Africa: Conflict and governance – Somalia

Black Hawk Down:
The Somali battle that changed US policy in Africa

9-11 February 2025
Islamic State attacks military bases in Somalia’s Puntland
(Straits Times) The Islamic State armed group attacked military bases in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland state overnight with suicide car and motorbike bombs, but government forces repelled the assault and airstrikes killed 70 militants, a military official said on Tuesday.
Puntland announced a major offensive against Islamic State and a rival Islamist group, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, in December and claims to have since killed dozens of foreign fighters, captured several IS bases, and forced a senior commander to surrender.
The Islamic State has regrouped in Somalia — and has global ambitions
The Post ventured to the front lines of an offensive against the Islamic State in northern Somalia, where foreign fighters are flowing in and cash is flowing out.
The Somali branch has become the Islamic State’s new operational and financial hub, according to U.S. Africa Command (Africom), and local officials estimate there are as many as 1,000 militants under its command. Large numbers of foreign fighters have flowed into Somalia, establishing a formidable force that now threatens Western targets. The group has also become a key source of funding for other Islamic State affiliates around the world, which have killed thousands of people, including U.S. soldiers, according to U.N. investigators.

2024

21 December
Somali piracy 2.0 – the BBC meets the new robbers of the high seas
(BBC) The small coastal town of Eyl charming, ancient port nestled between arid mountains on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast, has always been considered strategic, not only because of its location but also because it has a fresh-water source – and during the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s the pirates made it their base.
It became known as “Harunta Burcadda” – the Pirate Capital. From here, they targeted the container ships that transport goods around the world and even some oil tankers, forcing shipping companies to change their routes.
The regional authorities held no sway – and the local police force was too scared to enter the town.
Pirates kept their hijacked ships anchored offshore and businesses in the town and region profited from ransom payments. Between 2005 and 2012 the World Bank estimates pirate groups earned between $339m (£267m) and $413m.
… According to the European Union’s naval force Operation Atalanta, which patrols nearby, there were 26 pirate attacks between 2013 and 2019 – and then not a single one from 2020 to 2022. But they resumed in 2023, with six attacks and surged to 22 this year, figures until 5 December show.
Most of these skirmishes do not end up in a successful hijacking – but when it does, it pays. Pirates say they received a ransom of $5m to release the Bangladesh-flagged MV Abdullah, hijacked in March 2024. The vessel’s owner has not confirmed this, but did say it was freed following negotiations.

2022

Somali troops overpower al-Shabab fighters to end hotel siege
Eight civilians and one soldier were killed during the siege and five other soldiers wounded, police spokesman says.
Al-Shabab rebels attack Mogadishu hotel used by Somali officials
Al-Shabab claims responsibility for the attack on the Villa Rose hotel in the Somali capital with no word yet on any casualties.

7 November
Al-Shabab gunmen attack military base in central Somalia
The latest attack comes within days of a suicide bombing by al-Shabab near a military base in the capital, Mogadishu.
The attack began with two suicide car bombs at about 5am local time (02:00 GMT), followed by hours of heavy fighting, Ahmed Hassan, a military officer in the nearby town of Bahdo, told Reuters news agency.
It was not immediately clear how many people had been killed in the raid, Hassan said.
In a statement, al-Shabab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab said the group launched the assault in Qayib using suicide car bombs before its fighters attacked from different directions. The fighters killed several soldiers and stole weapons and military vehicles, Abu Musab said.
Government forces, supported by clan militias, have made a number of battlefield gains against al-Shabab in the last three months, regaining territory long held by the group.

30 October
At least 100 killed, 300 hurt in ‘heinous’ Mogadishu car bombings
Somali president says death toll to rise further after Saturday’s twin bombings that targeted the education ministry.

18 October
Somalia faces worst famine in half a century, UN warns
UN says a child is being admitted for medical treatment for malnutrition every minute in Somalia as drought worsens.
In August, 44,000 children were admitted to health establishments with severe acute malnutrition, a condition that means a child is up to 11 times likelier to die from diarrhoea and measles than a well-fed counterpart, Elder said.
“That is a child per minute,” said Elder. “A child whose mother has walked days to get her child to help. A child whose body is fighting to survive. A child whose life hangs in the balance.”
Somalia has suffered four successive failures in its rainy seasons since the end of 2020, and there are fears that a fifth failure is now under way.
A spokesman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said estimates of the needs for fighting hunger in Somalia had soared since the start of the year, from $1.46bn to $2.26bn, of which 80 percent was required to fight the impact of drought.
The revised plan would reach 7.6 million people, compared with the earlier target of 5.5 million, Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesman, said.