A policeman marches with a Somali flag during a parade in the capital Mogadishu. Jose Cendon/AFP via Getty Images Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth Somali lawmakers vote for the country’s new president on May 15, marking the end of a long-delayed and controversial process. The Horn of Africa nation of 16 million has been struggling to achieve viable political …
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Somaliland’s newfound strategic importance has been both a gift and a curse. GettyImages Matthew Gordon, SOAS, University of London While the rest of the Horn of Africa region is making waves on the battlefield, the tiny, self-declared republic of Somaliland has been having its presence felt where representative democracy and open debate lurk. In the halls of the UK Parliament, …
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Ali Mohamed Gedi (left), then Somali prime minister, speaks during a meeting with clan elders to discuss the surrender of weapons from the Mogadishu community in 2006. Peter Delarue/AFP via Getty Images Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab insurgent group and the Somali government have remained locked in a violent stalemate for years. Other than lives lost, …
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Muslim women and children in Lamu in north east Kenya. Al-Shabaab’s recruitment of female members is most evident in coastal and north eastern counties. Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, Technical University of Mombasa The direct involvement of women and girls in terrorism has attracted increased interest as the nature of recruitment …
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Kenyan military troops and US marines carry out a joint military exercise in Manda Bay near the coastal town of Lamu. EPA/Simon Maina Stig Jarle Hansen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences Two significant attacks have been carried out by al-Shabaab in recent weeks. On 6 January 2020, the Somali-based terrorist group attacked a Kenyan military base close to the former …
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A military drone replica is displayed in front of the White House during a protest against drone strikes on January 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Paul D. Williams, George Washington University The United States has used airstrikes against al-Shabaab forces in Somalia since January 2007, including armed drone strikes from June 2011. From early 2017, …
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Hundreds gather for prayer at the scene of a massive truck bomb attack in Mogadishu in October 2017, the deadliest to hit conflict-torn Somalia. Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth In September 2014, a US drone strike killed Al-Shabaab’s most influential leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane. The immediate assumption was that Godane’s death would weaken the group and reduce its capacity …
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