Tag Archives: Somalia
17 November 2014
On 12 November the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution renewing its call on states and regional organisations to adopt counter-piracy measures off the coast of Somalia. Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council reaffirmed its condemnation of piracy and robbery and called on the international community to intensify efforts in fighting a “threat to the East African country’s stability” through the provision a military presence, and seizing and disposing of vessels, arms and related equipment. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | Somalia: Security Council urges Member States to strengthen efforts against piracy
3 May 2014
Despite weaker Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Somalia, Syria, Yemen and West Africa are exerting increasing influence in their regions. According to a US State Department report that was released this Wednesday, this poses new challenges for American counterterrorism officials. (more…)
Source: The New York Times | Qaeda Affiliates Gain Regional Influence as Central Leadership Fades
Source: U.S. Department of State | Executive Summary | BUREAU OF COUNTERTERRORISM | Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 | 30 April 2014
25 April 2014
The Dutch Minister of Defence, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, maintains that the Netherlands does not facilitate illegal liquidations with drones by the United States and that the Dutch government has no indications that information gathered by the Dutch military intelligence agency (MIVD) was used for acts that violate international law. The statement by Hennis-Plasschaert is a reaction to the claim by former drone pilot, Brandon Bryant, that it is ‘unthinkable’ that the Dutch intelligence concerning Somalia has not been used by the US to conduct targeted killings of presumed terrorists. (more…)
Source: Volkskrant | Hennis herhaalt: Nederland werkt niet mee aan illegale drone-aanvallen
Source: NRC | ‘Nederland levert metadata voor Amerikaanse aanvallen met drones’
3 April 2014
The exchange of information between Dutch intelligence services and the United States National Security Agency (NSA) is no longer taking place entirely outside the public eye. After a graph published in German news magazine Der Spiegel in August 2013 initially seemed to suggest that the NSA had intercepted 1.8 million records of metadata from Dutch phone calls in the period of December 2012 to January 2013, it became clear this February that Dutch intelligence services had gathered these records themselves, and had subsequently shared them with the NSA. This information consisted of metadata records gathered in the context of anti-terrorism and military operations abroad.
A substantial share of Dutch intelligence efforts is directed towards Somalia, and millions of Somali phone calls have been intercepted from both the Dutch town of Burum and Dutch navy ship HMS Rotterdam. The Netherlands has been collecting this information in order to support the Dutch contribution to the navy missions combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The (meta)data is shared with the NSA (who do not have access to Somali telephone traffic) and in return the US has provided the Netherlands with technical support needed to intercept local telephone traffic from the HMS Rotterdam.[1] (more…)
13 January 2014
The United States deployed a small team of military advisers to Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, last month to assist Somali and African forces in combating the Shabab, an Islamic militant group. Col. Tom Davis, a spokesman for the military’s Africa Command, stated ‘[t]he U.S. has established a military coordination cell in Somalia to provide planning and advisory support to the African Union Mission in Somalia and Somali security forces to increase their capabilities and promote peace and security throughout Somalia and the region.’
While the U.S. has been cautious in deploying its forces to Somalia, as seen by the small deployment of three advisers, the Obama administration has come closer to reversing the decades old policy that bars American ‘boots on the ground.’ The U.S. has officially recognised the new federal government in Somalia and although the U.S. embassy has not yet reopened, officials from the U.S. embassy in Nairobi visit Mogadishu frequently.
Source: The New York Times | U.S. Advisers Sent to Help Somalia Fight the Shabab