On April 28, Somalia announced 48 new coronavirus cases, including the first confirmed positive tests in the Southwest region. The total case load in the country has reached 528, with 28 confirmed deaths. The new cases in the Southwest region… Read More ›
The International Peace Institute’s Global Observatory has published a must-read primer on how the Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is funded — written by George Washington University Associate Professor Paul D. Williams. The article covers: What AMISOM Financing Issues Are… Read More ›
This week, a Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) soldier serving under AMISOM was demoted and sentenced to a year in jail in an ongoing corruption trial in which 17 others face similar charges for illegally selling military supplies and fuel in… Read More ›
Since the Somalia National Army (SNA) vacated Marka on 12 July allegedly due to unpaid salaries, AMISOM and al-Shabaab have engaged in a social media battle about who really controls the town. After Al-Shabaab claimed to recapture of the town, AMISOM quickly posted… Read More ›
In a 27 April press statement, the European Union (EU) stated it cut salaries to AMISOM by 20% due to “competing priorities in Africa and the world in general” but relayed its intent to continue supporting the mission’s efforts against al-Shabaab. As indicated… Read More ›
Al-Shabaab released audio from two Kenyan soldiers who were taken hostage during the attack on AMISOM’s base in El Adde last Friday. The Star newspaper claims that al-Shabaab are holding 10 other Kenyan soldiers hostage. The hostages only describe details of the… Read More ›
This week, Ethiopian military leaders and Somalia’s southwest regional president Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan presided over two ceremonies for troops that had recently graduated military training. The first occurred in Diinsoor around 24 December where two hundred Darawish paramilitary forces reportedly completing training:… Read More ›
On the early morning of 1 September, a reported 200 al-Shabaab militants raided an AMISOM base in the Lower Shabelle town of Janaale, killing between 20 and 50 Ugandan troops while 50 others are believed to be missing. Al-Shabaab used… Read More ›
On June 26, al-Shabaab executed one of its biggest attacks ever against AMISOM forces as it overran Burundians who had been manning a base in Leego, situated 100km northwest of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab claimed to have killed more than 80 Burundians… Read More ›
On the morning of 28 January 2014, an AMISOM vehicle ran over a civilian on Maka al Mukarama road and left the scene in what African Union forces called a “tragic accident.” The man killed in the hit-and-run was 41-year-old taxi… Read More ›
Brief Background on Jubaland Jubaland historically comprised of Lower and Middle Juba states. But military dictatator and ex-President Siad Barre split up the region in 1975, adding Gedo (created as an enclave for Barre’s Darod-Marehan clan members), Bay, and Bakool… Read More ›
This is the first in a multi-part series about Somalia in 2013. In 2012, the Somali National Army and its partners in AMISOM and Ethiopia retook major al-Shabaab strongholds–including the lucrative port of Kismayo–and essentially confined al-Shabaab to the southern… Read More ›
AMISOM, the Somali National Army (SNA), and Ras Kamboni formally ousted al-Shabaab from its lucrative hub in Kismayo in early October 2012, but al-Shabaab has maintained a heavy informal influence in the port city. The group has carried out improvised… Read More ›
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