Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak (Sun Tzu, The Art of War) Figure 1 Vates Corp: Puntland Somalia VEOs Approx. Areas of Operation (current as of Oct 26). Key: Al-Shabaab AO - red; Al-Shabaab transit areas – orange; Pro-ISIL AO – grey. Puntland Pro-ISIL…

With the succession of high profile attacks by al-Shabaab on Mogadishu Hotels and Restaurants, some assess these incidents as an indication of the group’s strength. Indeed, the Aug 30, LVBIED[i] attack targeting the SYL hotel became the 18th high profile al-Shabaab attack IVO Mogadishu hotels and restaurants since Jan 2015…

20160519: SPECIAL REPORT: SOMALIA ELECTION 2016 – The Road to Villa Somalia No. 9 With three months left before Somalia’s elections are due to begin, the 2016 election model is yet to be approved by the Federal Parliament. On Apr 15, UN Representative to Somalia, Michael Keating, said "Somalia’s political…

We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence, there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy’s few. (Sun Tzu, The Art of War) There have been a series…