Care needs to be taken so East Africa’s troops don’t lose their shirts in Somalia
Somalia, then, is not a continuing aberration. It could be the future of many parts of Africa, already evidenced in the centrifugal forces playing out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya — almost in every corner of Africa. ILLUSTRATION | JOSEPH NYAGAH | NMG
The Somali extremist militant group al-Shabaab shot back into the spotlight at the start of the week, after it released a skilfully curated one-hour video showing recruits for its “special forces” units.
The video came out as senior American defence officials told US media that Al Shabaab had reversed all Somali National Army (SNA) gains in central Somalia over the past two years.
