Somalia

Africa

Somaliland and Western Sahara: forbidden symmetry

Israel has become the first country on Earth to recognize the de facto independent Republic of Somaliland, in exchange for a commitment from Somaliland to join the Abraham Accordsand recognize Israel. However, not three years ago, Israel joined the US as the only two countries on Earth to recognize Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara—a betrayal of the occupied Sahrawi Arab people who seek an independent state. And of course both these deals constitute a betrayal of the Palestinians. Somaliland and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic should be natural allies, and instead they are being pitted against each other in the Great Power game. Yet another example of how a global divide-and-rule racket is the essence of the state system. In Episode 311 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down. (Photo: Horn Diplomat via Wikipedia)

Africa

World leaders reject Israeli recognition of Somaliland

A group of 21 Arab, African and Islamic nations issued a joint statement formally rejecting Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. The statement asserted that recognizing Somaliland as a nation independent of Somalia constitutes a grave violation of international law, emphasizing the “serious repercussions of such [an] unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole.” This statement followed a declaration signed by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, making Israel the first country on earth to recognize Somaliland. As part of the deal, Somaliland is expected to recognize Israel under the Abraham Accords. President Donald Trump brokered the Abraham Accords in his first term, seeking to establish diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab nations. However, despite the Trump administration’s failed proposition earlier this year for Somaliland to take in Palestinians from Gaza, the US State Department announced that Washington will continue to recognize the territorial integrity of Somalia, “which includes the territory of Somaliland.” (Map: Somalia Country Profile)

Greater Middle East

Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping condemned as war crimes

Human Rights Watch criticized renewed attacks launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial cargo ships in the Red Sea. HRW characterized the recent attacks—one deadly—as war crimes, and called for their immediate cessation as well as the release the crew members in Houthi custody. Houthi authorities claimed one of the attacked ships, which was returning from delivering aid to Somalia, was headed for the Israeli port of Eilat. However, this has not been corroborated. (Map via PCL)

Watching the Shadows

Trump issues new ‘travel ban’ proclamation

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation implementing a nearly full travel ban on nationals from a dozen countries, severely restricting potential entry into the United States. The proclamation is based on an executive order issued on Trump’s first day in office that laid the foundation for the administration to enact extensive immigration controls. Commentators have harshly criticized the ban, pointing out that it disproportionately affects Muslim-majority and African countries. Amnesty International’s secretary general Agnes Callamard lambasted Trump for the action, calling it “discriminatory, racist and downright cruel.” The restrictions bear a striking resemblance to Trump’s 2017 travel ban, which blocked travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries. (Photo: Minneapolis protest of 2018 Supreme Court decision upholding Trump’s first travel ban. Credit: Fibonacci Blue/Flickr)

Africa

Turkey in oil-for-security deal with Somalia

Turkey has sent 500 troops to the Somali capital Mogadishu, the first phase of a planned 2,500-strong deployment to bolster the government against recent advances by the insurgent group al-Shabaab. Turkey already has 300 soldiers in Mogadishu, primarily to train the elite Gorgor brigade. Meanwhile, Turkey has also struck a controversial oil and gas exploration deal with the government in which it will receive 90% of all future revenues as a cost-recovery mechanism. Somalia will earn just 5% in royalties. (Photo: United Nations via Globely News)

Planet Watch

Trump tariffs ‘inexplicably cruel’ for Africa

Some of the world’s poorest countries, including nations grappling with protracted humanitarian crises, are among those most affected by President Donald Trump’s new trade tariffs regime, which has compounded pre-existing economic strains and debt woes. Among the worst effects will likely be felt in Africa, where Trump’s decision has created an “inexplicably cruel situation,” according to the Center for Global Development (CGD). “It is hard to fathom that the administration set out to destabilize poor African countries and unclear what they hope to gain,” wrote CGD researchers. The tariffs have effectively tanked the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allowed duty-free imports to the US for 32 countries and was credited with helping economic growth. Amid existential financial worries in the international aid sector—triggered by Trump’s closure of USAID—economists have also raised the possibility of a global trade war, with far-reaching ramifications for inflation and the cost of living worldwide. (Photo: Down To Earth)

