Somalia

The US has real but limited national security interests in stabilizing Somalia. Since 2006, Washington’s principal focus with regard to Somalia has been on reducing the threat posed by al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist insurgent group seeking to overthrow the federal government.

Firefights have broken out between federal Somali soldiers and troops from the Jubaland region. A heightened confrontation could embolden Al-Shabaab’s Islamist insurgency. The African Union should press Ethiopia and Kenya, which back Mogadishu and Kismayo, respectively, to coax the two sides into negotiations.

The likelihood of Somalia holding one-person-one-vote polls now appears less certain as five regional state presidents have endorsed an indirect election as long as it is held on time.

Since gaining independence on July 1, 1960, Somalia has faced civil war, clan conflict, secessions, and al-Shabab. The road to self-sufficiency for Africa's most culturally-homogeneous country is full of hurdles.

Somalia’s planned General Election for October this year is not feasible, and the earliest it can be held is March 2021, the Independent Electoral Commission has said. This will be the first general election in 50 years in Somalia.

One person was killed, and two others were injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Turkey-Somalia military training academy in Mogadishu on Tuesday, witnesses and officials say. … The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The coronavirus pandemic could pose a huge challenge to Somalia. To manage the crisis, the federal government should reach out to and coordinate with political rivals. It should avoid a unilateral postponement of elections due in November, which could trigger a violent backlash.

AFRICOM's first-ever public civilian casualties report offers a glimpse into the command's notoriously opaque review process.