Topic: Somali Politics

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Somalia: A timeline of change in a troubled country

Here is a timeline of changes, intervention, and mediation in 5 bite-sized bits.
What is Somalia's Al Shabab?

The international community has more questions than answers about the Somali militant group Al Shabab, the target of Kenya's military incursion into Somalia. But they know how it affords food for its troops – and it's not from piracy.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 02/15
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 12/27
Gallery: World's worst human rights violators

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Keep Calm
Europe launches airstrikes on Somalia to uproot pirate base

This is the first time the European-led naval expedition, Operation Atalanta, has attacked a pirate base on Somali territory.
Africa Monitor
Famine relief in Somalia: a view from Mogadishu

Change may be afoot with action against the militant al-Shabab and high-level international attention on Somalia. But famine could threaten progress, writes guest blogger Laura Heaton.
Somalia: A timeline of change in a troubled country

Here is a timeline of changes, intervention, and mediation in 5 bite-sized bits.
Will a London conference help set Somalia on path to peace?

Somalia aid groups and experts welcome renewed international attention, but warn that a focus on either state-building or military action alone could make things worse rather than better.
Somalia's Al Shabab launches suicide attack ahead of talks

Car bomb kills 15 in the government-controlled center of Mogadishu just weeks before Somali officials attend a London conference on long-term solutions to country's unrest.
Somalia's Al Shabab Islamists are on the run

But the Somali officials, backed by international forces, are too busy fighting among themselves to govern.
Kenya's Somalia operation hits at humanitarian aid

Kenya's military is having battlefield success against Somali militants Al Shabab, but it is hindering access for humanitarian aid groups in the midst of worst famine in 30 years, aid groups say.
What is Somalia's Al Shabab?

The international community has more questions than answers about the Somali militant group Al Shabab, the target of Kenya's military incursion into Somalia. But they know how it affords food for its troops – and it's not from piracy.
Just who knew that Kenya would launch its attack on Somalia?

Somalia's president has condemned Kenya's surprise 10-day-long attack onto Somali soil. Uganda has praised it, and the US and French governments claim no involvement.
Africa Monitor
Kenya sends troops into Somalia in major policy shift

Kenya's military intervention into neighboring Somalia follows a string of kidnappings on Kenyan soil by Somali pirates and terrorist threats by Al Shabab, an Islamist militant group linked to Al Qaeda.
Africa Monitor
African Union lays siege to Al Shabab-controlled market in Somalia's capital

African Union troops aim to deny the militant Islamist group Al Shabab funds it receives from taxing shopkeepers and traders. An apparent surge of AU peacekeepers is challenging Al Shabab's tacit control of Somalia.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 02/15
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 12/27
Africa Monitor
New Somali prime minister sworn in, vowing reform

The new Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was sworn in Sunday, taking on leadership in a country fraught with corruption and violence.
Terrorism & Security
British charity workers kidnapped in one of Somalia's 'safer parts'

Two aid workers for British charity Save the Children were kidnapped Thursday night in Somalia, where kidnapping has become an industry and most aid groups have fled.
In Somalia, foreign intervention won't resolve Al Shabab threat

The best hope for stability in Somalia may lie in African Union troops, but they can't take the offensive against the terrorist group Al Shabab.
Where does Somalia's Al Shabab suicide attack leave the government?

Tuesday's suicide attack by Somalia's Al Shabab, which killed more than 30 people, including six members of parliament, leaves the transitional government's tenuous hold on power even weaker.
Somalia's Al Shabab: Does suicide attack mark the launch of a new offensive?

Tuesday's suicide attack by Somalia's Al Shabab militants marks the start of a new 'massive war' against 'invaders,' says a spokesman for the Al Qaeda-linked group. But how much of a threat are they?
Somali parliament members, hotel guests killed by Islamist rebels

Somali parliament members were among the dead after an attack by Islamist militants wearing Somali military uniforms.
African Union summit: As leaders discuss Somalia, fighting rages there

Heads of state gathering at the African Union summit in Kampala, Uganda, pledged to strengthen the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia. Meanwhile, fighting in the past few days has killed scores in Somalia.
Uganda bombings: Obama mustn't meddle in Somalia

The Uganda bombings are a sad reminder of the ways that Washington’s intervention has exacerbated problems in Somalia.
EU trains army to fight in Somalia

The EU program to train an army to fight for Somalia's beleaguered transitional government involves 150 instructors from 14 EU countries at a cost of $6 million. It's the latest in a series of internationally funded efforts around East Africa.
UN condemns Somalia's use of child soldiers, but US aid still flows

Both the insurgent group Al Shabab and the US-backed Somali government rely on children to fill their ranks, human rights officials say.
Gallery: World's worst human rights violators
Somalia mosque bomb targets Al Shabab leaders

A bomb attack in a Mogadishu mosque this weekend failed to kill Fuad Shongole, a top leader of Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab militia. But the Somalia mosque bomb is taking fighting there to a new level of intensity.