Kenya – Police in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa say they had arrested two people who were driving a car with two improvised bombs hidden inside it, it was reported on the 18 mar 14. The suspects, one Kenyan and the other of Somali origin, were planning to attack an unspecified target. Kenya is on a heightened state of alert after militants from Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist group attacked a shopping centre in Nairobi last year. Two homemade bombs were found in the car along with a mobile phone, which may have been used as a means to detonate a device. Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab has carried out a series of attacks in Kenya in what it says is retaliation for Nairobi's decision to deploy troops to Somalia.
On the 24 Mar 14 it was reported that six people were killed and 20 were wounded when at least two unidentified militants entered a church and opened fire on those inside in Likoni, near the city of Mombasa, in Kenya's Coast Province on 23 Mar 14. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, militants linked to Somali-based militant group Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahedeen have carried out similar attacks in the province in the past.
Libya – A car bomb targeting a military academy in Libya's restive eastern city of Benghazi killed at least five soldiers and wounded more than 10 it was reported on the 17 Mar 14.
The medical centre in Benghazi reported that "five bodies plus an indeterminate number of body parts" had arrived at the hospital, along with "more than 10 wounded people". A military source said the car parked in front of the academy blew up as soldiers emerged from an awards ceremony for army promotions. At the time of writing no group had claimed responsibility but the options are open to either a militia group or a terrorist organisation.
A Grad-type rocket landed inside the perimeter of Tripoli International Airport on the 24 Mar 14. This follows another incident on 21 Mar 14 in which two such rockets were fired. Damage was limited to some cratering of the runway and no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Grad-type rockets are typically fired from improvised launchers, and are highly inaccurate. They do not pose a risk to aircraft in flight but the fear of them hitting an aircraft on the ground led to the airport being shut down on both occasions. Tripoli International Airport is under the control of militias from the Zintan region, who use it to extract revenue from, and exert influence over, the Tripoli government, which is dominated by their rivals from the town of Misratah and their Islamist allies. These attacks may be initiated to show that those providing security for the airport cannot do their task correctly and may have been from a rival militia/group attempting to take the role over and gain what must be a substantial payment for securing such a prestigious location.
On the 26 mar 14 the newspaper Al-Arabiya published an article regarding the threat to Europe. The paper wrote that Libya was in danger of becoming a terrorist base for al-Qaeda targeting and attacking targets across the Mediterranean Sea especially those who are supplying troops, logistics and intelligence against those areas that the terrorist organisation is attempting to put in a foothold. Since the fall of Gaddafi and the rise in militias the country has become an extremely unstable location. Added to that ease of which weapons, ammunition and explosives can be acquired makes the country not only unstable but dangerous to North Africa and Europe. The amount of oil that could be acquired from the country if the terrorists were take root would enable them to build a very large war fund. The recent problems with the oil tanker (Morning Glory) that had docked in the country and the American Special Forces took as it laid off Cyprus highlights a problem of selling oil on the black market or the smuggling that would occur in order to assist with funding for better equipment and weapons. To prove the point the gunmen that loaded the tanker had demanded a share of the oil wealth and intended to sell the oil on the global market.
Nigeria – Nigeria's Islamic extremists, Boko Harem, intensified their propaganda war against the Nigerian military by releasing a video on the 24 mar 14 showing their fighters shooting confidently in the army's main barracks in north-eastern Nigeria and meeting little resistance. The video casts doubts on the military's insistence it has the insurgents on the run after a month of sustained aerial bombardments and ground assaults. For its part the military reported that it defeated the militants who assaulted the Giwa Barracks on March 14 "with heavy human casualty on the terrorists," said Defence Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade. The barracks are in Maiduguri, birthplace of the Boko Haram terrorist network, capital of Borno state and headquarters of the security forces offensive. There is no way to independently verify the claims of either side and both are given to exaggeration and even fabrication. The video released Boko Haram starts with turbaned fighters in military trucks with mounted submachine guns driving up to the barracks and firing rockets and rocket-propelled grenades. They provide cover as fighters on foot break through a barbed wire fence and a barrier of mounds of sand. Once inside the barracks, the fighters stroll with rifles casually pointed at the ground as others set ablaze scores of vehicles, according to the video footage. One shot shows militants trying to set fire to a tank, and another group taking off in an armoured personnel carrier. Brig. Gen. Olukolade's statement characterized the attack as a desperate attempt "to boost their depleted stock of fighters" diminished by military victories. However, there is a great deal of spin coming out from the Nigerian government which has failed in its mission to bring the terrorist organisation to an end. What started as a six month campaign in the north-east of the country has, and is likely to, for the foreseeable future, become a war of attrition. Goodluck Johnsons sacking of the top echelons of the military some time ago is having no effect. Unless the military get the outside assistance that it needs this conflict will go on for some time to come and engulf many other regions in the continent.
Somalia – A car bomb that targeted a hotel in Buloburte town, central Somalia region of Hiran and killed at least 20. A suicide car bomb hit the Hotel Amalow at midnight around 0230 hrs local time on the 18 Mar 14. The hotel Amalow was frequented by government officials and the commanders of both Somali military and those from African Union Forces [AMISOM]. According to sources, the suicide car exploded outside the hotel where the security guards fired at the car as it was approached, but soon after the explosion some 20 armed men stormed the hotel and begun firing those around. More than a dozen soldiers were wounded and were rushed to a hospital in Mogadishu. Al Shabab militant group which is linked to al Qaeda network claimed the attack. The town of Buloburte has fallen for Somalia Army and the AMISOM forces recently.
