Country: Horn of Africa

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Al-Shabab fighters on patrol in Mogadishu in 2009. In May 2017 U.S. operations against the al-Qaida linked organisation were stepped up (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)

Islamists in Africa

The ever-present threat

Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabab in Somalia: Islamist groups dominate the image of Islam in Africa. Yet it is too simplistic to assert that Islam south of the Sahara is becoming more conservative as whole. By Daniel PelzMore

The case of Somalia: Pirates, warlords and IslamistsThe rise of Boko Haram: When the terror beganCombating violent extremism: Could Sufi Islam be the cure-all?
Visitors to the Hargeisa Book Fair in Somaliland (photo: Kate Stanworth)

Book fair on the Horn of Africa

Somalinimo in Hargeisa

Eight thirty in the morning in Hargeisa and a crowd has formed outside the function hall of the Guled Hotel. Visitors are queuing at the security check and waiting to get in. It′s book fair time in the capital of Somaliland. By Michaela Maria Muller

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Cairo International Book Fair 2015: Navigating the jungleSyrian literature in times of turmoil: An author on standbyCulture and education in the Islamic world: The lonely Arab crowd
Al-Shabaab militiamen near Mogadishu (photo: dapd)

The Case of Somalia

Pirates, Warlords, and Islamists

Over the past few years, interest in the fate of Somalia has increasingly faded into the background. And as books about the country are a scarce commodity, it is all the more welcome that Marc Engelhardt is now sharing his wealth of experience and solid knowledge about Somalia. By Laura OvermeyerMore

The Somali Islamist Group Al-Shabab: Striking Terror in the Horn of AfricaWar in Somalia: Mogadishu between Plague and CholeraSomalia: The Hour of the Islamists
Anti-Saleh rally (photo: AP)

Popular Uprising in Yemen

Saleh, Enemy Number One

Politically speaking, the Yemeni opposition movement is extremely heterogeneous and therefore finds it difficult to act in concert. The only goal they all share is to bring about the resignation of the President. An analysis by Albrecht MetzgerMore

Power Struggle in Yemen: A Yemeni Tribal AffairNobel Peace Prize Winner Tawakkul Karman: A Woman Leading Change in Yemen
A jubilant crowd in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, after the news broke President Saleh had left the country (photo: AP)

Power Struggle in Yemen

A Yemeni Tribal Affair

The power struggle in Yemen is primarily a conflict between two families: On the one hand that of President Saleh, who clearly has no plans to leave office quietly, and on the other the Ahmar family, which presides over the Hashed tribal confederation. By Rainer HermannMore

Paternal and Religious Authority in YemenDossier: The Arab Spring
Member of an Islamist militia in Balad, Somalia (photo: AP)

Islamists in Somalia

Fears of War on the Horn of Africa

After 15 years of anarchy in Somalia, Islamists have taken control of large parts of the country. But the growing influence of the Union of Islamic Courts and the rise to power of extremists threaten to embroil the entire region in war. By Marc EngelhardtMore

In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Egypt from above: today, Cairo is Africa's largest city and home to nearly 23 million people. The sprawling metropolis is host to a quarter of the whole nation's population and is expected to grow by another 500,000 this year. Surrounded by desert and salt water, the city and its citizens need all the green they can get

Cairo's Al-Azhar Park

It's a wonder of human ambition and engineering set in the middle of Cairo. Al-Azhar Park was built on a 500-year-old rubble heap and is now a green jewel for the Egyptian capital. By Timothy Rooks