Monitoring Desk
A covert alliance between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Somalia’s al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s most powerful and lucrative affiliate, is creating a new threat to a critical oil-shipping corridor, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal.
The report, published by The Wall Street Journal on September 1, 2026, was written by Michael M. Phillips under the headline “Washington’s Deadly New Headache: an al Qaeda-Houthi Terrorist Alliance.” Its subheadline says, “One man helped broker an arms trade between two militant groups that threatens another key oil-shipping route in the Middle East.”
At the centre of the relationship was Somali militant Jibril “One-Armed” Yahya Ali, who had served since at least 2023 as a liaison between al-Shabaab and the Houthis, according to U.S., Somali and Yemeni officials cited by the Journal.
Jibril helped al-Shabaab obtain military-grade weapons from the Houthis and arrange their transfer across the Gulf of Aden. The relationship offered advantages to both sides: al-Shabaab had money but sought more sophisticated weapons and military training, while the Houthis possessed advanced weapons and technical expertise but wanted money and a strategic presence on the African side of the Gulf of Aden.
The unlikely partnership has developed despite the groups’ different religious traditions. Their shared hostility toward the United States and Israel has helped bring them together, according to officials cited by the Journal.
Jibril was killed on February 12 in a missile strike near al-Ghaydah in eastern Yemen while travelling by car with his newly married Yemeni wife. Two American sources familiar with the operation told the Journal that the United States carried out the strike. U.S. Central Command said it was not a military operation, while a CIA spokesperson declined to say whether the agency was responsible.
The killing did not necessarily end the relationship between the two groups.
The Journal reported that at least 100 al-Shabaab fighters had travelled to Yemen for Houthi training. The instruction included bomb-making, antiaircraft operations and drone technology. One group reportedly spent about three months in Yemen’s Saada region learning to assemble drones and operate systems that provide operators with live views from the aircraft.
Houthi instructors have also travelled to Somalia to train al-Shabaab members.
The cooperation has increasingly involved direct contact between the two groups. In June, a four-member Houthi delegation crossed the Gulf of Aden and travelled into southern Somalia, eventually reaching Jilib, the de facto capital of al-Shabaab-held territory, according to a regional intelligence source cited by the Journal.
The Houthis sought cooperation aimed at countering Israeli activities at Berbera, a strategically located port on the Gulf of Aden. They also reportedly promised al-Shabaab more advanced weapons and training.
The relationship is also tied to al-Shabaab’s financial resources. The group raises substantial sums through extortion, taxation and checkpoints, giving it the money to seek weapons and technology from the Houthis.
For the Houthis, a relationship with al-Shabaab offers access to the southern side of the Gulf of Aden and potentially greater ability to monitor or threaten one of the world’s most important maritime routes.
U.S. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander of American forces in Africa, told The Wall Street Journal that the relationship carries consequences beyond Somalia and Yemen.
“You have al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s largest and most lucrative affiliate, gaining access to more sophisticated weapons and training,” Anderson told the Journal. “On the other side, the Houthis are extending their geographic reach, gaining a foothold that could further destabilize one of the world’s most critical economic chokepoints.”
“This isn’t just a regional problem. It has global implications,” he said.
