Barawe - in the past; where the SEALS were
Aidan Hartley recalls a visit to this port town in 1998 and what happened next. Barawe was the port that the SEALS visited recently.
Link:http://www.spectator.co.uk/life/wild...ll-in-somalia/
Somalia: a building competition
A lengthy article, for once, although somewhat reliant on official press briefings:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ion?CMP=twt_gu
State Collapse, Insurgency, and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Somalia
State Collapse, Insurgency, and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Somalia
Entry Excerpt:
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Al-Shabaab’s Insurgency in Somalia: a Data-Based Snapshot
An academic analysis from Georgetown University on the evolution of the insurgency, the authors explanation:
Quote:
Here, we analyze what can be discerned about the current shape of al-Shabaab’s insurgency from data about all al-Shabaab-related attacks that have been conducted between the group’s loss of its Kismayo stronghold and the end of February 2014. We draw from a Foundation for Defense of Democracies database that attempts to chronicle every reported al-Shabaab-linked attack carried out since al-Shabaab was encircled in Kismayo and stood on the verge of losing the city; the database draws from both the English-language and also the Somali-language press.
Link:http://journal.georgetown.edu/2014/0...s-henry-appel/
The Mogadishu you don’t read about
Quote:
While the kids play in the street, young adults walk in groups to the city centre to play soccer. They go to a place locally know as Sallax, a centre that hires out fields for various sports, including football and basketball . There are not enough football fields in the city and with everyone at work during the day, Sallax is very popular at night. Games usually last two hours. From my flat, I can often hear the youngsters chatting away past midnight on their way back home.
Link:http://voicesofafrica.co.za/the-moga...nt-read-about/
Self-explanatory.
Yes I did note the attack on the parliament building this week.
Charred @ Kismayo: KDF lose command
Ho hum Somali complaints about the Kenyan military @ Kismayo (port city) have finally been heard:
Quote:
In an unannounced move by the African Union the AMISOM command in Kismayo has officially been transferred from the Kenyan Defense Forces to Sierra Leonean forces a few weeks ago.
Link:https://www.kenya-today.com/news/cha...leone-military
The Leader maybe dead and so
A commentary by Clint Watts, on FPRI, after the reported US air strike in Somalia 'Potential Implications of U.S. killing al Shabaab’s Leader In Somalia - Ahmed Godane':http://www.fpri.org/geopoliticus/201...a-ahmed-godane
The rise and decline of Al-Shabaab
Christopher Anzalone, a Canadian PhD student studying Somalia and Al-Shabaab is an acknowledged SME and has a recent article in a Turkish academic journal, which is reproduced on:https://www.academia.edu/8439439/The..._2014_386-395_
The format has defeated my cut & paste skills.
If you blinked you might have missed it
Former Special Envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Robert Oakley, passed away at age 83 earlier this month.
The Role of Finance in Defeating Al-Shabaab
Quote:
The Somali militant group Al-Shabaab has developed an extensive financial infrastructure. Security actors seeking to disrupt and defeat the group must tackle the financial dimension of its activities.
The Role of Finance in Defeating Al-Shabaab offers detailed analysis of Al-Shabaab’s sources of revenue and recommends ways forward for using financial instruments to target and disrupt the group. As with Islamic State, undermining the financial management of Al-Shabaab and offering those people subject to its control better governance will be at the heart of the group’s ultimate failure and defeat.
Link:https://www.rusi.org/publications/wh...54A2A05DDC85F/
The Role of Finance in stability?
Sometimes ostensibly sensible measures simply go wrong. I am sure the banks involved fear action by the USG if money transfers lead to Al-Shabaab getting money:
Quote:
Somali families are panicking and businesses are running short of funds two weeks after the last major U.S. bank stopped transferring money to the fragile Horn of Africa country, development groups said. Somalia has no formal banking system due to decades of war, so Somalis living abroad use money transfer companies to send some $1.3 billion home each year - far more than the country receives in aid, Oxfam and Adeso said in a report on Thursday.
Link:http://news.yahoo.com/somalis-panic-...--sector.html?
Fighter says don’t come to Somalia
Spotted by Clints Watts:
Quote:
In recent years, however, al Shabaab has turned on the foreign fighters in its own ranks, waging a brutal campaign to purge the perceived spies from its midst. An intimate account of the Shabaab civil war was provided to The Intercept in a series of interviews conducted with a current member of al Shabaab and a source who has maintained close contacts with the group.
(Citing the source) I want my voice to be heard. I don’t want others to make the same mistake I did. Especially to the youth who are in the West, I just want to tell them, don’t come to Somalia. This is advice from the bottom of my heart. You will not improve yourself, first of all, and you will not improve the Muslim Ummah in general
Link:https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2...n-fighter-cia/