/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

Badakhshan Fighting Raises Risks for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

In Nusay district, Badakhshan province (northeast Afghanistan), fighting began around August 11 between Taliban forces and followers of Juma Khan Fateh, a local Taliban commander of ethnic Tajik origin who had resisted efforts to disarm his network. The Armed Conflict Location and Events Data Project (ACLED) identifies the immediate trigger as an attempt to remove military equipment and vehicles from areas under Fateh’s control, amid longer-running tensions over disarmament, local authority, and control of gold mining.
The Fateh episode came amid a broader increase in armed instability in Badakhshan during 2026. ACLED recorded 22 anti-Taliban armed-opposition events in the province from January through July, compared with four from June through December 2025.

https://timesca.com/badakhshan-fighting-raises-risks-for-tajikistan-and-uzbekistan/

Taliban detain 38 in Badakhshan amid searches for former security personnel

Taliban have detained at least 38 people in Badakhshan over the past week as they search for former security personnel and people accused of links to armed groups opposed to Taliban rule, sources from the province who are aware of the matter told Amu TV on Sunday.
A local Taliban commander in Badakhshan confirmed some of the arrests to Amu TV, saying 18 people had been detained in the Yaftal area.
“A group of 16 people and two others have been arrested in the Yaftal area,” the commander said. “The group of 16 was arrested on accusations of declaring the existence of a group called ‘Soldiers of the Homeland,’ and the other two were accused of firing rockets toward Faizabad, with the provincial headquarters as their target.”

https://amu.tv/252215/ [Amerimutt supported media]

First 4 death 2 imperialists and their islamist lapdogs

Uzbekistan Expands Afghan Rail Capacity to Support Growing Trade

A new 1,000-meter siding track has been completed at Naibabad railway station in Afghanistan, aimed at increasing freight handling capacity and improving the efficiency of rail operations, according to Uzbekistan Railways.

https://timesca.com/uzbekistan-expands-afghan-rail-capacity-to-support-growing-afghanistan-trade/

Tajikistan Plans to Build Central Asia’s Tallest Building

Construction has begun in Tajikistan on what authorities say will be the tallest building in Central Asia, part of a massive development involving international design and engineering firms that is expected to alter Dushanbe’s skyline.
The planned 77-floor Dushanbe Tower will be in a complex in the Shohmansur district of the capital that includes five high-rise towers and office, entertainment, and residential areas, according to Tajikistan’s presidential office. It said more than 2,000 local construction workers will be involved in the Dushanbe Mall project, which is slated for completion within five years.
<tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in asia btw

https://timesca.com/tajikistan-begins-construction-of-central-asias-tallest-building/

Five years since seizing power in Afghanistan, internal tensions test the Taliban’s vulnerabilities

The Taliban’s control over Afghanistan’s internal security situation is near-complete, but an escalation in violence in Badakhshan and Herat provinces this year highlights the regime’s vulnerabilities. In the country’s ethnically mixed border provinces toward the north and west, internal divisions and deepening discontent with the Taliban’s centralized command offer opportunities to armed opposition groups and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) to test the limits of the Taliban’s control.
No sustained challenge to the Taliban’s authority is expected in the short to medium term, as armed opposition groups neither have the momentum nor the capacity to mount a serious challenge, and the ISKP has been weakened through sustained pressure. Border provinces with dynamics similar to those of Badakhshan and Herat, however, face a heightened risk of localized unrest.

https://acleddata.com/report/five-years-seizing-power-afghanistan-internal-tensions-test-talibans-vulnerabilities

US advisor points to private traders in Sudan arms flow, downplays direct UAE role
Massad Boulos, senior advisor on Africa to President Donald Trump, suggested that private commercial networks rather than direct state intervention could be facilitating weapon flows to Sudan’s warring factions, echoing official denials from the United Arab Emirates.
https://sudantribune.com/article/318479
UAE campaign used AI Claude to target Muslim Brotherhood and Sudan
The US corporation said that a “single actor” used its AI assistant, Claude, to conduct a “coordinated transatlantic and regional operation to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood globally”.
This single actor also used the AI tool to build a campaign to influence perceptions of the United Arab Emirates' involvement in the war in Sudan, where Abu Dhabi backs the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group widely accused of committing genocide in Darfur.
The UAE-directed campaign built a network of approximately 300 “inauthentic influencer social media accounts” to try and shape discourse around the Muslim Brotherhood, the war in Sudan and the UN, Anthropic said.
The single actor used Claude to create a “front NGO that copied a real Swiss organisation’s identity and published state-authored human rights reports under it”, as well as ghost writing official testimonies with the “goal of having them delivered by two people at the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council”.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-campaign-used-ai-claude-target-muslim-brotherhood-and-sudan

why has no one tried to teach sudanese to make drones or missiles so they can lob them at the uae

I hate islam so much that it's unreal, good afternoon.

