The President of the Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has come out to claim that with a military offensive against al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda linked group could be completely eliminated in the next five months.
According to reports, a pledge to wipe out the group is incredibly overly optimistic given that it has existed since the early 2000s, is deeply ingrained in communities, and has modified its strategies in response to pressure from foreign militaries.
To participate in a fresh military campaign against the jihadists, thousands of government soldiers have begun congregating in a town in central Somalia.
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During the first phase of the offensive, which began a year ago, the army and local clan-based militias managed to seize swathes of territory from al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalia’s now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu in 2006, before being forced out by Ethiopian forces.
In another report, at least 22 aid workers have been killed in South Sudan his year alone, according to the UN, who say it tops the list of most dangerous countries for aid workers in the world.
Some 9.4 million people – more than two-thirds of its population – are in dire need of humanitarian aid, according to a UN estimate. The crisis has worsened, because access has become harder and funding is lower.
Africa Today News, New York reports that since the start of this year there have been 40 attacks on aid workers in South Sudan – leaving 22 aid workers dead and 36 injured, according to the 2023 Aid Worker Security Report.
Peter Van der Auweraert, the UN Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, says most of those killed were South Sudanese nationals.
The humanitarian community there says it needs $1.7bn (£1.3bn) to target 6.8 million of the most vulnerable people.
In addition, the conflict in neighbouring Sudan has triggered an influx of over 220,000 refugees, returnees and third-country nationals into South Sudan since April.