Strategic Thinking on East Africa

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle May 12, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia authorities said Thursday that they foiled what they described as a “plot” by Eritrean mercenaries to stage a terror attack in the country. Eritrea, which borders Sudan and Ethiopia, has been dubbed the North Korea of Africa (HRW) The National Intelligence and Security Service and […]

Read the full story

Foreign Policy Outmaneuvered by al-Shabab in Somalia, is the Islamic State gunning for a comeback next door? BY TY MCCORMICK NAIROBI — Kenyan authorities claim to have foiled a “large-scale” biological terrorist plot by militants linked to the Islamic State (IS), raising fears that the Iraq- and Syria-based group may be extending its influence in […]

Read the full story

Bureau of African Affairs’ Assistant Secretary Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on “Terrorism and Instability in Sub-Saharan Africa” on May 10, 2016.

Read the full story

GILAD SHILOACH The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terror attack in Somalia—its first-ever attack in the East African nation. In an official statement circulated by the group’s supporters on Twitter and Telegram, ISIS said its fighters detonated a car bomb targeting forces belonging to the African Union Forces—peacekeeping troops—on the outskirts of the capital […]

Read the full story

Militant Groups Compete for Notoriety in East Africa By JEFFREY GETTLEMANAPRIL 12, 2016 Members of the Kenya Defense Forces carried the coffins of soldiers killed during an attack by the Shabab on a military base in western Somalia. CreditThomas Mukoya/Reuters NAIROBI, Kenya — Apparently there is no brotherly love among East Africa’s Islamist militants. This […]

Read the full story

By Abdi Guled | AP April 11 at 9:56 AM MOGADISHU, Somalia — A car bomb exploded on Monday outside restaurant packed with lunchtime customers in the Somali capital of Mogadishu killing at least five people, including school children, said witnesses. After the blast, a young girl was crying outside the restaurant screaming “where is my sister?” […]

Read the full story

Foreign Policy One year after al-Shabab killed 147 people in cold blood, the Kenyan government has turned its back on the university where it happened. BY NANJALA NYABOLA GARISSA, Kenya — At approximately 5:00 a.m. on April 2, 2015, Sister Evelyn Ingoshe heard what sounded like a series of pops coming from the distance outside […]

Read the full story

From Brookings Institution Editors’ Note: Al-Shabab’s operational capacities and intimidation power have grown in the past year, writes Vanda Felbab-Brown. Many of Kenya’s counterterrorism policies have been counterproductive, and counterinsurgency efforts by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have at best stagnated. This piece was originally published by The Cipher Brief. April 2 marked one […]

Read the full story

Al-Shabab is waging an armed insurgency in Somalia The US military says it has targeted a vehicle carrying three al-Shabab militants in a drone strike in Somalia. A Pentagon spokesman named the main target as Hassan Ali Dhoore, accused of organising recent bomb attacks in which US personnel were killed. US officials say they are […]

Read the full story

Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 1 By: Sunguta West Abdirahim Mohammed Abdullahi (source: YouTube) Al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based Islamist militant organization, is still actively recruiting from neighboring Kenya even as the group suffers major setbacks in southern Somalia. Underpinning the group’s notable success in recruitment is the radicalization and indoctrination of young men in order to […]

Read the full story