>>2913113
Im pretty sure UAE mercenaries are already using them in Sudan civil war

Somaliland’s president puts everything on the table for Trump
Somaliland’s president is putting almost everything on the table in his campaign to win US recognition for the breakaway territory of Somalia, offering US investors access to a strategically located port and mineral resources while leaving open the possibility of expanded military access.
Recognition is the prize, but economic cooperation, trade and investment can proceed in parallel. Somaliland can offer “our facilities and our minerals,” he said.
His appeal is also tailored to Trump. Somaliland could name Berbera’s airport after him, Irro suggested, or welcome him to build a Trump Tower in Hargeisa.
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/16/2026/somalilands-president-puts-everything-on-the-table-for-trump

Exclusive: UAE pursuing 'port imperialism' across Africa, Eritrean foreign minister says
“The UAE has port facilities everywhere in the region, and African countries have to ask why,” Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh told MEE. “Is it just for economics? No.”
The UAE’s two port groups, DP World and AD Ports, have stakes in or manage facilities in Egypt; Tanzania; Somaliland, a breakaway republic of Somalia recognised only by Israel; and Puntland, a semiautonomous region in Somalia that earlier this year defied Mogadishu’s decision to cut ties with Abu Dhabi.
The UAE established a military base in Eritrea’s southern port of Assab in 2016, which it used to wage war on the Houthis in neighbouring Yemen alongside Saudi Arabia. But ties between the UAE and Eritrea soured in the years after the UAE arrived.
A senior Eritrean official told MEE that Eritrea rejected a request from the UAE around 2016 to establish a military base on one of the islands in the Dahlak Archipelago that would have been shared between the UAE and Israel, roughly five years before the two signed the US-backed Abraham Accords, making their close ties public.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-eritrea-foreign-minister-says-uae-pursuing-port-imperialism-across-africa

US strengthens military presence in breakaway Puntland amid battle for Red Sea
In early August, the commander of US Special Operations Command Africa, Major General Claude Tudor, signed a deal with the president of Somalia’s northeastern, semi-autonomous Puntland State, Saeed Abdullahi Deni.
The two agreed to expand the American military base in Bosaso, a port city on the Gulf of Aden. According to a brief statement circulated by the Puntland Government of Somalia, the expansion is essential to “improve operations against terrorism and to help protect maritime security”.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-strengthens-military-presence-breakaway-puntland-amid-battle-red-sea
African nations seek security ties with Turkey through ‘Somalia model’
African nations are increasingly pursuing the “Somali model” that Ankara and Mogadishu have developed over the years, seeking deeper ties with Turkey in hopes of receiving security and economic assistance, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler told journalists over the weekend.
“In response to requests, we continue to provide training and technical support to the armed forces of African countries and contribute to their capacity building,” he said during the Efes military drills in western Turkey.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/african-nations-seek-security-ties-turkey-through-somalia-model

>>2913143
now say the same about judaism

Glowing article on Turkey's ever growing tentacles reaching across Africa by Africom's official magazine:
https://adf-magazine.com/2026/02/turkey-expands-reach-as-security-partner/
>Ankara “acts as a unique geopolitical hybrid: a NATO member with NATO-standard military capabilities, yet a diplomat that speaks the language of the Global South
Amerimutts really have a special asset in Turkey. Fully in cahoots with America but coded as "resistance" by retarded Muslims across MENA and Africans so it can safely go around dealing with states where direct American involvement would be less palatable.

I'm an Arab. Please don't call it the "middle east". That term is eurocentric and colonial and very hateful. Call the region by its proper name: south west asia.

>>2912080
>Greater Middle East
i have my own ideas.
this new borderline is british faggotery ideology to always cause consent wars.
this is my variation of peace.

