Armed and insecure

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Particularly dramatic attacks occurred during a 2013 spike in violence, with strikes against the presidential palace and the UNDP compound in Mogadishu. In 2014, an assault on the capital’s seat of government, Villa Somalia, was painfully symbolic of the nation’s widespread insecurity, even in protected pockets. Attacks on hotels and government buildings in Mogadishu have continued sporadically, including a February 2015 suicide attack on the Central Hotel that targeted and killed at least three government officials, among the ten victims. 567 Likewise, a January 2016 attack on a popular Mogadishu beach-front restaurant killed between 17 and 20 civilians. 568 In June, Al-Shabaab attacked Hotel Ambassador and the Nasa-Hablod Hotel, both in the capital, killing at least 30 people in the attacks, including a minister and two lawmakers. 569 The targeting of soft targets, such as hotels and restaurants, with car bombs and suicide attacks in the capital, has become so common that a Somali website keeps a running tally, where one can unofficially see the attacks and victims since 2009. 570 From 2015 a further pattern emerged: taking over AMISOM bases with a suicide car bomb followed by an assault with firearms, resulting in dozens of dead soldiers and looted military equipment. In June, barely a week after an ambush purportedly “killed more than 60 Ethiopian troops in southern Somalia”, up to 70 soldiers from Burundi were killed as Al-Shabaab fighters took over an AU base near Leego (northwest of Mogadishu) after a suicide car bomb ran “into the entrance of the base, before dozens of militants armed with machine guns and rocketpropelled grenades unleashed their assault”. 571 Shortly after, an ambush with IEDs on troops in the same region was documented. 572 An August attack saw the same modus operandi used to overrun an African Union military base in Janale in southern Somalia, possibly killing between 50 and 70 soldiers, though officially Uganda stated only 12 of its soldiers had perished. 573 A similar attack occurred in January 2016 at another AMISOM base (El Adde, near the Kenyan border), possibly killing 63 soldiers and capturing hardware, including 28 to 30 “military 567 Long War Journal, ‘Shabaab suicide assault team strikes in Somali capital’, February 2015, www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/shabaab-suicideassault-team-strikes-in-somali-capital.php. 568 Reuters, ‘Islamist gunmen kill 17 in Somalia beach restaurant attack’, January 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-attacks-idUSKCN0V00D7; CNN, ‘Somalia hotel attack: Terrorists kill at least 20 people in Mogadishu’, January 2016, http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/21/africa/somalia-violence/. 569 The Guardian, ‘Gunmen kill at least 15 in attack on Mogadishu hotel’, June 2016, www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/01/al-shabaab-gunmen-attackmogadishu-hotel-ambassador-somalia; AP, ‘Somali minister among 15 killed in terror attack on hotel’, June 2016, www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/26/somaliminister-among-15-killed-in-extremist-attack-on-hotel.html. 570 Goobjoog, ‘Timeline of Mogadishu’s Hotel Attacks Since 2009’, February 2016, http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=25632. 571 Long War Journal, ‘Shabaab claims to kill dozens of Ethiopian troops in southern Somalia’, June 2015, www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/06/al-shabaabclaims-to-kill-dozens-of-ethiopian-troops-in-southern-somalia.php. The ambush on the Ethiopians in turn came days after a clash between Kenyan soldiers and Al-Shabaab near a base in Lamu (Kenya) killed at least two soldiers and 11 insurgents: Al Jazeera, ‘Al-Shabab fighters killed in firefight at Kenyan base’, June 2015, www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/al-shabab-fighters-killed-firefight-kenyan-base-150614092239160.html. The Guardian, ‘Al-Shabaab kills dozens of African Union troops at base in Somalia’, June 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/26/al-shabaab-attacks-african-union-base-somalia-scores-killed; Long War Journal, ‘Shabaab assaults African Union base’, June 2015, www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/06/al-shabaab-assaults-african-union-base.php. 572 Long War Journal, ‘Shabaab ambushes Burundian troops near Leego’, July 2015, www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/07/shabaab-ambushesburundian-troops-near-leego.php. 573 BBC, ‘Somalia attack: Al-Shabab attacks African Union Janale base’, September 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34113503; East African, ‘12 Ugandan soldiers killed in Somalia: Army’, September 2015, www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/12-Ugandan-soldiers-killed-in-Somalia--Army-/-/2558/2857038/- /100bfn5/-/index.html. 128 PAX ! Armed and insecure
vehicles”. 574 The pattern has remained, as in June 2016 an attack on a base in Hiran followed the blueprint of earlier attacks, with both sides stating dozens of enemy fighters had been killed in the pre-dawn gun battle, with an AU spokesman claiming 110 dead Al-Shabaab fighters and Somalia’s government claiming more than double that number. 575 As noted, the predominance of ‘state-based violence’ and the absence, or feebleness, of Somali armed forces mean that foreign forces have been a significant vector of violence in Somalia. Kenya’s intervention was in response to attacks on its soil and it has waged large-scale armed violence on Somali territory; given Al-Shabaab’s strikes in Kenya the countries have been dubbed “blood brothers”. 576 So intertwined are the neighbours that violent events in one country invariably have both causes and consequences in the other nation. In retaliation for the Garissa massacre, Kenya’s air force reportedly destroyed Al-Shabaab camps in Gondodowe and Ismail, close to its own borders, in April 2015. 577 This was neither the first nor the last strike: in June 2014 Kenyan jets targeted two other camps, in Anole and Kuday in Lower Juba, reportedly killing at least 80 Al-Shabaab fighters. 578 More recent reported air strikes have included strikes in Lower Juba in December 2015 and Gedo in June 2016. 579 Kenya’s ground troops have also stung and been stung. Most traumatising, a January 2016 attack may have killed over 140 Kenyan soldiers; another example of muddled body counts, Somalia’s president claimed the number was 200 casualties. 580 Kenya’s forces reportedly killed 21 Al-Shabaab members—‘recovering’ 17 AK-47 rifles, two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, five RPGs and ammunition—as recently as late May 2016. 