On March 8, in a letter to Somalia’s key foreign partners, the Council of Presidential Candidates (CPC) demanded the president hand over key powers to the prime minister, alleging Villa Somalia can no longer negotiate a path to holding elections… Read More ›
As the Somali electoral crisis continues, the country’s special forces risk becoming politicized in an emerging violent conflict between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and rival forces in Jubaland’s Gedo region. Open source flight data from December 19 and… Read More ›
Kenyan troops “hid in the grass” during al-Shabaab’s January 5 attack on the Camp Simba airstrip, providing fresh doubt about the capability of the military to respond quickly and capably to high-profile terrorist attacks. Via NYTimes: “Surprised by the attack, American… Read More ›
In a span of three days last week, Qatar went from alleged villain to aspiring hero in Somalia. First came the allegation that Qatar had funded a terror attack in Puntland that was later claimed by the Islamic State supporters… Read More ›
The Somali government has agreed to pay lobbying firm Sonoran Policy Group (SPG) $100,000 per month until December 2018 to engage in lobbying efforts aimed at removing Somalia from U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban and re-opening part of the… Read More ›
How will U.S. military operations in Somalia evolve during the rest of the Donald Trump administration? On June 4, the New York Times reported the Pentagon was likely to make cuts among the 1,200 U.S. Special Forces deployed to Africa because Special… Read More ›
On June 8, al-Shabaab ambushed U.S. Special forces who were building a command outpost with 800 combined Kenyan and Somali forces north of Kismayo. The group did not claim to inflict mass casualties on a scale of other high-profile attacks,… Read More ›
U.S. and Somali forces have been accused of killing five civilians in a raid that resulted in the capture of three alleged al-Shabaab commanders in the remote village of Macalinka — 25 miles outside Mogadishu. Both independent and pro-Shabaab media… Read More ›
Al-Shabaab and the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) dispute the nature of casualties following a series of drone strikes in Somalia’s Jubaland region — part of an ongoing competition to shape public information in the fog of war. According to… Read More ›
This week, the United States provided “limited tactical advisory support” in the arrest of five al-Shabaab suspects in the central Somalia town of Galkayo, including a known facilitator named Abdirizak Hussein Tahliil who held a U.S. green card and lived… Read More ›
Does the Gulf crisis between Qatar and its rivals in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others others have the potential to impact conflict and development in the Horn of Africa? The UAE-Saudi alliance has accused Qatar of funding terror groups… Read More ›
East African leaders have begun to speak publicly about their expectations for bilateral relations with the U.S. following Republican candidate Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the American presidential race. A statement from Ethiopia’s Prime Minister unsurprisingly did not veil its… Read More ›
Somali officials have demanded an explanation and investigation into a U.S. air strike just outside Galkayo that they say killed at least 13 members of the Galmudug administration’s regional security forces. Galmudug officials initially blamed its longtime rival Puntland for… Read More ›
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