At the end of July, two closely linked media campaigns were set up in Kenya to counter radicalisation in the country, and the efforts correspond with the Kenyan military’s movements to root out al-Shabaab from the Boni Forest area of the Kenya-Somalia… 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 ›
Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Somali forces recently seized Baardheere and Diinsoor from al-Shabaab after a long pause in major operations and a withdrawal of several towns during Ramadan due to al-Shabaab’s devastating attack against AMISOM’s Burundian troops in Leego. Timed perfectly… 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 ›
Taking a page out of Puntland’s political playbook, the Interim Jubba Administration (aka Jubaland) said it has suspended relations with the Somali Federal Government (SFG) after the federal parliament passed a vote of “no-confidence” against the process to select IJA’s regional… Read More ›
Sahan Research, led by Matt Bryden, has published a new report on al-Shabaab and how the group is handling the death of its former leader Ahmed Abdi “Godane”, courtship from ISIS, its partnership with regional jihadists, and its overall strategy. The introduction of… Read More ›
Last Friday, at least four people were injured in a grenade attack carried out by two suspects who got away in the aftermath of the blast in Msolwa Ujamaa, located in Tanzania’s Kilombero district. According to Tanzanian outlet The Citizen, the suspects… Read More ›
On Tuesday 14 April 2015, Tanzanian security forces raided a mosque in pursuit of suspected jihadists who had infiltrated the Morogoro region. Nine people were arrested and one Tanzanian suspect named Hamad Makwenda, who tried to behead a police officer, was… Read More ›
After Boko Haram recently pledged loyalty to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), many are wondering whether al-Qai’da affiliate al-Shabaab will follow the same path. ISIS supporters have been pushing al-Shabaab to align with the group for some time, and some militants… Read More ›
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 ›
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