It’s cool, it’s only the boring parts about phones and bits being currency, nothing like a revolution in money at all.
— Daveed Garenstein-Ross discusses the growing violence in Nigeria. As best I can tell, it seems very much like the government is edging towards the “Stuck in the Middle with You” moment from Reservoir Dogs.
3. You need men with guts, not only fancy equipment and planes to win in the cities
The Al Shabaab mostly fights in urban areas, and is quite poor in the open spaces. However, because the AU and UN mandates for Amisom prohibit shooting into places like markets, schools, and churches where there may be civilians, helicopters, and big guns will not help.
Amisom eventually got themselves tiny armoured cars that they were able to manouvre into the alleys and rubble, and get close enough to dislodge the militants.
The Burundians and Ugandans developed an innovative pincer movement that allowed them to eject Al Shabaab from the critical Bakara Market — Somalia’s, and possibly Africa’s largest. For over a week, they fought for and took numerous access points to the market, thus cutting off reinforcements from reaching the militants inside the market, where they were concentrated in their thousands. From there, they were shooting at Amisom forces, knowing well the fire would not be returned.
"— The East African on the lessons that Kenya forces can learn from Ugandan and Burundi troops now leaving Somalia.
