Strategic Thinking on East Africa

From mareeg.com BY WARKA · SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has dismissed the capture of settlements by al Shabaab militants this month, saying they had no strategic value and it did not signal a resurgence of the Islamist group. Al Shabaab, which wants to topple Mohamud and his Western-backed government, retook the central Somali […]

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  Around 100 people have died in South Sudan when a truck carrying petrol exploded, officials have told Al Jazeera. The blast on Thursday in Maridi town is believed to have happened when a crowd gathered to collect fuel from an oil truck that had veered off the road. The truck exploded, leaving scores dead […]

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From Deutsche Welle Kenya’s official human rights watchdog has accused the government of “grave violations of law and human rights” in its war on terrorism. The commission cited the use of extra-judicial killings and waterboarding. A report published by the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) accused the government of using similar tactics […]

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From Foreign Policy by Paul D. Williams Two recent attacks by al-Shabaab forces against forward operating bases of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in Leego and Janaale have brought renewed attention to the issue of AMISOM’s fatalities. In the most recent attack on the Ugandan base at Janaale, al-Shabaab claimed it had killed “more than 50 […]

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From the Sudan Tribune September 13, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government has denied reports that its forces have attacked rebel-held positions in Unity state in violation of the permanent ceasefire which results from the signing of peace agreement in August. An SPLA soldier is pictured behind a South Sudan flag as he sits on […]

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Al shabaab militants have fired mortar rounds at a military base belonging to the African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia (AMISOM), the 2nd barrage in two months, residents said. A resident who asked not be named, has told Radio Shabelle that militants with Al shabaab group attacked the AMISOM base with heavy mortar bombs last […]

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From the Sudan Tribune The visit comes amid strained relations between Khartoum and Kampala as the two countries trade accusation of support to rebel groups. Sudan accuses Uganda of harbouring rebel groups member of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) while Uganda claims that the rebels of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) are in western Sudan. […]

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From the Institute for Security Studies Peace & Security Council Report In this issue On the Agenda Kenya has briefed the PSC on its plans to either close or relocate Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp. Kenya argues that Dadaab is a hotbed of al-Shabaab activity. Situation Analysis The PSC recently returned from a field mission […]

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Al-Shabaab has changed its tactics. AMISOM must do so too Posted on September 9, 2015 by AfricanArgumentsEditor In Somalia, holding the towns is not the key to the countryside. Holding the countryside is the key to the towns. When al-Shabaab’s elusive leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a US air strike in Sablale on […]

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From The Hindu There is no civil war in Eritrea, but why are thousands to fleeing the country every month? There is no civil war in Eritrea, but a pervasive control system used in absolute arbitrariness to keep the population in a state of permanent anxiety forces thousands to flee every month Reeling under a […]

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