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Al-Shabaab is just a symptom of Somalia’s tragedy – the causes are still in place

Al-Shabaab is just a symptom of Somalia’s tragedy – the causes are still in place

FOR at least 14 years now, the militant group Al-Shabaab has terrorised the southern region of Somalia. Its ambition is to impose a tyrannical dictatorship over the entire country through fear and brutality. To achieve its aims, it has sought to oust the Somali government and its foreign military allies. I have been a student of Somali political economy for over three decades. I predicted the collapse of the Somali state and political order 33 years ago. That analysis foretold the miserable conditions Somalis have endured since. The political and humanitarian catastrophe predates the terrorist group’s rise – thus, Al-Shabaab…
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Catalogue of failures behind growing humanitarian crisis in northern Mozambique

Catalogue of failures behind growing humanitarian crisis in northern Mozambique

CABO Delgado, the northernmost province of Mozambique, has been under attack for three years. The violence was triggered in 2017 when armed men attacked a police station, killing one police officer and critically injuring another. Locals identified the assailants as “al-shabaab”, alluding to an Islamic connection. CRISTIANO D'ORSI, Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer at the South African Research Chair in International Law (SARCIL), University of Johannesburg This year, the violence has escalated. In August, militants linked to the Islamic State seized the province’s strategic port town. The militants are reported to have formal ties to Islamic State. They are also…
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