The rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has erupted beyond subtle divergences into a more overt and consequential rivalry.
While it started with an emerging proxy war over southern Yemen, it has now shifted to the Horn of Africa. But while efforts to smooth their differences have recently pointed to a quiet compromise, their underlying competition may take longer to dissipate.
It’s plausible that this is part of Turkiye’s preparations for a campaign against Somaliland carried out under the banner of the nascent “Islamic NATO” that’s rapidly forming around Saudi Arabia.
The Middle East Eye reported that Turkiye’s deployment of three F-16s to Mogadishu “aims to protect Turkish energy and space port investments”. They also cited an official Turkish statement reaffirming Somalia’s territorial integrity amidst Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and pledging support in the fight against terrorism in a hint that it plans to play a greater role in such missions there. The outlet added that Turkiye already has armed drones and attack helicopters in Mogadishu too.
La Corne de l’Afrique s’impose comme l’un des nouveaux “terrain d’affrontement” de la compétition stratégique entre Émirats arabes unis, Arabie saoudite, Israël et puissances régionales. Une lutte d’influence qui fragilise des États déjà instables et fait planer le risque d’un conflit élargi en mer Rouge.
Composée de l’Éthiopie, de la Somalie, du Somaliland, de Djibouti et de l’Érythrée, voisine du Soudan, la Corne constitue la pointe orientale du continent africain, face à la mer Rouge qui la sépare du monde arabe.
The death of the ICC-wanted heir removes a major obstacle to the country’s stalled elections, even as his supporters decry a ‘treacherous’ end for the man who once promised reform – and later, ‘rivers of blood’.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late longtime ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed Tuesday by gunmen who stormed his home in the western city of Zintan, his French lawyer Marcel Ceccaldi told AFP.
Introduction
The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) to the forefront of the global jihadist movement challenges al Qaeda’s prominence and influence. The ISIS counter-state that does away with the Iraq-Syria border, as well as its growing presence in such places as Libya, the Sinai, and Afghanistan, are proof of the group’s power and the effectiveness of its strategy. The leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, described al Qaeda’s leadership as individuals who have become misguided and who have misled the global jihadist movement.[1] Baghdadi demands allegiance from all Muslims and claims the title, emir al mumineen, commander of the faithful, which was held for decades by Taliban leader Mullah Omar. ISIS’s growth has taken its toll on the al Qaeda network. Groups that had once been associated with al Qaeda have splintered, declaring their loyalty to Baghdadi. Al Qaeda’s name no longer carries the same recruitment power it once did.
Late last year, Israel broke new diplomatic ground by becoming the first country to formally recognise the independence of Somaliland, a self-declared republic existing within Somalia’s internationally recognised territory.
Perched along the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, extremely close to the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab strait, Somaliland has spent more than three decades seeking international legitimacy after declaring independence in 1991.
After El-Fasher’s fall, Egypt faces the choice of intervening in a war against UAE proxies, or standing by as its ‘red lines’ in Sudan fade into irrelevance
For nearly a thousand days, Egypt’s posture toward the civil war in Sudan was one of “strategic patience,” as Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty framed it.
Pakistan is functioning as the force multiplier in the Saudi-Turkish-Egyptian proxy campaign against the UAE in Africa that it’s finally participating in after sitting on the sidelines for so long.
Reuters recently reported that “Pakistan nears $1.5 billion deal to supply weapons, jets to Sudan”, which follows last month’s report from them that “Pakistan strikes $4 billion deal to sell weapons to Libyan force, officials say”. It was assessed after the last-mentioned report that “Pakistan Is Playing Second Fiddle To Turkiye In Afro-Eurasian Security” since there’s now a pattern of it clinching security deals with third countries like Azerbaijan, Somalia, and then Libya sometime after its Turkish strategic partner does.
The mutual recognition between the Zionist entity and the “Somaliland” region is merely the culmination of stages of secret communication. Through this recognition, the entity aims to solidify the division of Somalia and violate its sovereignty. More importantly, it seeks to infiltrate the strategically important Horn of Africa region, exploiting its strategic significance to destabilize the region’s security and stability, undermine its capabilities, and ultimately use it to establish military bases, alongside controlling key ports, as part of the Greater Middle East Project aimed at containing the sources of power in Arab and African countries.