Several people were killed in an airstrike targeting Shabaab militants in Dinsoor; the attack is believed to have been a US drone strike and “a top leader” of the jihadist organization is reported to have been killed. “At least three missile strikes from unmanned aircraft” struck a Shabaab training facility in Toratorow village, killing “dozens,” […]
Victims of Shabaab’s sharia courts are petitioning the government for support. The jihadist group’s former intelligence chief, Zakariya Ismail Hersi, said he has quit the group and renounced violence; Hersi surrendered to Somali forces in December. Somalia’s president renewed an amnesty offer for Shabaab members who leave the group.
US officials are now telling Reuters that counterterrorism operations in Yemen are “paralyzed.”
Bomb explodes near Turkish delegation in Somalia day before president’s visit
A car bomb targeting a Turkish government convoy killed five policeman and one bystander in Mogadishu just prior to a planned visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Erdogan postponed his Jan. 23 arrival to attend the funeral of Saudi King Abdullah. The UN, IGAD, AMISOM and the UK issued a joint statement voicing “concern […]
The US is sending 20 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles to African Union forces combatting terrorism in Somalia. Turkish special forces arrived in Mogadishu prior to a visit by President Raccip Tayyip Erdogan.
A blockade by Shabaab on the Bakool town of Waajid of southwest Somalia is causing a food shortage. Two would-be bombers were killed when their explosives prematurely detonated as they were driving a rickshaw in Mogadishu. The the district commissioner of the city of Afgooye and two of his bodyguards were killed when their vehicle […]
Jihadists killed two police officers and injured three others in an attack on a police station in northern Puntland. A Shabaab commander surrendered to Somali security forces in Luq in southwestern Somalia.
Shabaab struck a troop convoy in Kismayu with a remote-controlled IED, killing three soldiers. Shabaab also claimed responsibility for a hand grenade attack on a police station in Bossaso on Jan. 10 that lightly wounded two soldiers and a civilian.
Shabaab executed four men accused of being spies by firing squad in the town of Bardhere in southwestern Somalia. The country has formed a new counterterrorism police unit that will be deployed to Mogadishu.
Twenty Shabaab fighters were killed and 29 others wounded by Puntland Defence Forces when the jihadists attacked military bases in Galgala in northern Somalia. Five Puntland soldiers were also killed, and senior Shabaab leader including Mukhtar Abdinur Ahmed was captured in the assault. One security guard was killed and seven Kenyan teachers were wounded when […]
At least five people were killed and another three wounded in a car bomb attack on a Somali Special Forces unit in Mogadishu on Jan. 4. Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. Djiboutian peacekeepers will be deployed to central Somalia to monitor an upcoming state election.
The US military described Tahlil Abdishakur as the “chief of al-Shabaab’s intelligence and security wing” and the head of the group’s “external operations.”
The US has launched multiple airstrikes and raids against Shabaab’s leadership cadre over the past decade.
Somali officials have reportedly captured Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi, who has been identified by the State Department as Shabaab’s “chief of intelligence.” The UN has said that another Shabaab official held that role.
A ministry of national security spokesman stated that military intelligence arrested at least seven suspected Shabaab fighters in Kahda district and Shabelle province; 228 were arrested during a security operation in Mogadishu. The jihadist group claimed that it has collected $9 million in zakat (alms) in areas under its control.
Suspected Shabaab fighters attacked the military base of the African Union Mission in Somalia in Mogadishu with mortars on Dec. 14; nearly 200 suspected members of the jihadist group were detained throughout the city earlier that day. Shabaab has conducted five beheadings in Somalia over the past week.
Shabaab in Kenya’s slums
A soldier avenged Shabaab’s murder of his wife and a female soldier by killing five female relatives of jihadists. The UN plans to repatriate 10,000 Somalian refugees from Kenya.
Two suicide bombings killed 15 people, most of them journalists and politicians, at a restaurant in Baidoa northwest of Mogadishu on Dec. 5. Local police announced the arrest of at least 60 suspected members of Shabaab after the attack. A Kenyan military plane crashed in southern Somalia on Dec. 4; Kenyan authorities cited mechanical issues, […]
At least six people were killed in a Shabaab car bomb attack on a UN convoy in Mogadishu; a second blast was aimed at African Union vehicles 15 miles from the city. The Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency claimed that security forces dismantled three Shabaab cells in recent operations, netting a “weapons cache and […]
Kenya shocked by Shabab terror
Russia claims Islamic State is supplying half of all Afghan heroin coming to Europe
Kenya’s military claims it killed 49 members of Shabaab in airstrikes on camps in Somalia; the jihadist group denied the report. Somali National Army and African Union Mission troops arrested at least 10 Shabaab fighters during an operation in the Hiran region.
Kenyan security forces pursued Shabaab forces to their camp in Somalia and killed “more than 100,” according to Kenya’s deputy president. The operation was in response to the terrorist group’s attack on a Kenyan commuter bus on Nov. 22.
Kenya bus attack: Military ‘kills 100 Shabab militants’
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud predicted that “by the first quarter of next year there will not be a territory, space, controlled by al Shabaab.” Gunmen from the terrorist organization killed a Somali-American engineer who had returned to the country to assist Mogadishu with “urban planning and drainage systems.”
Somali-American who helped Mogadishu govt killed
Six men were sentenced to death over links to Shabaab by a military court in Puntland. Aid workers claim corruption and worries about being prosecuted for terrorism have undermined humanitarian efforts as a crisis looms. Somalia has been ranked 7th on the Global Terrorism Index.
One person was killed and another injured when a bomb that was attached to a car exploded in Mogadishu. Mortar rounds were fired at the presidential palace in the Somali capital, but authorities claim none landed in the compound. Shabaab claimed responsibility for both attacks.