to heightened maritime and land-based threats on both sides of the Gulf of Aden” it says in a report released recently.
The center says there is evidence of a growing collaboration between the two militant groups threatening maritime traffic in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Western Indian Ocean.
The Houthis have demonstrated an improved capacity to strike long range targets in Israel in support for Hamas since the conflict began in 2023. Drones, missiles and armed vessels have been used to cripple trade routes.
100 commercial ships, 48 of them hit and six of them completely incapacitated have been targeted this way.
Commercial vessels navigate the 70-mile long strait separating Africa from the Arabian Peninsula to reach their destination, leaving them at the mercy of Houthi piracy which has spiked in the region since the Gaza conflict.
47 piracy-related incidents have been witnessed in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean since November 2023 says the center’s report.
”The rise in insecurity has had direct economic impacts on the global economy. Shipping through the Suez Canal (which accounts for about 12-15 percent of worldwide trade and 30 percent of container ship traffic) has dropped by 50-60 percent” he report adds..
It explains that insecurity in the region has forced commercial vessels to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, a traffic which has increased by 420 percent.
”This has added up to 2 weeks and 6,000 nautical miles to their journeys. The cost of shipping in 2024 jumped to almost $6,000 per container from $1,660 in 2023, raising the costs for consumers. Egypt has seen its nearly $10 billion annual revenues from Suez Canal traffic cut by more than 70 percent, incurring a monthly loss of $800 million” it explains.
Through the course of its cooperation with the Houthis, al Shabaab has witnessed an improved stockpile of weapons including armed drones, ballistic missiles and the training of personnel.
This means that the operations of the Somali militants have expanded into new spheres of activity to fund its insurgency.
On the other hand, the Houthis have benefit from this cooperation by gaining access to both the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean for supply of weapons and strengthens its ability to threaten maritime traffic in the region while leveraging the trappings of power from the UN-backed government in Sanaa.
This poses a huge challenge for regional forces to monitor 1,800 miles of vulnerable coastline along the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Western Indian Ocean.
The Center for Strategic Studies quotes a February 2025 UN report showing evidence of communication between the Houthis and al-Shabaab including face-to-face meetings in 2024.
These meetings were mainly about the transfer of material and training from the Houthis to al-Shabaab in exchange for increased piracy and arms smuggling.
WN/as/APA