Africa

Trump’s first air-strikes hit ISIS base in Puntland

US fighter jets launched from the USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea struck a hidden base of the local ISIS franchise in the interior mountains of Somalia’s northern autonomous enclave of Puntland. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed” in these first US air-strikes under the new Trump presidency. The strikes were carried out with the cooperation of the governments of both Puntland and Somalia, whose President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his “deepest gratitude.” The Puntland Dervish Forces have for some five years been fighting the self-declared “Islamic State Somalia” in the enclave’s Cal Miskaad mountains. (Photo via Garowe Online)

Africa

Regional powers vie in Somalia

Tensions are ratcheting up in the Horn of Africa over the deployment of Egyptian troops to Somalia. Ethiopia, Somalia’s neighbor, isn’t happy. It has soldiers in Somalia acting as a buffer against al-Shabab insurgents, but now Mogadishu has asked them to withdraw. High-stakes strategic interests are at play. Ethiopia and Egypt have been locked in a long-standing dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Egypt regards as an existential threat. Meanwhile, landlocked Ethiopia has also enraged Somalia over its determination to find a port to lease. It has turned to the breakaway region of Somaliland, dangling the prospect of recognizing its independence—an absolute red line for Mogadishu. The new defense agreement between Egypt and Somalia has underlined just how serious the tensions are. Egypt is planning to send 5,000 soldiers to Somalia to join a new-look African Union force, with a separate 5,000 stationed on the Ethiopian border. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Arms heist in Somalia

An ambush by local militia on a weapons convoy in central Somalia has been described as the country’s “single most serious incident of arms proliferation.” The looted weapons included assault rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades. The convoy had crossed from Ethiopia when it was attacked near the border town of Abudwaq. The consignment is believed to have been destined for one of the clans in the area that is allied with government forces waging a stalled offensive against the jihadist group al-Shabab. The price of an AK-47 has since dropped by one third on the local market. The weapons are not only likely to fuel inter-clan conflict, but they could also be bought by a resurgent al-Shabab or by bandits in northern Kenya. As al-Shabab wins back territory, it continues its campaign of bomb attacksin the capital, Mogadishu. (Map via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Somalia drone strikes could be war crimes: Amnesty

Two strikes that killed 23 civilians during Somali military operations supported by Turkish drones must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said. Civilians killed in the strikes included 14 children, five women and four men. Another 17 civilians were injured. All were from the marginalized Gorgaarte clan. The strikes hit a farming community in the Lower Shabelle region amid operations against the Shabaab insurgents. “The Somali and Turkish governments must investigate these deadly strikes as a war crime, and put an end to reckless attacks on civilians,” said Amnesty’s regional director for East Africa. (Map via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Regional lines drawn over Somaliland conflict

Addis Ababa held talks on military cooperation with Somaliland, after announcing a controversial deal on sea access through the self-governing but unrecognized republic. As the talks began, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Eritrea (Ethiopia’s regional rival) seeking support for his harsh opposition to the deal, decried as a step toward recognition of Somaliland’s independence. President Mohamud also signed a law nullifying the New Year’s Day memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Ethiopia and Somaliland, which grants the landlocked regional power a corridor to Somaliland’s port of Berbera. The Somaliland government, based in Hargeisa, claims full sovereignty, and does not recognize Mogadishu’s jurisdiction over the territory. (Map: Somalia Country Profile)

Africa

Why politicians shouldn’t play weathermen

Last month, Kenya’s President William Ruto announced that El Niño climate phenomenon, which has historically brought devastating flooding to the country, would not occur this year, contradicting weeks of warnings from meteorologists. Today, across the country, at least 60 people have died, over 50,000 more have been displaced, entire towns have been submerged, and hundreds of acres of farmland are under water as heavy rains associated with El Niño lash the region. And it could be even worse in neighboring Somalia, where nearly 1.2 million people have been affected, prompting the country to declare an emergency. The World Meteorological Organization predicts that this El Niño will last until at least April 2024, with impacts on food security worldwide. (Photo via Twitter)