In the aftermath of al-Shabaab’s New Year’s Day bombings at the Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu, Somali officials including Acting Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled and commander of the Somali police force General Abdikarim Dahir Said showed their support for victims… Read More ›
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[VIDEO] Car Bomb Explodes in Bosaso Market in Puntland
A car bomb allegedly targeting a convoy of Puntland Maritime Police Forces (PMPF) exploded in a market in Bosaso, often dubbed Puntland’s economic hub. Puntland officials blame al-Shabaab for the attack as many observers await the group to claim responsibility… Read More ›
Ethiopia’s Financial and Strategic Interests Factor into Potential AMISOM Integration
Ethiopian government spokesperson Getachew Reda hinted that the country’s troops could join AMISOM in Somalia. This comes as the United Nations Security Council is soon expected to vote on a troop increase of 4,000 for the multi-national force currently capped at 17,761… Read More ›
After Drone Attack, Al-Shabaab “Save Face” While Media Get It Wrong And Right
On 28 October 2013, a reported U.S. drone strike near the al-Shabaab stronghold of Jilib in Middle Juba struck a car carrying two of the group’s militants identified as top suicide explosives expert Ibrahim Ali Abdi (aka Anta Anta & Adeer Ali) and Warsame… Read More ›
Sudan’s Jihadi Exports to Somalia
While most reports have focused on the potential role and corresponding backlash against ethnic Somalis in regard to the Westgate siege, there continues to be a steady current of activity of Sudanese militants among al-Shabaab, al-Qai’da (AQ), and other armed… Read More ›
Post-Westgate Kenya: Between Scapegoating and Solidarity
One of al-Shabaab’s main objectives during and after Westgate was to divide Muslims and non-Muslims and tempt Kenyans into divisiveness. One week after the crisis, Kenyans look to defy falling into this trap. After al-Shabaab’s 4-day siege of the Westgate… Read More ›
Analysis: The Westgate Attack and Kenya’s Approach to al-Shabaab
With casualty numbers rising, at least 62 people are dead, many missing, and hundreds injured in a brazen al-Shabaab attack at the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. According to unconfirmed reports, between 10 to 15 attackers were involved in… Read More ›
Sheikh Aweys, al-Shabaab, and the Prisoner’s Dilemma in Somalia
Amid violent infighting between forces loyal to al-Shabaab top leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and dissenting leaders, media reports and security analysts were quick to pose Aweys’s negotiated surrender to central Somalia’s Ximan and Xeeb administration as a big victory for… Read More ›
Key Factors Distinguish al-Shabaab’s Internal Divisions, Somalia’s Other Infighting Lots
Key Takeaways: [1] Acute divisions among top al-Shabaab figures is less important than the often existential and broader divisions among other armed groups in Somalia. [2] Training/arming Somali forces is less useful unless deeper divisions are better addressed. On the… Read More ›
Al-Shabaab Attacks Bring New Forces, Laws to Mogadishu
Since al-Shabaab’s Supreme Court attack on 14 April 2013, the Somali government has been moving forward with efforts to improve security in the capital. Large contingents of Somali soldiers have been training in Uganda, Djibouti, and Somalia by multiple partners—including the United States,… Read More ›
Journalist, Lawyers Among Dead in al-Shabaab Attack in Mogadishu
As many as 34 people were killed and almost 60 injured in a set of coordinated attacks by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu involving suicide bombers, gunmen, and two separate car bomb attacks. A car bomb was detonated at the entrance of the Supreme… Read More ›
War Igniting between al-Shabaab and al-I’tisam
Tension appears to be growing between al-Shabaab and rival Salafi group al-I’tisam–both offshoots of Somalia’s defunct Salafi-Jihadi group al-Itihad al-Islami (AIAI). On 7 March 2013, a grenade was thrown at the al-Rawda mosque in Bosaso during an al-I’tisam lecture ironically entitled “Infringements on Islam… Read More ›
Lifting The Arms Embargo in Somalia: A Brief Outlook
Lifting the arms embargo is seen by some observers as a means to address the force capacity of Somali security forces and to reassert Somalia’s sovereignty. However, the internal and strategic factors limiting the effectiveness of Somali security forces and… Read More ›