Last week, al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab issued a new video aimed at regaining relevancy in a jihadi landscape currently dominated by its rival ISIS. The video entitled The Westgate Siege: Retributive Justice documents the history of abuses on ethnic Somalis in the Horn of Africa, as well… Read More ›
Summary Al-Shabaab’s most recent propaganda video is intended that its fighters aren’t “in fear or hunger,” but loss of territory and increasingly successful drone strikes show continued vulnerabilities. Air strikes against top al-Shabaab leaders are of limited benefit if not coupled with… Read More ›
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke nominated a new list of cabinet members after he withdrew his initial nominations due to opposition in parliament. MPs had warned him not to bring in failed ex-leaders and some of the President’s allies. As a… Read More ›
On 21 January 2015, al-Shabaab released a public statement praising the 7 January attack by the AQAP-connected Kouachi brothers in Paris at the offices of the provocative satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent siege at a Jewish deli by a co-conspirator named Ahmed… Read More ›
Al-Shabaab supporters recently issued the fifth and now the sixth edition of pro-Shabaab magazine Gaidi Mtaani (“Terrorism Street”), covering a range of issues. [PDF in full – right click link and “Save Target As”] The editor’s statement in the preface of… Read More ›
Since al-Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in US airstrikes in early September 2014, one of the biggest questions was how this would affect the strength of the group. The strengths and weaknesses of al-Shabaab can be assessed from three… Read More ›
This week, Somalia’s Banadir government and al-Shabaab held what appeared to be rival public relations stunts–or public health interventions depending on the interpretation. Authorities in Mogadishu said they seized expired aid imported by the World Food Programme during inspections at its warehouses. In addition, 14… Read More ›
Marking the Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan, al-Shabaab organized games for youth in the town of Jilib in Middle Juba region. Similar to other fun days the group has organized, the events involved egg-and-spoon races, sack racing, and… Read More ›
A late night robbery and shooting at Sega bar in Mombasa on Tuesday has sparked new questions about whether armed tribalists, criminals, or “terrorists” are responsible for violence on Kenya’s coast. Witnesses and police accounts said their description of the gunmen… Read More ›
1. CRIMES OF THE FATHER… (Kenya) As the world ponders whether terrorists or “local political networks” are the catalysts for atrocities on Kenya’s coast, the core issue is that upcountry settlers have dubiously acquired land from indigenous people for decades. This… Read More ›
In just the span of four days, attackers in separate incidents in Arusha, Tanzania threw IEDs at the house of a local Muslim leader and at a popular Indian restaurant. Police in Arusha first claimed that the restaurant bombing was… Read More ›
Terrorist operations in Nairobi, Mombasa, Mpeketoni and other sites in Kenya’s urban and coastal towns have driven a polemic debate about who exactly is responsible. Before and after al-Shabaab’s September 2013 attack at the Westgate Mall, dozens of unclaimed grenade… Read More ›
This week, al-Shabaab held a ceremony to celebrate the opening of al-Amal Center–a new facility allegedly for neglected children in the group’s stronghold of Barawe, Lower Shabelle. The group’s Lower Shabelle governor Sheikh Mohamed Abu Abdalla stated that the objective… Read More ›
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