On the 24 Mar 14 it was reported that six people were killed and 20 were wounded when at least two unidentified militants entered a church and opened fire on those inside in Likoni, near the city of Mombasa, in Kenya's Coast Province on 23 Mar 14. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, militants linked to Somali-based militant group Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahedeen have carried out similar attacks in the province in the past.
Libya – A car bomb targeting a military academy in Libya's restive eastern city of Benghazi killed at least five soldiers and wounded more than 10 it was reported on the 17 Mar 14.
The medical centre in Benghazi reported that "five bodies plus an indeterminate number of body parts" had arrived at the hospital, along with "more than 10 wounded people". A military source said the car parked in front of the academy blew up as soldiers emerged from an awards ceremony for army promotions. At the time of writing no group had claimed responsibility but the options are open to either a militia group or a terrorist organisation.
A Grad-type rocket landed inside the perimeter of Tripoli International Airport on the 24 Mar 14. This follows another incident on 21 Mar 14 in which two such rockets were fired. Damage was limited to some cratering of the runway and no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Grad-type rockets are typically fired from improvised launchers, and are highly inaccurate. They do not pose a risk to aircraft in flight but the fear of them hitting an aircraft on the ground led to the airport being shut down on both occasions. Tripoli International Airport is under the control of militias from the Zintan region, who use it to extract revenue from, and exert influence over, the Tripoli government, which is dominated by their rivals from the town of Misratah and their Islamist allies. These attacks may be initiated to show that those providing security for the airport cannot do their task correctly and may have been from a rival militia/group attempting to take the role over and gain what must be a substantial payment for securing such a prestigious location.
On the 26 mar 14 the newspaper Al-Arabiya published an article regarding the threat to Europe. The paper wrote that Libya was in danger of becoming a terrorist base for al-Qaeda targeting and attacking targets across the Mediterranean Sea especially those who are supplying troops, logistics and intelligence against those areas that the terrorist organisation is attempting to put in a foothold. Since the fall of Gaddafi and the rise in militias the country has become an extremely unstable location. Added to that ease of which weapons, ammunition and explosives can be acquired makes the country not only unstable but dangerous to North Africa and Europe. The amount of oil that could be acquired from the country if the terrorists were take root would enable them to build a very large war fund. The recent problems with the oil tanker (Morning Glory) that had docked in the country and the American Special Forces took as it laid off Cyprus highlights a problem of selling oil on the black market or the smuggling that would occur in order to assist with funding for better equipment and weapons. To prove the point the gunmen that loaded the tanker had demanded a share of the oil wealth and intended to sell the oil on the global market.
Nigeria – Nigeria's Islamic extremists, Boko Harem, intensified their propaganda war against the Nigerian military by releasing a video on the 24 mar 14 showing their fighters shooting confidently in the army's main barracks in north-eastern Nigeria and meeting little resistance. The video casts doubts on the military's insistence it has the insurgents on the run after a month of sustained aerial bombardments and ground assaults. For its part the military reported that it defeated the militants who assaulted the Giwa Barracks on March 14 "with heavy human casualty on the terrorists," said Defence Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade. The barracks are in Maiduguri, birthplace of the Boko Haram terrorist network, capital of Borno state and headquarters of the security forces offensive. There is no way to independently verify the claims of either side and both are given to exaggeration and even fabrication. The video released Boko Haram starts with turbaned fighters in military trucks with mounted submachine guns driving up to the barracks and firing rockets and rocket-propelled grenades. They provide cover as fighters on foot break through a barbed wire fence and a barrier of mounds of sand. Once inside the barracks, the fighters stroll with rifles casually pointed at the ground as others set ablaze scores of vehicles, according to the video footage. One shot shows militants trying to set fire to a tank, and another group taking off in an armoured personnel carrier. Brig. Gen. Olukolade's statement characterized the attack as a desperate attempt "to boost their depleted stock of fighters" diminished by military victories. However, there is a great deal of spin coming out from the Nigerian government which has failed in its mission to bring the terrorist organisation to an end. What started as a six month campaign in the north-east of the country has, and is likely to, for the foreseeable future, become a war of attrition. Goodluck Johnsons sacking of the top echelons of the military some time ago is having no effect. Unless the military get the outside assistance that it needs this conflict will go on for some time to come and engulf many other regions in the continent.
Somalia – A car bomb that targeted a hotel in Buloburte town, central Somalia region of Hiran and killed at least 20. A suicide car bomb hit the Hotel Amalow at midnight around 0230 hrs local time on the 18 Mar 14. The hotel Amalow was frequented by government officials and the commanders of both Somali military and those from African Union Forces [AMISOM]. According to sources, the suicide car exploded outside the hotel where the security guards fired at the car as it was approached, but soon after the explosion some 20 armed men stormed the hotel and begun firing those around. More than a dozen soldiers were wounded and were rushed to a hospital in Mogadishu. Al Shabab militant group which is linked to al Qaeda network claimed the attack. The town of Buloburte has fallen for Somalia Army and the AMISOM forces recently.
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