The rise of Al-Shabab in Somalia must be seen in the context of decades of mismanagement, dictatorship and abuse, writes Yohannes Woldemariam. Following Ethiopia’s US-backed intervention in 2006, the ascendancy of Somalia’s moderate UIC (Union of Islamic Courts) was blocked and some 300,000 people were displaced, in the wake of which ‘the Al-Shabab extremists triumphed as a hegemonic force’ from within the UIC. And as the dust settles on last week’s Kampala bombing, Woldemariam contends, the governments of US allies Ethiopia and Uganda are once again seeking to capitalise on the tragedy for their own ends, ‘with Obama playing right into it’.

Hundreds of Somalis in five towns controlled by Islamist rebels protested against plans to deploy extra peacekeepers in Somalia. The protesters including veiled women and children brandishing AK-47 automatic rifles took the streets in the port town Kismayo, around 310 miles (500 kilometers) south of the capital of Mogadishu. They were chanting slogans against the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and western backed government led by former Islamist leader Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

When Sabah Ismail Ali, a social worker in Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland, first started working with children, truancy and aggression were common, especially among children from families with problems such as extreme poverty and displacement. "I started off as a child protection officer, then I later trained as a psycho-social worker, qualifying by December 2007. I realized right from the start that many children who showed aggression were being caned by teachers who had no idea of the social problems such children were dealing with."

Although the flow of Somali refugees into neighbouring countries has weakened, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today cautioned that the Horn of Africa nation’s security and humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Compared to last year, the number of Somalis arriving in Kenya and Yemen – the two countries which have received the greatest number of Somali refugees – are down sharply.

The International Federation of the Journalists (IFJ) has strongly condemned the bomb attack against eight journalists on Tuesday, 29th June 2010, the injury of another journalist on July 1st and the arrest of two journalists in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia. “We condemn these senseless attacks which had caused lot of injuries, to innocent civilians including those of our colleagues” said Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa office. “It is a stark reminder of the dangers the Somali media are exposed to in their daily work. We demand an urgent reaction from the Transitional Government to ensure their protection.”

The struggle for peace and security in Somalia, a country bereft of stable governance for more than two decades, has been severely prolonged by the external agencies and donors that form global the aid industry, writes Rasna Warah. Warah takes a look at what lies beyond the smoke screen of collection boxes and celebrity appeals – a distant reality from stolen food supplies and guerrilla warfare.

At least 11 people were killed on Friday and dozen others wounded after rebel militias attacked the barracks of Somali government forces in Hosh, southern Mogadishu. "Insurgents, supported by foreign terrorists, attacked our base in the Hosh area early this morning," government security official Ahmed Warsame said.

A Dutch court has sentenced five Somali men to five years in prison for attacking a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden last year, in the first such case to come to trial in Europe. The men were convicted in Rotterdam of attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged ship, the Samanyolu. They were arrested last year when their high-speed boat was intercepted by a Danish frigate.

A non-governmental relief agency, Refugee International, has criticised humanitarian organisations in the Horn of Africa for ignoring the plight of Somali refugees living in camps and urban settings in neighbouring countries, according to a report published here Thursday. The report said humanitarian actors overlook thousands of Somali refugees that have sought asylum in cities in neighbouring countries, thus exacerbating their already grave humanitarian situation.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for increased local and international support for children in strife-torn Somalia, where basic services such as education, health, nutrition and clean water are limited as a result of two decades of conflict. “Somali communities, families, parents, local administrations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), donors and international organizations should have a collective responsibility to put the best interests of the child first,” said UNICEF’s representative in Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton.

"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that," former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once said. Uncomfortably close to a bald statement of fact for fans of the beautiful game in Somalia, who risk their lives to watch the World Cup unfolding in South Africa. In the final weeks before the tournament kicked off on Jun. 11, demand for satellite dishes was high. But the Islamist groups that control much of the country have declared the World Cup un-Islamic, threatening dire consequences for anyone found watching.

The lawyers and paralegals of the Puntland Legal Aid Center go weekly to visit the 24 IDP camps that are scattered in and around Garowe to help displaced people with legal issues. The staff of the Center inform the IDPS of their rights, provide them with legal advice, and when needed, with free representation. Today, Youssuf, the Director of the Center, and Asha, a paralegal, are taking us to the Ajuran camp, by the river in Garowe.

Al-Shabaab, one of the Islamist movements opposing the Somali government yesterday decreed a total ban on Somali speaking Universal TV. The group accused the London-based broadcaster, widely viewed in Somalia, of showing cartoons negatively depicting Prophet Mohammed. In the decree issued in Mogadishu, the top Council of Al-Shabaab quoted verses of the Koran (Muslims’ Holy Book) explaining the punishment to be faced by anybody undermining Prophet Mohammed a result, the movement described Universal TV as a tool used by non-Muslims to undermine Islam.

At least 17 civilians have been killed after Somali government forces, supported by African Union peacekeepers, launched attacks against fighters from al-Shabab, the armed anti-government group, in Mogadishu. Among the dead are six women and a family of five whose home was destroyed by shelling, Ali Muse, the head of the city's ambulance service, said on Thursday.

Clashes between Somali government forces and Islamist militants have killed at least 28 people and wounded about 60 in the capital Mogadishu. The fighting appears to be the start of a government offensive using troops trained in Ethiopia, analysts say.

As reports warn of an alarming rise in the recruitment of child soldiers in Somalia, UNICEF and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict are calling on all parties to put an immediate end to this criminal practice.

Renewed fighting between Government troops and armed opposition groups have displaced over 17,000 people from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, over the past month, with more than 14,300 fleeing in the last two weeks alone, the United Nations refugee agency reported. This brings to 200,000 the number of Somalis estimated to have been uprooted since the beginning of this year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

‘The Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia needs the support of all African countries for the unparalleled work they are doing,’ writes Kwame Maseko, in response to Andrew Mwangura’s dossier on piracy in last week’s Pambazuka News.

As the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) force becomes ever more active in Somalia, questions must be raised as to the intentions of this militarised organisation, writes Explo Nani-Kofi. Nani-Kofi stresses that the African continent grows ever more vulnerable to a maturing breed of neocolonial occupation based on US-led proxy wars.

The media in Somalia is going through its most difficult period as journalists face worst times ever, stated Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle. He accused Islamist rebels of infringing on freedom of expression and the independence of the media.