Bomb attack at Pakistan mosque kills at least 27 people
A suicide bomb attack at a mosque and subsequent gun battle in Pakistan’s restive northwest have killed at least 27 people, including six civilians and 15 police officers, with dozens of others injured.
As worshippers gathered for Friday prayers, an explosive-laden car was rammed into the entrance of a mosque at a police headquarters in Kohat. The city is in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/18/bomb-attack-at-pakistan-mosque-kills-at-least-15-injures-50

Uganda cuts defence ties with Turkey over Somalia dispute, sources say
Uganda's decision to suspend all defence cooperation with Turkey is linked to the possible end of the African Union mission in Somalia, which could cost Kampala tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue, several sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uganda-cuts-defence-ties-turkey-over-somalia-dispute

>>2915340
You live in north africa doe

>>2915342
Your country was opium addicted british puppet doe

Austria discovers up to 45 million barrels of oil in a North African nation already home to Africa’s largest oil reserves
The discovery took place at the Essar well located within Libya's Sirte Basin. OMV operates the site and holds a 12% stake in the C103 concession area.
According to Libya Observer, OMV said "studies indicate recoverable resources of up to 45 million barrels of oil, adding that it holds a 12% stake in the C103 concession area".
It was announced Zueitina Oil Company will take responsibility for developing the reservoir.
Because the well sits close to established production and processing facilities, Libya Observer noted that energy officials expect a faster rollout at a lower cost.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/austria-discovers-up-to-45-million-barrels-of-oil-in-a-north-african-nation-already/10vm9x8

Morocco’s Mali mediation signals new diplomatic weight in the Sahel
Morocco’s role in securing the release of a French intelligence officer detained in Mali has highlighted a broader shift in the balance of influence across the Sahel, where Rabat is increasingly positioning itself as a diplomatic interlocutor able to communicate with governments that have fallen out with traditional Western powers.
The current case looks less like an isolated diplomatic success and more like part of an emerging pattern in which Morocco acts as an intermediary between France and military-led governments in the Sahel.
https://thearabweekly.com/moroccos-mali-mediation-signals-new-diplomatic-weight-sahel
Western Sahara: Mali Renews Support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan
Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdoulaye Diop has renewed his country’s position in support of the Moroccan autonomy plan as the only serious and credible basis for resolving the dispute over Western Sahara.
This comes after Mali withdrew in April its recognition of Polisario’s self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2026/09/339683/western-sahara-mali-renews-support-for-moroccos-autonomy-plan/

Pakistan’s latest Trump bet is on drone firm already selling to India
On September 16, a delegation from Powerus, a year-old United States drone company backed by two sons of President Donald Trump, was received by Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at military headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Analysts are questioning why a country that already builds its own drones and buys others from China and Turkiye would turn to a company that was founded only last year – and has links to Israel and sells drones to India too.
“Pakistan technically already makes or is capable of making each of the drones shown by Powerus,” Bilal Khan, founder of the Quwa Group, a Toronto-based defence news and market intelligence platform, told Al Jazeera. “It’s unclear where Powerus fits in the long term [from Pakistan’s perspective].”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/23/pakistans-new-drone-deal-is-with-trump-backed-firm-also-selling-to-india

Somalia, Tükiye boost spaceport cooperation
A Turkish military transport docked at Mogadishu Port in February 2026, offloading a shipment of M48 and M60 Patton battle tanks in a move that signals a significant escalation of Ankara’s military footprint in the Horn of Africa. According to informed security sources, the tanks will be positioned to defend Turkish installations in the Warshiikh district, approximately 60 kilometers north of Mogadishu. The location is reportedly being prepared for missile and satellite launch operations, leveraging Somalia’s equatorial position—an optimal site for aerospace trajectories.
The protection of the Warshiikh installations represents a primary concern for Ankara. As the aerospace project advances into a critical stage, these tanks offer an essential shield against unconventional threats in the Middle Shabelle region. The increase in heavy military equipment follows recent security assessments regarding Turkish personnel and facilities. This mobilization aligns with Turkey’s recent introduction of F-16 fighter aircraft to the area, demonstrating a broader dedication to protecting its multi-billion-dollar investments in Somalia’s energy and technology sectors.
https://www.ftlsomalia.com/somalia-t-rkiye-boost-spaceport-cooperation/

