Suicide Bomber Kills 15 Somalis in Mogadishu
A Shabaab suicide bomber killed 15 Somalis in an attack in Mogadishu today as Kenyan forces advance against the terror group in the south. The suicide attack occurred near the old foreig...
Islamic Courts Union
Senior Shabaab Commander Rumored to Have Been Killed in Recent Predator Strike
A senior Shabaab commander who fought in Afghanistan and has close ties with al Qaeda is reported to have been killed in the Predator airstrike that took place in southern Somalia late last month...
Op-eds
Eritrea: The Horn of Africa’s Rogue Regime
Last week, exasperated with Eritrea's continued violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and its increasing harassment of representatives at the American Embassy in Asmara...
Op-eds
Around the Troubled Horn
Even by the much-reduced expectations of the subregion, the news emanating from the geopolitically-sensitive, but ever-volatile Horn of Africa has not been at all good these last few weeks....
Op-eds
Somalia Still Sinking as Eritrea Entertains Enemies
September has not been a good month in the sometime Somali capital of Mogadishu, even by the relative standards of a failed state that has not had an effective central government in the sixteen y...
Op-eds
The War on Terrorism in Africa: Assessment and Prospects
The end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time both to take stock of where we have been and to look ahead at the paths we are likely to take and the battles which we will have to...
Op-eds
A Year@War
Successes and setbacks.
Op-eds
Jihadi Regime
As Americans debate whhich presidential candidate is best to confront the jihadists or at least preempt their offensives worldwide, the latter almost seized a key African country for the forthcom...
Op-eds
Securing Africa
On February 6, 2007, President George W. Bush launched a major evolution in American military posture when he formally announced that he had directed the Pentagon to establish a new unified...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda’s Resurgence
FOUR YEARS AGO, HIS WORDS WOULD have represented an almost unquestioned consensus view. In late January, the State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, Dell Dailey, described al Qaeda&...
Op-eds
Yemeni al Qaeda Commander Reported Killed in Mogadishu Clash
An al Qaeda commander from Yemen who led a group of foreign fighters battling the Somali government and African Union forces was reported killed in Mogadishu. The commander, Rajah Abu Kh...
Op-eds
Somalia’s New Prime Minister: Not Quite What the Doctor Ordered
Just when it seems things can get no worse for Somalia's dubiously legitimate, utterly ineffective, and wholly self-serving "Transitional Federal Government" (TFG), the embattled clique pull...
Op-eds
Critical Questions Regarding The Role of Foreign Fighters in Shabaab
Earlier today I served as a panelist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute's annual conference on foreign fighters, discussing the phenomenon in Somalia. The panel discussion was based ar...
Op-eds
Suicide Bomber Detonates Inside Somalia’s Presidental Compound
A Shabaab suicide bomber entered the presidential compound in Mogadishu today and detonated his vest. The suicide bomber penetrated security at the main gate of the base as an African Un...
Op-eds
Is ‘Constructive Disengagement’ the Solution in Somalia?
On Thursday, Joshua Foust published an article at PBS's Need to Know that, though avoiding the term "constructive disengagement," mirrors the arguments advanced by Bronwyn Bruton's repo...
Op-eds
The African Union’s Beleaguered Somalia Mission
Co-Authored with Seungwon Chung Being an African Union peacekeeper in Somalia must be one of the world's worst jobs, even in a down economy. The African Union Mission...
Op-eds
Uganda attack carried out by Shabaab cell named after slain al Qaeda leader
Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. Click to view. The top leader of Shabaab said that the deadly attacks in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, were carried out by a cell named after an al...
Op-eds
Hizbul Islam faction in southern Somalia defects to Shabaab
An important Hizbul Islam faction in southern Somalia has broken away from t...
Op-eds
American-born Shabaab commander releases recruitment tape
An American-born member of Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, has released a propaganda tape that is aimed at recruiting Westerners to wage war against their home countries and establ...
Op-eds
Top Shabaab commander targeted in Mogadishu mosque bombings
Forty Shabaab fighters and supporters were killed in a pair of bombings today that targeted a top Shabaab military commander at a mosque in the Bakara market in Mogadishu. The first bomb...