On Tuesday evening, U.S. Special Operations Forces freed two aid workers — one American and one Dane — held hostage in Somalia. The hostages and their rescuers were unharmed in the operation, the Department of Defense reported. According to the Washington Post, nine of the suspected pirates were killed, with three unaccounted for and possibly captured. (more)
NAIROBI, Kenya — The United States government is increasingly concerned about the Twitter account of the Shabab militant group of Somalia, with American officials saying Monday that they were “looking closely” at the militants’ use of Twitter and the possible measures to take in response. (more)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations warned Wednesday that the famine in East Africa hasn’t peaked and hundreds of thousands of people face imminent starvation and death without a massive global response. (more)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — East Africa’s worsening famine is one of the largest humanitarian crises in decades, a U.S. State Department official said Friday, pledging “significant” aid despite the debt ceiling impasse being debated in Washington. (more)
Republicans have a political opportunity to promote legislation that would establish Guantanamo Bay prison as the default detention facility for jihadis following the White House’s controversial decision to transfer a Somali jihadi from U.S. military custody to a civil court in the United States. (more)
At least 39 Republican senators have signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder ripping him for transferring a Somali-based terrorist to the United States for a civilian trial, The Daily Caller has learned. (more)
WASHINGTON — The clandestine American military campaign to combat Al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen is expanding to fight the Islamist militancy in Somalia, as new evidence indicates that insurgents in the two countries are forging closer ties and possibly plotting attacks against the United States, American officials say. (more)
The four Americans aboard a yacht hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia are dead, CBS News has learned. (more)
While often under the mainstream media radar, East Africa is a national security and foreign policy hot spot for the United States. (more)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean sailors held captive by Somali pirates for a week said they were frequently beaten and their lives were repeatedly threatened before South Korean commandos rescued them in a dramatic raid, a news report said Wednesday. (more)
As a new Congress gets into gear, both Republicans and Democrats have a solemn duty to do the people’s work and to make sure their taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely. U.S. foreign assistance is already under the microscope, as it should be, but we believe policymakers should focus on making it better instead of slashing budgets. Foreign assistance accounts for less than 1% of our federal budget, and our investments in it can pay real dividends for the cost. (more)
The leader of Somalia’s main armed group al-Shabab has threatened to attack the United States if Barack Obama, the US president, does not embrace Islam. (more)
In the story of the scourge of Somali piracy, Sunday’s news brings to a close one of the longest-running hostage crises in the region. (more)
When the new Congress convenes in January, all eyes will be fixed on the economy. There is, however, another policy crisis: nine years have passed since September 11, 2001 and fourteen years since Osama bin Laden declared war against the U.S., yet the threat from the al Qaeda network continues to grow. Meanwhile, the U.S. response remains ad hoc, lacking an overarching strategy and a clear procedural approach to al Qaeda and its affiliated groups. Congress must help correct this deficit. (more)
GENEVA (AP) — Sixty-thousand civilians in Somalia have fled their homes over the past week as fresh fighting between Islamist insurgents and a government-allied militia claimed the lives of at least 10 people, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday. (more)
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s president is traveling to Uganda for talks on security issues at a time of political upheaval in Mogadishu. (more)
You can hardly read the newspaper these days without tripping across some reference to the dangerous nexus between terrorism and Somalia. American youth of Somali descent are being recruited to engage in jihad abroad. Al Shabaab, the most deadly Somali terrorist group, has entered into a strategic alliance with Al Qaida. Perhaps most terrifying of all, there are repeated reports of Somali extremists crossing our southern border and making their way into the United States. (more)
The mission — using small craft to reach the deck of German-owned vessel as the crew huddled in a safe room below — ranks among the most dramatic high seas confrontations with pirates by the task force created to protect shipping lanes off lawless Somalia. (more)
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Fighting in Somalia’s capital flared for a third straight day Wednesday, killing eight people and pushing the week’s death toll past 80 as insurgents tried to force government troops back toward the presidential palace, officials said. (more)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somali pirates hijacked a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship with 23 crew onboard during an early morning raid Monday, the European Union Naval Force said. (more)
