Violent battle with heavy artillery in Mogadishu: the previous budget is of 5 or 6 dead and at least 14 wounded. Victims are almost all civilians and between them also a woman and a child.
Monday, 1 February, 2010
Somalia: Violent battle in Mogadishu between al-Shabaab islamic rebels and african peacekeepers
Saturday, 30 January, 2010
Nigeria: Mend (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) revokes ceasefire threating attacks
The militant group Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND said Saturday declared an all out war on the government and oil firms in the area after it said it had called off the ceasefire pact made in the aftermath of the ground breaking amnesty arranged between the government and the militant groups operating in the oil rich region.
Saturday’s announcement also warned oil producing firms to vacate the region immediately, warning that they should be ready to accept responsibility for whatever happened to their staff who remain at their bases.
Friday, 29 January, 2010
Somalia: Fighting rages in Mogadishu between al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam islamist fighters on one side and the Amisom troops and pro-government forces on the other
Heavy fighting raged early on Friday in the centre of Mogadishu between Islamist insurgents and soldiers of the African Union’s peacekeeping force in Somalia (Amisom).
Artillery exchanges and automatic weapons fire broke out around 02:00 (23:00 GMT on Thursday) and continued through the night. After dying down a little, the violence resumed in full intensity at dawn.
The fighting was concentrated around the strategic K4 junction halfway between the Somali capital’s airport and the port.
Tuesday, 26 January, 2010
Ethiopia: Ethiopian forces (Woyane army or Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front) burned the town of Budle and fought against Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA)
Reports reaching the Ogaden Online News Desk confirm the burning down of the town of Budle, Shabelle province by the Woyane army. Eyewitnesses indicate that the Woyane militias first looted all valuables in the town. Prior to torching the town, the marauding Woyane militias also took two young girls with them. We couldn’t confirm the names of the two young girls.
Sunday, 24 January, 2010
Somalia: al-Shabaab islamic rebels look to the somali north (Puntland, Northland, Maakhir and Somaliland)
Speaking to a crowd in Ufurow district in the Bakool region, Mahad Omar Abdikarin, Shabaab’s governor for the Bay and Bakool regions in southwestern Somalia, recently announced that the al-Qaeda-backed group will attack Puntland, the semi-autonomous state, and the breakaway republic of Somaliland. Abdikarin is a prominent leader who has publicly flaunted Shabaab’s link with al Qaeda and has urged foreign fighters to flock to Somalia.
Having consolidated its power in the Deep South along the Kenyan border, Shabaab has launched a terror offensive in the northern self-declared state of Puntland. It is a Mexican drug gang-style campaign, with an aggressive string of targeted assassinations and low profile bombings in a Somali region that had been relatively safe and prosperous.
Monday, 18 January, 2010
Somalia: army is preparing for a major assault against al-Shabaab islamist fighters
Countries bordering Somalia are planning to coordinate a major assault against positions held by al-Shabaab militia in Somalia, using ethnic Somali military officers being trained in their respective boundaries.
Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti who share the border with Somalia are all training military personnel on behalf of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, which though boxed-in by militias, enjoys international recognition.
Under the United Nations laws, TFG can request another UN member to train military officers on its behalf.
Sunday, 17 January, 2010
Somalia and Yemen swapping islamists fighters
A radical Somali Islamist group fighting to overthrow the government in Somalia says it is exchanging fighters with rebels in Yemen.
An al-Shabaab spokesman told the BBC the group was sending forces to Yemen and receiving fighters in return because of its close links with the country.
Yemen has come under scrutiny after last month’s failed US airliner attack was linked to militants in the country.