Somali-Turkish Energy Partnership Reaches Milestone as Drilling Progresses Ahead of Schedule
Türkiye’s deep-sea oil and gas exploration drilling off the coast of Somalia is progressing ahead of schedule and could be completed by the end of September, according to the Somali Petroleum Authority Director General Abdulkadir Adan .
Speaking to the Somali National News Agency (SONNA), Adan said the drilling had reached a depth of around 3,000 meters and was proceeding rapidly and without technical difficulties. The operation was initially scheduled to be completed in October, but the current pace could bring completion forward by about a month. “Completion by the end of September is possible. October had previously been set as the target completion date,” he said.
https://www.ftlsomalia.com/somali-turkish-energy-partnership-reaches-milestone-as-drilling-progresses-ahead-of-schedule/
La Turquie construit une base spatiale en Somalie
C’est un chantier hors norme qu’a discrètement lancé la Turquie depuis octobre 2025 dans le centre de la Somalie. Warsheikh, une ville située au bord de l’océan Indien, à 70 kilomètres au nord de la capitale, Mogadiscio, va accueillir le futur fleuron du programme spatial turc : une base de lancement satellitaire qui sera doublée d’un site d’essai balistique destiné aux tests de missiles de la puissante industrie de défense d’Ankara.
Ce partenariat s’est mué en une tutelle politique. Dépendant d’Ankara, le gouvernement somalien ne peut rien lui refuser. En 2024, la Turquie s’est, par exemple, engagée à protéger les eaux territoriales somaliennes en échange de 30 % des revenus maritimes. La même année, elle s’est vue offrir des blocs pétroliers offshore à explorer – le forage doit débuter cette année a annoncé fin décembre Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
https://archive.is/Ly6kK

I was reading some essays by Nibras Kazimi by way of Rob Ashlar, who is a Marxist and anti-imperialist. Kazimi is a neocon who comes from a family of Iraqi communists and turned into a doomer. So it's all very bizarre but Ashlar found him analyzing Saudi Arabia to be interesting. Green quotes are Kazimi and orange are Ashlar.

<[Kazimi] argues that while the Kurdish independence was one “station along the rim,” the key force to watch is MBS, as he may even bring about the “event horizon” or “singularity.” Put concretely, the failure of his cultural and political revolution in KSA may have devastating consequences for the region. The cultural side of this revolutionary is self-explanatory, e.g. permitting women to drive, work, etc. The political side is much murkier despite (or because of) its significance. It mainly consisted in, first, eliminating all possible rivals to MBS, and second, installing members of his clique to all parts of the Saudi state. For example, before MBS, the Ministry of Interior was the preserve of Prince Nayif and his sons, most famous being Muhammad bin Nayif, whom MBS ruthlessly ousted in his ascent to power. This violated all precedent in Saudi internal politics:

>There is a mini-world of politics within the royal ‘house’, whose dynasts are numerous enough to warrant an upgraded term such a royal barrio. The institution of Saudi royalty can draw on a long, at times embittered, memory of fratricidal feuding, elegiac enough to reveal what pitfalls to avoid. Such was the inherited wisdom by which the kingdom’s founder instituted a successional order to sustain his offspring for several generations. What comes next was to be mediated by family politics and consultation, involving multiple branches not only that of Ibn Saud’s sons and their progeny, but of more distant cousins too. […] Bin Salman finds politics, as little of it as exists in Saudi, to be an impediment. What we are watching is his bid to destroy that little space, to clear his path for absolute unencumbered governance. With the brakes gone, all one gets is the man and his instincts and reflexes at the wheel. And again, I think this particular individual is not altogether there. (98)

<My Saudi Shiite friend first alerted me to this point several years ago. He quite aptly observed that the character of the Saudi state had qualitatively changed under MBS. As he put it, this was now the “Salmanite State,” which, in destroying Saudi factional squabbles, has silently inaugurated the Fourth Saudi Realm, superseding the Third Realm formed by MBS’s grandfather King Abdulaziz. My friend also shared Kazimi’s skepticism of MBS’s mental constitution. Take this incident: Many years ago, when MBS was still fairly unknown, he had a land dispute. The judge overseeing the dispute ruled against MBS. In response, MBS mailed the judge an envelope with a single bullet, earning himself the nickname Abu Risasa (“Father of the Bullet”). The judge promptly reversed his decision. By all accounts, MBS is a clinical psychopath, and he has been presiding over a quiet revolution in KSA. Kazimi chooses an excellent example illustrating this revolution:

