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“The current strength of the AMISOM which is 17,731, will rise to 22,126 uniformed personnel.” The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dlamini Zuma, has said that United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution to strengthen the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, would boost security in Somalia. Ms. Zuma said this in a statement issued by the commission’s Directorate of Information and Communication made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Addis Ababa. According to her, the resolution will strengthen the AU Mission in Somalia to enable it to tackle the security challenges in the country. “The current strength of the AMISOM which is 17,731, will rise to 22,126 uniformed personnel and will boost the effort of the Somali National Army (SNA) through an appropriate UN Trust Fund,” she said. Ms. Zuma said that the strengthening of AMISOM and support to the SNA would make it possible for them to resume and intensify military campaign against the...

Continuation... In a sign of growing confidence, Somalia's first formal parliament in more than 20 years was sworn in at Mogadishu airport, marking an end to the eight-year transitional period. Parliament chose Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, an academic and civic activist with little political experience, as president in September 2012. He in turn appointed an economist and businessman, Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid, prime minister with a brief to stamp out nepotism and clan rivalry. Piracy The long-standing absence of authority in the country led to Somali pirates becoming a major threat to international shipping in the area, and prompted Nato to take the lead in an anti-piracy operation. International efforts were seen to bear fruit in 2012, when pirate attacks dropped sharply. In 2011, the plight of the Somali people was exacerbated by the worst drought in six decades, which left millions of people on the verge of starvation and caused tens of thousands to flee to Kenya and Ethiopia in ...

Somalia was without a formal parliament for more than two decades after the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. Years of anarchy followed the downfall of President Barre, and it was not until 2012, when a new internationally-backed government was installed, that the country began to enjoy a measure of stability once more. The decades of fighting between rival warlords meant that the country was ill-equipped to deal with natural disasters such as drought, and around half a million people died in the Somali famines of 1992 and 2010-12. Comprised of a former British protectorate and an Italian colony, Somalia was created in 1960 when the two territories merged. Since then its development has been slow. Relations with neighbours have been soured by its territorial claims on Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. In 1970 Mr Barre proclaimed a socialist state, paving the way for close relations with the USSR. In 1977, with the help of Soviet arms, Somalia attempte...

At least 16 people have been killed and more than 30 injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded restaurant in the central Somali town of Beledweyne. The Islamist militant group al-Shabab has said it carried out the attack. The Somali government, backed by troops from several African countries, is fighting al-Shabab for control of the country. Al-Shabab said its target was Ethiopian and Djiboutian soldiers in Beledweyne. The bombing occurred at a tea shop popular with the troops in Beledweyne, 300km (185 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu, close to the border with Ethiopia. "Our main target was Ethiopian and Djibouti troops who invaded our country," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab's military operations spokesman, said. But witnesses, including a Somali MP in Beledweyne, Dahir Amin Jessow, have told the BBC that most of those killed were civilians. "There is a lack of medicine in the hospital and they can't cope with the flood of wo...

Somalia has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the world and with a healthcare system devastated by years of war, most sufferers receive no medical help. Many are chained up - to trees or at home. Some are even locked in cages with hyenas. But one man is trying to change all that. Dr Hab's advert runs up to three times a day on Mogadishu's radio stations. "He's gone crazy! He's running away!" screams the actor. "Chain him down!" The scenario is familiar in Somalia. A man has become possessed by spirits and the only option for his family is to restrain him and call the sheikh. But as the young man protests, a voice that challenges Somali tradition booms out. "Stop with the chains!" the voiceover orders. "Take him to Dr Hab's hospital! If he's having mental problems, take him to Dr Hab. He won't chain him, he'll help him." Dr Hab is not actually a real psychiatrist. Rather it's the persona of Abdi...

Freetown - Sierra Leone officials say they are bolstering security in response to the heightened threat posed by the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabaab, expressing concern the West African nation could be targeted because of its support for peacekeeping operations in Somalia. Francis Munu, police inspector general, said at a meeting on Wednesday that new security measures would require government offices to issue identity cards for their staff and maintain visitors' logs, while petty traders would be kept away from government buildings. Sierra Leone deployed an 850-member battalion to the African Union mission in Somalia earlier this year. The new measures are in response to al-Shabaab's attack on a Kenyan mall last month in retaliation for Kenya sending troops into Somalia nearly two years ago. The attack killed more than 60 people.

