Horn of Africa: Al-Shabab Remains Permanent Threat

 The terrorist group has been carrying out a series of attacks in hotels, military installations and population in Somalia and Kenya.

The Horn of Africa remains a restive zone with persistent insecurity caused the Al-Queda linked Islamist militant group, Al-Shabab mostly in the conflict-ridden Somalia and Kenya. Militants of the terrorist group have killed thousands in suicide bomb attacks carried out in hotels, schools, transportation  companies and military bases  and defence installations.

It is said to control large swaths of land in Southern Somalia.  BCC reports say the terrorist group  is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.

The most recent noticeable attacks Al-Shabab militants carried out include that of a Kenyan military base in June 2017 killing 57 soldiers,  January 2017 suicide bombing in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu that killed 28 and the June 2017 storming of a military compound in Puntland which killed 70 people.

International Mobilisation
The war against Al-Shabab is principally carried out by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which is a an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations. AMISOM started in 2007 with over 22,000 troops from five contributing countries that included: Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Burundi. International mobilisation to eradicate the terrorist group has essentially been a regional affair.

According to media reports, the only direct intervention in the war out of the African continent is from the United States of America  that has about 50 commandos who are said to rotate in and out Somalia to advise and assist local troops. The US is also reported to have launch 14 airstrikes last year using drones. The United Nations Organisation  intervention mostly comes at...