Somalia
US assassination in Somalia
By Brian Smith, September 21, 2009
United States commandos from the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command launched a helicopter raid last week in Somalia, close to the border with Kenya, and killed a key Islamist suspect.
Somalia: Obama administration sends arms to prop up Islamist government
By Brian Smith, August 3, 2009
The Obama administration has been sending weapons to Somalia to support the Transitional Federal Government against a rebel insurgency that threatens to overwhelm the government.
Somalia: Conflict rages in Mogadishu
By Brian Smith, June 8, 2009
In the past few weeks, rebels from Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have routed government forces in Mogadishu.
Why did France resort to violence off the coast of Somalia?
By Olivier Laurent, May 1, 2009
The use of force in April to recover five French hostages held off the Somali coastline, on the yacht, the Tanit, demonstrates the contempt of the Nicolas Sarkozy government for the lives of the Frenc...
Hijacking of US ship raises threat of intervention in Somalia
By Bill Van Auken, April 10, 2009
As the hostage drama off the coast of Somalia continued into its second day Thursday, there were indications that the Obama administration may be preparing yet another military intervention, this time...
Somalia: US policy shift towards Islamists after Ethiopian pullout
By Brian Smith, March 25, 2009
Somali MPs have elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, leader of the Djibouti-based Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), as the country’s new president.
German navy in operations off Somalia
By Marius Heuser, January 14, 2009
The German government is sending warships to the Somalian coast—to defend its interests under cover of the fight against piracy.
More military vessels dispatched to Somalia
By Brian Smith and Chris Talbot, December 3, 2008
The increased militarisation of the oil-rich region represents a major danger to the peoples of the region and the entire world. Warships from Britain, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Russia and the...
NATO warships head to Somalia
By Brian Smith, November 4, 2008
NATO warships from across the globe are converging on the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, ostensibly to tackle piracy and to escort ships through the Gulf. Russia is also sending a warship.
A discussion on Ethiopias’s role in Somalia
October 11, 2008
The following correspondence was received on the September 22 article, "Ethiopia threatens to withdraw from Somalia". Below is a reply by its author, Brian Smith.
Ethiopia threatens to withdraw from Somalia
By Brian Smith, September 22, 2008
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has warned that he is prepared to withdraw his country’s troops from Somalia, where they are propping up the US-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG)...
Global food price rises exacerbate famine in Ethiopia and Somalia
By Barry Mason, July 3, 2008
It is not unusual for Ethiopia and Somalia to be hit by drought and food shortages, but this year the rise in food costs makes an already disastrous situation worse.
