This week, Kenya submitted filings to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on why the court should not yet hear its maritime border case with the Somali government. Kenya, which has already awarded exploration blocks in the disputed territory, wants… Read More ›
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 ›
Last week, Somalia formed a National Consultative Forum (NCF) tasked with deciding a format for next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Earlier this year on several occasions, Somali and foreign officials made it clear that one person-one vote elections were… 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 15 August, the Interim Jubba Administration’s (IJA) parliament — which federal MPs attempted to dissolve in June due to a contested selection process — elected Ahmed Madobe as regional president in a landslide victory garnering 68 of 74 votes. Madobe’s supporters,… Read More ›
The following is the Executive Summary from the Sahan report: SOMALIA’S TROUBLED TRANSITION: VISION 2016 REVISITED. To read the full report, click here. Somalia is politically in far better shape than when President Hassan Sheikh took office in 2012, but much of… 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 ›
The process to form a regional administration in central Somalia is in a tenuous state. While it first appeared that building the Jubaland and Southwest administrations would be the toughest assignments in Somalia’s state formation process, the stakes appear even higher in part because it has reignited border… 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 ›
Since March, a Somali Cabinet Minister, UNSOM’s Nick Kay, and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud have stated in different forums that there likely will not be one person-one vote elections in 2016, raising the question of how Somalia will handle the end of… 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 ›
On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama withdrew his nomination for Ambassador to Somalia in career diplomat Katherine Dhanani, who reportedly backed out due to “personal reasons,” according to officials. It is unclear what factors were at play with Dhanani’s decision…. Read More ›
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