Al-Shabaab News & Analysis
No Leverage, No Exit: Turkey’s Dealmaking in Somalia
Turkey’s dealmaking in Somalia over the past decade tends to be assessed in isolation. But when the whole picture is considered a new model of middle power engagement begins to emerge, complete with new risks and structural dependencies.
Al-Shabaab Remains Active in Southern Somalia
A recent attack in Jubaland state reflects how the long-running conflict between Mogadishu and Al-Shabaab continues to evolve.
War in Chinese Boxes: Al-Shabaab against ISIS in Somalia
Exploring the lesser-known, other face of the Somali conflict.
UN Sounds Alarm over 2017 Somalia Drought
Drought and food insecurity have created a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, leading to an uptick in piracy in the Gulf of Aden among other destabilizing developments.
Famine, Al-Shabaab Threaten Progress in Somalia
A famine is threatening a delicate sense of hope in one of Africa’s most dysfunctional states.
Al-Shabaab: A Complex and Resilient Threat
Military responses to the al-Shabaab Garissa attacks in Kenya are doomed to fail.
Al-Shabab: The Next Terrorism Brand
The Westgate shopping mall attack brought into lurid and tragic detail what African security experts have known all along: Al-Shabab is still a serious security threat to Horn of Africa countries and beyond.
Backgrounder: 2012 Mali Conflict
Since early 2012, a violent conflict has been brewing in Mali, one that has forced the international community to consider whether or not this North African country is another Afghanistan in the making.
Somalia: A Turning Point against Al-Shabab?
There are plenty of positive signs on both the military and political front indicating that Somalia is about to turn a corner after two decades of instability and conflict.
Islamic Fundamentalism in Africa
The proliferation of Islamic fundamentalist groups across Africa represents the latest iteration of the War on Terror.
Yemen: The Next Void
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s recent statement that he ‘rejects power’ and will step down in the coming days has become somewhat of a common refrain in recent months.
AMISOM Takes Aim at al-Shabab
The al-Shabab attack on World Cup revelers in Uganda three weeks ago has served as a wake-up call for African Union leaders.
Al-Shabab Strikes outside of Somalia
This weekend’s double bombing in Kampala bears all the hallmarks of an al-Shabab attack. It seems that Somalia’s homegrown strain of the Taliban has struck outside its own borders for the very first time.
al-Shabab in Somalia
Two major developments occurred in Somalia last week: a merger between the Ras Kamboni Brigade and al-Shabab, and al-Shabab’s long-suspected but hitherto unmade declaration of open alliance with Al Qaeda. Both do not bode well for the survival of the beleaguered Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu.
Collapse of the TFG in Somalia?
After decades of anarchy and disintegration, Somalia may once again soon be united, albeit under the banner of a terrorist government.
2008 US-Afghan Taliban Peace Talks
The United States has begun signalling a new strategy in the seven-year long Afghanistan War: peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.
War on Terror Extends Somalia’s Crisis
A recent Amnesty International report documenting war crimes by US-backed forces in Somalia and US air strikes that have killed more Somali civilians than alleged al-Qaeda operatives underscore Washington’s role in Somalia’s humanitarian crisis.
