Somalia: not piracy catch all thread

[M-A Lagrange]

TV footage often shows that ANISOM use a lot of South African made wheeled APCs and I have a vague recollection that some small drones were sought. Maybe that explains the presence of Denel's staff?

It is much more simple: Denel's staff is mainly present because of the contract the UN have with Mechem, Denel's demining branch.

[davidbfpo]

Fascinating insight into how Al-Shabaab - in 2012 (just found by another) - is following their own model of 'divide & rule':

If a split within the rank and file of Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants was a mere speculation, it has now become a reality, thanks to a lacerating Friday sermon by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, Somalia’s best known holy warrior.

In a rare public dissent, Aweys sharply attacked the organization’s top brass, accusing them of, among other things, monopolizing jihad, globalizing the Somali conflict, assassination of innocent Somalis and, more damningly, acting in a manner unbecoming of upright jihadists.

Link:http://africanarguments.org/2012/04/...by-abdi-aynte/

[davidbfpo]

An update on the above post by the BBC:

A top Islamist in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has arrived in the capital Mogadishu amid reports of a split in the al-Shabab group. He was flown from the northern town of Adado, escorted by government security forces, but it is unclear whether he has surrendered or defected.

The exact cause of the al-Shabab split is not known, but there has been a long-running internal power struggle between its leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and those seen as more moderate who oppose links with al-Qaeda, analysts say.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23115819

[davidbfpo]

In a single stroke, Ahmed Abdi Godane, the emir of Al-Shabaab who goes by the nom de guerre of “Abu Zubeir,” managed to re-align the radical group’s leadership dynamics and further consolidated his power by getting rid of his major detractors. His loyalists killed two co-founders of Al-Shabaab, including his former deputy and longtime friend, Ibrahim Al-Afghani, and chased away Hassan Dahir Aweys and Mukhtar Robow, the former spokesman for the terror group.

Link:http://africanarguments.org/2013/07/...ssan-m-abukar/

[davidbfpo]

A FP report, citing a new UN report and the US academic Ken Menkhaus. The last paragraph:

In a particularly grim twist, it is America's counterterrorism partners -- corrupt Somali institutions and Kenyan collusion with al-Shabab's financial backers -- that pose a potentially even more lethal threat to American aims. "That Shabab is stronger than people think is interesting and newsworthy," said Menkhaus. But to Menkhaus, the bigger story is the failure of America's allies to maintain a united front against al-Shabab. "Our best friends are busy fighting one another."

The UN is critical of the Kenyans, who they allege have:

Even worse, Kenyan forces in Kismayo have clashed with clans loyal to the U.S.-backed federal government while colluding with financial backers of al-Shabab in the lucrative and illicit charcoal trade, enabling the Islamist movement to refill its war chest. "The revenue that al-Shabaab currently derives from its Kismayo shareholding, its ... exports and the taxation of ground transportation likely exceeds the estimated U.S. $25 million it generated in charcoal revenue when it controlled Kismayo," the report stated.

Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...abab?page=full

[davidbfpo]

Some rare footage from Kismayo from the BBC. Curiously the reporter was with troops from Sierra Leone, not Kenya. The film ends with pictures of the charcoal trade:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24195852

I noted the refugee / displaced persons camps were without any aid agency presence.

On the parallel thread 'Mumbai-style attack in Kenya' Bill M. referred to Al-Shabaab holding large swathes of Somali territory - as indicated by the map n the BBC report, but one has to ask how many Somalis actually live in territory controlled by Al-Shabaab today? My own suspicion from faraway is that very few do; anyone who can leave has, invariably to the camps around those cities controlled by ANISOM.

[ganulv]

Yesterday The Guardian published an editorial penned by Giles Foden in regards to the Westgate attack [link]. I feel that Foden has a lot more to say here than “food not bombs.” Others of course may disagree.

[…]

These attacks are part of a spectrum of banditry, with corruption at one end, terrorism at the other, and regular robbery in the middle. Some Kenyans will feel that the conditions in which the attacks have happened have arisen because of economic growth in a vacuum of governance. Money that should have been spent on security and other aspects of national infrastructure has been disappearing for generations.

[…]