Latest Articles about East Africa
After Garissa: Kenya Revises Its Security Strategy to Counter al-Shabaab’s Shifting Tactics
Al-Shabaab’s April 2 attack on Kenya’s Garissa University College that killed 147 non-Muslim students was the latest installment in al-Shabaab’s campaign to force Nairobi to order a withdrawal of the Kenyan Defense Force (KDF) from the Jubaland region of southern Somalia. So far, the Kenyan... MORE
Al-Shabaab: On the Back Foot but Still Dangerous
As the Islamic State and Boko Haram expanded rapidly throughout 2014, gaining territory and power in the Middle East and West Africa respectively, al-Qaeda’s Somali affiliate al-Shabaab was on the back foot, retreating from its strongholds as a result of two major offensives carried out... MORE
The Rise of ADF-NALU in Central Africa and Its Connections with al-Shabaab
A series of massacres in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last three months underline the resurgence of a little known Islamist militant organization, the Alliance of Democratic Forces – National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU). On December... MORE
Islamist Radicalization: A New Challenge for Kenya
On November 27, the Kenyan government reopened four mosques in Mombasa, which it had shut down the previous week over fears that they were involved in the radicalization and recruitment of local youth for Somalia’s Islamist militant group, al-Shabaab. The reopened mosques were handed over... MORE
Shaykh Ahmad Umar Takes the Helm of Al-Shabaab
On September 1, a U.S. airstrike in Dahay Tubaako, a remote area in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, killed Ahmad Abdi Godane (a.k.a. Mukhtar Abu Zubayr), the main leader and most prominent ideological figure within the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. Godane’s death, along with that of... MORE
Al-Shabaab to Face Different Direction after Appointment of New Leader
In recent months, Somalia’s main Islamist militant group, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, better known as al-Shabaab, has suffered serious setbacks in its conflict with African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops. Since al-Shabaab’s establishment in 2006, the organization had successfully entrenched its authority in central and... MORE
Testing the Limits: China’s Expanding Role in the South Sudanese Civil War
South Sudan relapsed into war on December 15, 2013, primarily due to the power struggle between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar. China once again found one of its sizable foreign investments—particularly in the oil sector—embroiled in local political turbulence.... MORE
Ginbot 7 and Andergachew Tsege: Ethiopian Opposition Leader and Quasi-Terrorist
On July 8, the Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and Federal Police Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce announced the arrest of Andergachew Tsege, the secretary-general of terrorist group Ginbot 7 (“May 15” in Amharic). Ethiopia’s intelligence agency tipped off its Yemeni counterpart about Tsege’s arrival... MORE
Mozambique’s RENAMO Conducts Low-Level Insurgency While Running for Election
Mozambique has been slowly descending into a political-military crisis since April 2013, as the ruling Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO – Mozambique Liberation Front) party has unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (RENAMO – Mozambican National Resistance) to end its low-level insurgency... MORE
Al-Shabaab Exploits Kenyan Crackdown to Recruit Muslim Youth
Kenya, which in recent years has found itself surrounded by countries plagued by chaos and insurgency, is itself becoming another theater for terrorist attacks, with more than 90 such attacks recorded since Kenya’s 2011 military intervention in Somalia. The latest attack on May 22 injured... MORE