SEMG's 2017 reports
The Somalia/Eritrea Monitoring Group's (SEMG's) 2017 reports on Somalia and Eritrea became public mid-last week. The delay in my posting them is due to the publishing an incorrectly formatted version of the Somalia report; the correct version was uploaded yesterday. If you've already downloaded the report, I'd encourage you to update your version with the one currently online.
In response to one of the most frequent criticisms of the Somalia report -- its sheer length(!) -- we've striven this year to be as concise and focused as possible. While shorter in length, I believe strongly that both reports are the highest quality of any during my three years with the SEMG.
Links to the two reports follow. As always, constructive criticism is most welcome.
Somalia report (S/2017/924): https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2017/924
Highlights:
-Preliminary evidence of Al-Shabaab's manufacture of HME in the construction of IEDs.
-Expansion and increasing sophistication of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh)-aligned faction in north-east Puntland.
-Expansion of Al-Shabaab's madrassa system and the targeting of younger children for recruitment.
-Proliferation of forged documentation amongst illegal charcoal-exporting networks.
Eritrea report (S/2017/925): https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2017/925
Highlights:
-No evidence of Eritrean Government support for Al-Shabaab.
-Continued Eritrean Government support to regional armed groups, including Patriotic Ginbot 7, BPLM, TPDM, and FRUD-Armé.
-UAE support to the Eritrean Navy and Air Force.
-Multiple arms embargo violations involving parts and support for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft belonging to the Eritrean Air Force, and training for its personnel.
NB:
-If you have problems accessing the report (a blank screen appears), it's likely because your browser has detected an insecure site; you will accordingly need to instruct your browser to allow the insecure script to run.
-Downloading the Word versions of the reports (vs. the PDFs) is advisable if you wish to be able to read the text of documents etc. included therein.
