Shabaab’s suicide bombing against Somalia’s top general is the latest in the group’s recent attacks against government officials. The bombing also continues the current spate of increased suicide bombings across the country.

In the span of four days, the Al Qaeda branch has claimed the use of two suicide car bombings on Somali and Turkish military bases in two different areas of Somalia.

The month of May saw a relative spike in Islamic State claims inside Somalia compared to earlier months. However, this comes in the backdrop of several Puntland security operations against it.

Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss the history of America’s drone campaign against al-Qaeda and ISIS.

AFRICOM has stepped up its air campaign against Shabaab since the beginning of the year, targeting the group 33 times.

U.S. Africa Command said it killed the Shabaab commander was “in charge of planning and directing terrorist operations” along the Kenyan border, including the raid on the Manda Bay Airfield. Three Americans were killed in that attack.

Yesterday’s assault marks at least the third time the SYL Hotel has been targeted by Shabaab in recent years.

Two statements, which were released by al Qaeda’s general command and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, were addressed to Shabaab yesterday in a coordinated messaging campaign.

Shabaab, just days after launching assaults on US and Italian troops, has now also claimed two IEDs on a US-trained Somali special forces unit.

No casualties were reported in either attack, however.

The camp is at least the second one ran by the Islamic State in Somalia’s northern Puntland region.

Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, claims it tried to assassinate James Swan, a US diplomat and the UN Special Envoy to Somalia.

AFRICOM has stepped up its targeting of the Islamic State, and continues to pursue its efforts to “degrade” al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia. Unfortunately, the defeat of the two terror groups is not in the cards.

The US military launched its second strike against the Islamic State’s network in northern Somalia in the past two weeks.

The strike takes place as US and African Union backed Somali forces attempt to wrest territory held by Shabaab. US Africa Command recently estimated that Shabaab controls one quarter of Somalia’s territory.

At least 15 people were killed yesterday when Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, detonated a car bomb on one of Mogadishu’s busiest roads. The bombing was just the latest in a string of car bombs that have hit the Somali capital this week. Those 15 people were killed when the car bomb detonated near a popular restaurant and hotel on Mogadishu’s Maka al Mukarama road. Another 17 people were left wounded. According to local sources, the majority of those killed and injured were dining in the restaurant at the time of the blast. In a statement released via…

Shabaab’s suicide assault killed the Deputy Minister and 14 others in Mogadishu.

Shabaab has continued to demonstrate its ability to strike in heavily fortified areas of Mogadishu.

The US military’s air campaign against Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, continues to intensify. AFRICOM launched five more airstrikes against Shabaab over the weekend.

The two latest strikes took place in a town where Shabaab is dominant. The US air campaign against Shabaab continues to intensify and is on pace to quickly outstrip last year’s strike total.

Shabaab has now assassinated four high-ranking Somali military personnel in the same general vicinity.

The pace of strikes against Shabaab’s network in Somalia has intensified despite reports that the US military is seeking to disengage from the war-torn country.
