ConflictBarometer_2015

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Farah Aden, former Puntland minister of fisheries, accompanied
by local clan forces and mining experts in Carro
Weyne village, Cayn, on April 8. During the incident, the
former minister and four others were arrested by Somaliland
troops, while a local clan member was killed. Somaliland
and Puntland mobilized troops in Sool province on June 10.
Subsequently, both military forces clashed in the region of
Tukaraq, Sool, on June 12 and 13. On October 18, Puntland
police forces arrested several Somaliland election officials
in Badhan region, Sanaag. The detainees were released the
next day after local elders had arranged a dialogue between
Somaliland and Puntland officials. rbr
SOMALIA, KENYA (AL-SHABAAB)
Intensity: 5 | Change: | Start: 2006
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
al-Shabaab vs. Somalia, Kenya
system/ideology, national power
The conflict between al-Shabaab and the Federal Government
of Somalia (FGS) and the Kenyan government over
national power and the orientation of the political system
remained at war level for the tenth consecutive year. The
FGS was supported by the USA, the EU, the African Union
Mission for Somalia (AMISOM), and by additional Ethiopian
and Kenyan forces. The AMISOM support mission UNSOA was
replaced by the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) on
November 9.
Following the military involvement by the Kenyan Defense
Forces (KDF), al-Shabaab steadily expanded its operations on
Kenyan territory with dozens of attacks on civilians and the
KDF throughout the year.
In the second half of the year, the Islamic State (IS) repeatedly
called upon al-Shabaab to pledge allegiance [→ Syria, Iraq et
al. (IS)]. Due to the rivalry between the IS and al-Qaeda, violent
tensions arose within the originally al-Qaeda-affiliated
group. Contra-IS members of al-Shabaab arrested and killed
several pro-IS members.
In the course of the year, al-Shabaab lost substantial parts
of its previously controlled territory, especially in southern
Somalia, due to the advances of AMISOM and the Somali
National Army (SNA).
In early January, SNA soldiers killed seven al-Shabaab fighters
in an offensive in Diine Digle, Puntland, and recaptured
three villages in Bakool region later that month. In the
beginning of February, joint SNA and AMISOM airstrikes in
Lower Juba region left 27 al-Shabaab members dead. On
February 27, the SNA killed 47 al-Shabaab fighters in Elbar,
Bakool. On March 14, SNA forced al-Shabaab out of the town
Jalalaqsi, Hiiraan, killing seven militants and injuring 15. In
the end of March, SNA seized strategic coastal areas such as
Lower Juba, including Kudhaa island. An SNA attack on an
al-Shabaab base in Aborray, Hiiraan, left eight people dead
on May 8. During ''Operation Juba Corridor'', al-Shabaab
lost two of its major strongholds in Gedo and Bay regions
to SNA and AMISOM in the end of July. On July 31, local
militias supported by AMISOM forces attacked al-Shabaab in
three cities in Hiiraan. At least eleven people were killed.
On August 3, AMISOM killed ten militants when al-Shabaab
attacked its army base in Mokoqori, Hiiraan. In an offensive
on August 11, AMISOM recaptured strategic towns in Hiiraan
and killed 98 militants. On August 25, SNA regained control
of Tula Barwako, Gedo, killing twelve militants. One month
later, AMISOM and SNA forces killed at least 20 al-Shabaab
members in Baladweyne, Hiiraan, after the Islamists had
attacked their base. Furthermore, SNA seized control of
villages in Bay and Gedo in mid-October. On October 25, KDF
operating within AMISOM killed 15 al-Shabaab members in
Jilib, Middle Juba region.
Six days later, battles between SNA and the Islamists near
Hudur, Bakool, resulted in the death of 50 militants. SNA
killed at least 20 al-Shabaab militants in two different operations
in Garasyani, Buurwayne, and Mahaas, Hiiraan. On
November 28, the joint SNA-AMISOM operation ''Sweep the
Enemy'' led to the recapture of Aysoora, Lower Shabelle.
SNA killed up to ten al-Shabaab militants, destroyed two
camps, and confiscated several weapons in Dinsor, Bay, on
December 2. KDF jets bombed several al-Shabaab camps in
Lower Juba and Lower Shabelle between December 3 and 6.
Later that month, SNA and AMISOM retook several towns in
Lower Shabelle, killing at least five militants. Coalition forces
were ambushed twice in the end of December in Gedo and
Hiiraan, resulting in the death of at least 15 Islamists. The
US killed several senior al-Shabaab commanders in drone
strikes throughout the year, including Ismail Jamhad on July
16, and Abdirahman Sandhere alias Ukash on December 2.
Nevertheless, al-Shabaab exerted control over several areas,
especially in the South of Somalia, and continued its suicide
and IED attacks in the capital Mogadishu as well as in central
and southern Somalia. They targeted SNA and AMISOM soldiers,
UN employees, MPs, and other officials, while attacks
on the civilian population remained high as well.
The majority of attacks took place in Mogadishu. On January
4, al-Shabaab killed at least four people detonating a car
bomb. On February 20, the militants detonated bombs in
a Mogadishu hotel, killing 25 people and injuring 45. The
Makka al-Mukarama hotel attack on March 27 ended with
at least 24 people being killed. Islamists also targeted the
Jazeera Palace Hotel on July 26, leaving at least 13 people
dead and 21 injured as well as the Sahafi hotel on November
1, leaving 15 people dead and dozens injured. On April
14, al-Shabaab attacked the Ministry for Higher Education,
killing at least eleven people. Seven militants also died. One
week later, al-Shabaab killed approx. ten people detonating
a car bomb outside a restaurant. Another car bomb was
detonated on June 24 near a vehicle carrying diplomats from
the United Arab Emirates, leaving twelve SNA soldiers and
civilians dead. On August 22, al-Shabaab killed 25 people
in two car bomb attacks in Mogadishu and Kismayo, Lower
Juba. The presidential palace was attacked on September 21,
leaving at least eleven dead. Throughout the year, at least
eleven MPs and lawmakers were killed in the capital.
Other attacks took place in southern and central Somalia.
Attacks in the Bay region included the raid on a SNA base
outside Baidoa, killing seven soldiers on January 2. An attack
on an AMISOM convoy two weeks later left at least ten people
dead on both sides.
On March 12, al-Shabaab killed at least six people when they
attacked the compound of the South West State President,
Sharif Sheikh Hassa, with IEDs and guns. On June 12, an
al-Shabaab ambush in Burhakaba left ten people dead on
both sides. In the Gedo region, two officials were killed,
including the senior Somali Military Officer Iman Adow along
with five members of his family in Luuq on March 15 and the
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