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Al-Shabab Attacks Military Bases in Somalia
Bhavya Bana
Al-Shabab militants carried out twin attacks on the Somalian military bases on February 19, killing 12 Somalian soldiers, in response to the attack that the Somalian military conducted on the Al-Shabab facilities in the lower Shabelle region on February 17. The state military has been receiving training for its special forces, known as Danaab, from Turkey, to combat the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist outfit, which conducted military operations near the town of Leego, killing 13 Al-Shabab militants.
The attack was carried out on the military bases of Qoryooley and El-Salini, but the terror group was unable to capture the bases. Al-Shabab took responsibility for the attacks and claimed that they had captured a considerable amount of military stores, including anti-aircraft guns, ammunition, and weapons, which has been corroborated by Nur Ahmed, a police officer from the lower Shabelle region. To repel the second attack, the African Union troops stepped in after a bomber destroyed parts of the Qoryooley Bridge, driving a vehicle loaded with weapons on the bridge. The Al-Shabab has been active in Somalia for more than a decade now, fighting to topple the internally recognized government of the country, despite losing onto much of the territory it once used to control.
The Battle for Idlib
Radhika Mall
The 9 years ongoing war in Syria has taken a new low in Idlib; many calling it the worst of the century. The re-escalation of military action started since December 1, 2019, with the Russian backed Syrian forces launching airstrikes and ground operations to capture last of the opposition occupied lands in Syria. Turkey has sent in large army and equipment in retaliation and 16 Turkish military deaths have been recorded in the last one month.
The new developments have led to the displacement of over 1 million people, most of whom are women and children. Turkey refuses to take in any more refugees after having been home to over 3.6 million already. The UN forces on the ground say that aid distribution has become challenging due to the constant mobilization of people. Fund for aid has also started to fall short after Russia and China blocked the UN plan for cross-border aid to Syria in December last year.
The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France, and Germany are to meet on March 5th to look into a roadmap to resolution for the issue in hand. Turkey states that the way out is to adhere to the Sochi Agreement 2018.Idlib located in Northwestern Syria shares a border with Turkey and is strategically a strong location. Syria has taken hold of the M-5 highway which connects the 4 major cities of Syria and the surrounding of the Aleppo city. While the war has been very dehumanizing the end of it could only get worse than perceived.
Afghanistan Presidential Election: A Close Call for Ashraf Ghani
Salma Basheer
The results of the Afghanistan Presidential election was declared after a wait of over 4 months on February 18, 2020, re-electing Ashraf Ghani as the country’s head of state, after winning 50.64% of the total votes. The initial results which were scheduled to release in October 2019, was delayed several times due to technical issues and allegations of fraud. The preliminary results declared in December 2019 were contested by Ghani’s rival Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive of the Unity Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The final results confirming Abdullah securing only 39.52% of votes was also rejected by him, leading to the announcement of forming a parallel government in the country.
The elections in Afghanistan were conducted amidst the threat of Taliban attacking civilians to disrupt the process. The allegations of corruption and fraud in the electoral process have also affected the trust people have in the elections. These reasons impacted the voter turnout in the country, marking a historical low with only about 2 million among the 9.7 million registered voters turning up to cast their votes.With the final results announced, Ghani will be entering the second term of his presidency. This period is crucial for Afghanistan as the United States and the Taliban are trying to negotiate a peace deal between them to end the 18 year-long fight. The government under Ghani has also been working towards a peace-talk with the Taliban, but the Taliban has rejected the election results and the western-backed government citing that the government has no real power.
IMF Provides Technical Support to Lebanon
Bhavya Bana
Lebanon began meetings with the technical delegates of the International Monetary Fund last week, on Feb 20, in attempts to gain technical assistance for the financial crisis crippling the Mediterranean country. Hezbollah, which supports the newly formed government, has chosen to refrain from receiving financial aid from IMF which would make the country liable to undertake structural changes according to IMF’s policies.
The assistance comes at a critical intervention into Lebanon's economic conditions which have led to protests against the ruling class. Lebanon is facing rising inflation, marked by a 60% depreciation of the Lebanese pound. Credit rating agencies Moody's & Standard and Poor's have demoted Lebanon's credit rating to the junk category. The country is facing a severe liquidity crisis because of fears of massive capital flight. Beirut needs to come up with an action plan to meet this financial slump, especially in time to be able to repay its debt of $ 1.2 billion Eurobond approaching on March 9.