Al Shabaab

East Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia
Somaliland conflict takes a regional turn

Somaliland, long seen as a haven of stability in a troubled region, is facing increasing unrest as fighting continues around the town of Las Anod between the breakaway province's army and militias loyal to Somalia and backed by al-Shabaab fighters.

Kenya
Interior Minister Kindiki in show of strength with police chief

The minister, a key ally of President William Ruto, is seeking to boost his sphere of influence within the Kenyan government by getting the upper hand on security issues. The chief of police is far from pleased.

Somalia
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to travel to Doha

Though he was wary of Qatar at first for financially supporting his predecessor, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will travel to Doha in March just before the UN's LDC5 conference.

Somalia
EU tackles Mogadishu's business climate

The EU delegation in Nairobi has set aside $2m for a contract to improve Somalia's business environment and attract foreign investors to the Horn of Africa country.

Kenya, Somalia
Ruto preparing to reopen land border with Somalia

Breaking news published on 05/12/22 at 1:20 pm - The Kenyan and Somali presidents have agreed to reopen the main land crossings between their two countries following intense negotiations between both heads of state. This marks a shift in the bilateral relationship, and in Kenyan security policy.

Somalia
Moagadishu's budgetary headache in face of dual threat of al-Shabaab and drought

With drought hitting the country hard, Somalia is facing a major contraction of its revenues. But its security requirements have not diminished.

Somalia
Farmajo's ex-spy chief Fahad Yasin plots his comeback from Ankara

Less than six months after Farmajo's presidential election defeat, his intelligence chief is angling to return to the Villa Somalia alongside his former boss as soon as he can.

Somalia
Mogadishu seeks to defer ATMIS withdrawal as it contends with al-Shabaab

Among the items on the agenda of friday's African Union Peace and Security Council meeting is the Somali authorities' request to delay the withdrawal of the pan-African organisation's transitional mission, so as not to lose momentum in the fight against al-Shabaab.

Palace Intrigues
Alassane Ouattara, Ibrahim Traoré, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Hamza Abdi Barre, François Perrodo

Intrigues big and small... Every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara takes a break in Mougins

Burkina Faso Captain Traoré opens dialogue with neighbours

Central African Republic GainJet helps Touadéra fly

Djibouti First visit of Somali PM Hamza Abdi Barre

United Kingdom Perenco boss Perrodo's London rave party

Djibouti
Djibouti's top general ducks into Mogadishu

While a delegation of senior Djiboutian officials was visiting Addis Ababa on 11 October, General Zakaria Sheikh Ibrahim, chief of staff of the armed forces, made a discreet visit to Mogadishu.

Horn of Africa
Special envoys descend on Nairobi amid peace talks prospects on Tigray

The government of Tigray accepted yesterday evening a new African Union mediation offer, hours after the Ethiopian government did the same. Three days ago, US envoy Mike Hammer hurried back to the region. Special envoys from Europe and the UN were due to meet on Friday.

Somalia
Somali officials apologise to ousted UN envoy Haysom in political ploy

The South African diplomat Fink Haysom was declared persona non grata in Somalia by the former president Farmajo in 2019. Some regional officials have now apologised to him, in an apparent ploy to undermine South West state president Abdiaziz Laftagareen.

Somalia
President Hassan Sheikh bets the house on containing Al-Shabaab

As well as carrying out a rare attack on Ethiopian territory, the Al-Shabaab terrorist group is taking advantage of the disarray among the security forces to take up position around the Somali capital. Somalia's recently elected president is looking to secure the resources he needs to wage the open war he has declared against it.