WSJ Investigation: Houthi-Al-Shabaab Alliance Deepens with Drone Training, Arms Transfers

A Wall Street Journal investigation published around August 31-September 1, 2026 detailed a deepening partnership between Yemen's Houthi movement and Al-Shabaab that has grown since at least 2023, with the Houthis supplying weapons and technical expertise while Al-Shabaab provides cash and a potential foothold along a critical Gulf of Aden shipping route. A group of Al-Shabaab fighters reportedly spent three months in Yemen this year learning drone assembly and first-person-view (FPV) drone systems, while Houthi trainers also traveled to Somalia to provide instruction; separately, Century International and UN assessments corroborate Al-Shabaab training in small arms, IEDs and UAV operation, with an estimated 120 to several hundred operatives trained in Yemen. A four-member Houthi delegation reportedly traveled to Al-Shabaab-controlled territory in Somalia in June 2026 to discuss disrupting Israeli-linked activity near Berbera. Somali militant Jibril 'One-Armed' Yahya Ali was identified as a key intermediary; a second alleged intermediary, Abdishakur Yahye Ali ('Joker'), was reportedly killed in a February 2026 airstrike in Al-Ghaydah, eastern Yemen. ACLED research separately noted Al-Shabaab obtained additional weapons and ammunition, including drones, during 2026, though no conclusive evidence of advanced weapons-system transfers has emerged.