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 ›
Al-Shabaab released photos from a recent cross-border attack it staged in Mandera, Kenya where it reportedly attacked police stations and the home of a local county official. The group commonly uses these public events–like the group did after a raid in… Read More ›
On 11 April 2014, the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) under AMISOM and the Interim Jubba Administration (IJA) based in Kismayo claimed to rescue two Kenyan aid workers who were kidnapped by al-Shabaab in 2011. Before their capture, Daniel Njuguna Wanyoike worked for a… Read More ›
The Kenyan government has been carrying out a controversial crackdown concentrated in the Nairobi neighborhood of Eastleigh in response to a string of attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa attributed to al-Shabaab and its sympathizers. The security sweeps are also part of Kenya’s ongoing… Read More ›
Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku recently made misleading and factually incorrect statements about the repatriation of Somali refugees. The Kenyan media’s subsequent misreporting of Lenku’s statements caused further confusion—resulting in UNHCR having to correct growing rumors that refugee camps… Read More ›
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 ›
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 ›
Ahmed Mohamed Islam “Madobe”–elected Jubaland region President at a conference in Kismayo contested by the Somalia Federal Government and other parties but supported by others–reportedly has arrived in Nairobi, Kenya to address the Jubaland issue. Madobe is likely to meet… Read More ›
One issue that stuck out during President Mohamud’s largely successful first visit to the United States was the future of federalism in Somalia. After a warm reception in the Washington, D.C. area, Mohamud encountered significant protests in his subsequent visit to… 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 ›
Members of the Muslim Youth Centre (MYC)–a radical group that advocates for Jihad in response to marginalization against Kenyan Muslims–has claimed that the “mujahideen” were responsible for recent attacks in Nairobi’s neighborhood of Eastleigh. After three grenade attacks since 5 December… 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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