Somali militant group al-Shabab has sent reinforcements to the town of Barawe, where US commandos tried to seize one of its leaders on Saturday, residents have told the BBC. The residents say about 200 masked fighters have arrived in the coastal town with heavy machine guns. It appears that the raid was targeting a Kenyan Somali known as Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, alias Ikrima. The operation follows last month's attack on a Kenyan shopping centre. Al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda, has said it carried out the attack, in which at least 67 people were killed. US raids in Somalia 1992-4:US deploys troops to help UN mission - they leave after two US helicopters shot down 2007:Al-Shabab commander Aden Hashi Ayro wounded in air strike 2008:Ayro killed in similar attack 2009:Navy Seals kill Kenyan-born al-Qaeda operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, also in Barawe 2012:Navy Seals free US aid worker Jessica Buchanan and Danish colleague Poul Thisted from captivity of criminal gan...

Islamist fighters in southern Somalia say Western forces have launched a night-time raid on one of their bases. The militant group al-Shebab told the BBC "white soldiers" had arrived by boat at the port of Barawe and rebels had repulsed them, losing a fighter. No-one has admitted the attack. US and French special forces have carried out raids in Somalia in recent years. It is not clear whether it is linked to last month's attack in neighbouring Kenya, which al-Shebab has claimed. At least 67 people were killed after militants stormed the Westgate shopping centre in the capital, Nairobi, on 21 September. Residents in Barawe, which is controlled by militants, say they were woken up by heavy fighting before dawn on Saturday. "Gunfire broke out for about 10-15 minutes," an eyewitness told AFP news agency. Commando raids on al-Shabab *.5 October 2013: Helicopter and boat strike by unknown forces on Barawe *.12 January 2013: Two French commandos killed in fai...

Continuation,.... ...Some members of the National Assembly have called for the overhaul of intelligence and immigration departments, blaming their laxity for allowing militants to enter the country. Kenya and neighbouring Ethiopia are regarded as key allies of the West in the region, and are considered the major bulwarks in stopping the spread of terrorism. Israel, the UK and the US have a long history of sharing intelligence and counter-terrorism information with Kenya. That co-operation increased after the 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi, in which more than 200 people were killed. Following the Westgate attack, these countries will have to review and improve this co-operation with Kenya's security service to deter terror attacks. But a key question is how Kenya will now define what constitutes effective security.

Kenyan authorities face a delicate balancing act to limit social and economic fallout from the Westgate shopping mall attacks, while pressing ahead with military strikes on militants in Somalia, writes the BBC's Africa security correspondent Moses Rono. Despite threats by Somali Islamists to carry out further attacks in the country, Kenya will not withdraw its troops from Somalia. Islamists from the al-Shabab organisation, said to be affiliated to al-Qaeda, have claimed responsibility for the siege in Nairobi which left 72 dead - including five militants - and nearly 200 injured. The crisis is the biggest security challenge yet to face President Uhuru Kenyatta, who inherited concerns linked to the spread of militant Islam when he took power in April this year. Every country in the region should now take precautions Korwa Adar, Professor at USIU It is bound to have wide-ranging social and financial ramifications for Kenya, East Africa's biggest economy. The Westgate attac...

She was a "shy" girl from Buckinghamshire but the name Samantha Lewthwaite is once again being linked to a global atrocity. The media have linked her to the Kenyan shopping centre attack and the speculation has been fuelled by the Kenyan foreign minister who has said one of the militants from the Somali-based al-Shabab group was a British woman. But BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said Whitehall officials continue to advise caution about the reports. There has been no confirmation of Ms Lewthwaite's involvement, either as an attacker, organiser or fundraiser. Al-Shabab has denied that any women were involved. Ms Lewthwaite was first thrust into the spotlight after the 7 July bombings in London in 2005, as the widow of bomber Germaine Lindsay, who killed 26 people when he blew up a Piccadilly Line Tube train near King's Cross. A Muslim convert dubbed the "White Widow" by much of the media, she has no terrorism record in the UK but is currently...