Five Somali soldiers were killed and nine wounded when men dressed in military uniforms opened fire at an unauthorized checkpoint. Three Shabaab fighters were killed and another injured in a premature detonation in Galgaduud on April 4. The military said Shabaab attacked a base in Hiraan earlier this week on the outskirts of Bulobarde. Security […]
Digging Trenches: Al Shabaab in Kenya
Targeting African Union and Somali commanders, Shabaab launched a complex assault on a hotel in Bulo Barde, killing at least six soldiers, including Col. Mohamud Amin, the Somali commander for Hiran. The attack began with a suicide car bombing. Attackers dressed in military uniforms reportedly killed 25 people, including Bulo Barde mayor Abdulkadir Nour and […]
US military presence in Africa growing in small ways
A spokesman for African Union forces claimed they have taken Hudur, the capital of Bakool province, from Shabaab. A Shabaab spokesman rejected the claim, and said that AU forces were outside Hudur. Bakool authorities said 12 fighters from both sides died fighting last night in Teed, about 30 km from Hudur. In February, Shabab spokesman […]
How Somalia aid cash funds Al Shabaab
Kenyan mosques turned to avenues for recruiting youth into terrorism
Somalia’s al Shabab: Striking like mosquitoes
Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia has launched three major suicide attacks and assaults in the Somali capital since Feb. 14.
A Shabaab suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed car into a restaurant near an intelligence headquarters in Mogadishu, killing at least 12 people, including intelligence officers, and injuring eight others. Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, military spokesman for the al Qaeda-linked group, said the attack was part of Shabaab’s operations in the capital and that such operations […]
Canadian killed in Somalia deeply involved in Ottawa community
A Shabaab suicide assault team stormed the presidential palace in Mogadishu. Two government officials, several Somali soldiers, and 10 Shabaab fighters were killed during the assault. Ethiopian troops clashed with Shabaab fighters in Luuq.
Shabaab fighters dressed in military uniforms attacked a mosque inside the presidential palace. Two government officials are reported to be among those killed.
Graft charges test West’s ties to Somali leader
Officials and residents say Shabaab is conducting attacks almost nightly in Mogadishu and patrolling districts at night; the al Qaeda-linked group now controls some districts entirely. At least seven people have been killed and many more have been detained as a result of raids by security forces in Kismayu. Ahmed Ibrahim was appointed the interim […]
The commander of the Interim Jubba Administration (IJA) security forces was killed two days ago along with two of his bodyguards in an apparent Shabaab operation in the Somali port city of Kismayu.
Sources said Shabaab’s ban on mobile Internet services was precipitated by Edward Snowden’s revelations that the US government was tapping global Internet and phone systems. A Shabaab defector killed the commander of Jubaland’s security forces and two of his bodyguards in Kismayo.
In response to Ethiopian forces crossing into Bakool region, Shabaab forces have begun to pull out of the region’s capital of Hudur. Somali troops lost the towns of Gandarshe and Jilib Marka in Lower Shabelle to Shabaab militants after controlling the towns for less than a week. The Somali government has denied UN allegations of […]
Shabaab is stepping up its attacks on foreigners and international organizations in Somalia.
Shabaab attacked AMISOM forces twice last night. In the evening, at least one person was killed and four civilians were injured after AMISOM troops repulsed a Shabaab ambush on a troop convoy. Later that night, Shabaab attacked an AMISOM base in Mogadishu’s Huriwaa district with heavy weapons including shoulder-launched heavy missiles.
A car bomb intended to target Somali and AMISOM troops in Beledweyne prematurely exploded in Bulo-Burte, killing at least eight Shabaab fighters. The detonation was the second explosives snafu in three days for Shabaab. In Somaliland, officials reportedly arrested a former senior Shabaab commander. Mogadishu’s mayor called for greater cooperation between authorities and civilians, and […]
Ahmed Abdi Godane is thought to be on the run after having narrowly escaped death twice in the past month. AMISOM and Somali troops killed seven Shabaab militants in a surprise attack on the town of Hagar in Jubba. The Deputy Governor of Lower Shabelle was injured in one of two bomb attacks in Mogadishu […]
As a result of Shabaab threats, a telecom provider has shut off Internet services in Mogadishu. Shabaab continues to shell Mogadishu. Shabaab reportedly allowed the resumption of mobile Internet services in Middle and Lower Jubba regions today.
Somali and AMISOM troops have removed Shabaab forces from the areas around Gendershe, Dhanane, and Jilib in Lower Shabelle. In Gedo, Somali forces claim they will soon launch a campaign against Shabaab positions with the help of Ethiopian AMISOM peacekeepers. Uganda has sent an additional 1,600 troops to join AMISOM efforts.
The Somali government has fired 700 soldiers of various ranks for incompetence. In Mogadishu, Shabaab has claimed responsibility for two consecutive nights of shelling in various government and AMISOM-controlled areas. Although Kenya will decrease its troop presence in Kismayo, the KDF has denied allegations that Kenyan forces are preparing to pull out of Somalia completely.
Elephant Campaign: How Africa’s ‘white gold’ funds the al Shabaab militants –
After the Somali government complained Kenyan troops were interfering with its attempts to assert authority, Kenya will decrease its troop presence in Kismayo. Sources claim that three Kenyan soldiers were killed, and one armored vehicle was damaged over the weekend in an ambush by Shabaab forces near Afmadow in Lower Jubba. Shabaab has arrested 16 […]
AMISOM troops have disrupted an anti-Mogadishu conference in Baidoa aimed at creating an autonomous state in southern Somalia consisting of Bay, Bakool, Gedo, Lower Jubba, Middle Jubba, and Lower Shabelle. The Sufi militant group Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa has urged Shabaab to lay down arms and seek an amnesty deal. In Barawe, Shabaab led a […]
President Mohamud wants the current UN arms embargo freeze extended, as Somali troops still need equipment to fight insurgents, and said increased operations against Shabaab are imminent. In Lower Shabelle, infighting between two clans within the Somali army killed at least 18 people, including two civilians. In Kismayu, locals demonstrated against the relocation of Kenyan […]
A Somali special forces unit called ‘Alpha Group‘ has begun operations to detain suspected Shabaab members. An angry mob formed yesterday in Mogadishu when an AMISOM convoy failed to stop after it hit and killed a local man. Shabaab urged Somalis to take up arms and help the group kill AMISOM soldiers for failing to […]