581 Likewise, Ethiopian forces have waged and suffered armed violence in efforts targeting Al- Shabaab—a group whose emergence at least partially stems from Ethiopia’s ‘invasion’ in 2006. 582 574 Newsweek, ‘Al-Shabab attacks African Union base in Somalia: report’, January 2016, www.newsweek.com/al-shabab-attacks-african-union-base-somaliareports-416086; Reuters, ‘Al Shabaab militants attack Somali army base, says dozens dead’, January 2016, www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-attacks-idUSKCN0UT0BT. 575 New York Times, ‘Shabab Attack in Somalia Sets Off Predawn Gun Battle’, June 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/world/africa/shabab-somalia-suicideattack.html. 576 BBC, ‘Somalia and Kenya: Blood brothers’, September 2013, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24330273. 577 Washington Post, ‘Kenya, avenging college massacre, bombs al-Shabab camps in Somalia’, April 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/kenya-avengingcollege-massacre-bombs-al-shabab-camps-in-somalia/2015/04/06/32931c58-dc53-11e4-acfe-cd057abefa9a_story.html. “This is the latest in a series of air strikes that Kenya’s military has carried out in Somalia. Often, they are accompanied by reports of civilian casualties - in this instance, a mother and her two children were wounded, an eyewitness says. Many people in Somalia believe the air assault is merely aimed at showing Kenyans that the government is responding to the threat posed by al-Shabab.” BBC, ‘Kenya bombs Somalia al-Shabab bases after Garissa attack’, April 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32194722. 578 Al-Shabaab conversely claimed that “Only pastoralists were around there and luckily no goat was injured, let alone a civilian”: Reuters, ‘Kenyan jets hit al Shabaab bases in Somalia, kill 80: AU force’, June 2014, www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/23/us-somalia-unrest-idUSKBN0EY15E20140623. 579 The Star, ‘KDF bombs al Shabaab Juba camp’, December 2015, www.the-star.co.ke/news/2015/12/07/kdf-bombs-al-shabaab-juba-camp_c1254738; Shabelle, ‘KDF Kills 40 Al-Shabaab Militants in Airstrikes’, June 2016, http://allafrica.com/stories/201606281033.html. 580 Deutsche Welle, ‘AU in Somalia: underfunded and overwhelmed’, June 2016, www.dw.com/en/au-in-somalia-underfunded-and-overwhelmed/a-19320842; DefenceWeb, ‘Somali president says 200 Kenyans killed in military camp attack’, February 2016, www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view =article&id=42514:somali-president-says-200-kenyans-killed-in-military-camp-attack&catid=3:Civil%20Security&Itemid=113. 581 Daily Nation, ‘KDF troops kills 21 Shabaab militants in Somalia’, May 2016, www.nation.co.ke/news/KDF-kills-21-Shabaab-militants-in- Somalia/-/1056/3217796/-/m66uap/-/index.html. 582 Mail & Guardian, ‘Ethiopian troops lead big new AU offensive against Al-Shabaab in Somalia; heavy fighting raging’, July 2015, http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-07-19- ethiopian-troops-lead-big-new-au-offensive-against-al-shabaab-in-somalia-heavy-fighting-reported. As early as 2008, Ethiopian soldiers were accused of committing serious violations in Somalia: New York Times, ‘Ethiopian soldiers accused of war crimes in Somalia’ May 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/world/africa/06iht-somalia.1.12610349.html. PAX ! Armed and insecure 129
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Armed and insecure An overview of a
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Armed and insecure An overview of a
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MSF NISAT-PRIO OCHA OHCHR RECSA RPG
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Weapon Use 68 Military Spending and
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Agents of Political Conflict in Afr
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Saudi Arabia Map 2 Horn of Africa S
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unacceptable humanitarian harm caus
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corruption, Somalia ranks last in t
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A few lessons learned can be mentio
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1. Sudan Once the continent’s lar
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iggest perpetrator of this type of
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documented, a few of which will be
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The relentless bombing and constant
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107mm mortars, as well as reportedl
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weapon systems are Russia, China, U
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small arms and light weapons (SALW)
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ocket launchers are also promoted.
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which they deemed ineffective. 124
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Spotlight: Children killed and maim
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© Enough / Amanda Hsiao South Suda
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!Abyei South Sudan Juba The Sudanes
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“Hundreds of extra-judicial killi
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embargo on South Sudan. 161 In earl
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implement” the remainder of the c
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thought to have been considerable,
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Equatorian leaders complained to th
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Spotlight: An Armed Newborn—Pre-i
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3. Uganda With a population slightl
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civil disobedience”—led to anot
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against the arrest and beating of a
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nonetheless killed 725 civilians in
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Concerning major weapons systems, t
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SU-30s do not appear to meet any ob
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the aim of offsetting the North’s
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Spotlight—Uganda and South Sudan:
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Page 108: © David Stanley Military equipment
Page 111 and 112: Eritrea Asmara severe drought and f
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Page 138 and 139: SMALL ARMS Because of the embargo,
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