>Consider how novel it is to introduce the word ‘corruption’ into the Saudi lexicon of doing things as squads fanned out across Riyadh last November, arresting the high and mighty, then depositing them at the Ritz Carlton. With that action, the iron-cast lid of traditional norms— whereby corruption went by another name and was critical for regime coherence—has been completely removed from the Saudi pot. The contents beneath are opaque even to the best connected, and best informed. What is at stake has been amply described by observers already. Thousands if not tens of thousands of Saudis are connected to many of those arrested through patronage networks and familial bonds. These networks, within military, tribal, financial, religious frameworks, held Saudi rule together. Variations of this model run back three hundred years. By breaking the mold, Bin Salman is directing loyalty to his person. (99)

<MBS is one case where Great Man Theory has some utility. His recent displeasure with the UAE is suggestive. Bombing Emirati arms shipments, expelling Emirati troops, and seizing Emirati-backed territories are not calm and measured moves. Perhaps MBS seeks to once again pursue a muscular foreign policy? In the 2010s, Saudiya formed the Islamic Alliance to geopolitically compete with not only Iran but Islamic State (IS).2 MBS recognized that KSA and IS occupy the same political and ideological space–that is, Wahhabism–so he sought to take control of this space with an aggressive foreign policy, the flagship of which was the horrific war on Yemen. The Islamic Alliance failed for many reasons (which I may analyze one day), so MBS opted for rapprochement on the one hand and abandoning Wahhabism on the other. This rapprochement first entailed a truce with Iran, then an effort to join the Abraham Accords, and finally (in the wake of the Gaza Genocide) a pivot away from the American security umbrella given the weakening of Iran. Saudi hostilities with the UAE now may indicate that MBS realizes Saudiya must assert itself regionally lest it be swallowed by the Zionist-Emirati Alliance. KSA won handily in Yemen, completely eliminating the Emirati Southern Transitional Council. It has reportedly forced the Federal Government of Somalia to eject Emirati influence. The next major proxy battlefield is Sudan, where Saudiya is rumored to be behind a $1.5b arms deal between Pakistan and the SAF.

<Above I alluded to MBS’s curious relationship with Wahhabism. Many observers, especially in the left, mistakenly conflate KSA’s historical ideological proximity to jihadism–due to their shared Wahhabism–with political affinity and sympathy. In reality, this proximity engenders extremely bitter mutual animosity and rivalry. It is precisely because Saudiya and the jihadists were so ideologically similar that they saw each other as existential threats–they are (or were) two sides in a political war over who represents muscular Sunnidom and Wahhabism. At times, the shared Wahhabi ideology between KSA and jihadists allowed for tactical cooperation against mutual enemies–as with AQAP during the Gulf war on Yemen–but the two remained strategic enemies.

<This same core logic motivates the sectarian nature of state executions in Saudiya. The state routinely executes Shiite detainees because it paradoxically does not view them as a threat. Shiites are a despised minority and their anger is ultimately impotent–but not so with Sunnis. This is the state’s core popular base, so its disaffection is far more threatening, as they may join the jihadist opposition. Saudi authorities must therefore be careful not to encourage jihadist tendencies in the public. Hence it is relatively lenient with Sunni dissidents, allowing them to “reform” after a brief prison stint, while peaceful Shiite protestors like Nimr al-Nimr are executed alongside hardline jihadists like Faris al-Zahrani. The Saudi marriage with Wahhabism meant that competition with jihadism lay at the heart of Saudi policy.

<MBS almost certainly understands this, and he likely realized that Saudiya’s alliance with American imperialism made it inherently vulnerable to the jihadist political challenge. Jihadists could justifiably always slam KSA as hypocrites for betraying the Wahhabi creed that they preach. There were two potential answers. One was to aggressively confront the supposed enemies of Sunnidom, particularly the Axis. This was the goal of the Islamic Alliance, which failed. A more consistent version of this would be to completely sever Saudi ties to the US and the West. This was impossible, and so came another answer: To abandon Wahhabism entirely. If Saudiya was no longer Wahhabi, it could not be challenged on those grounds, thus neutering the jihadist critique. An essential part of this ideological project was to de-emphasize the importance of the Wahhabi Mission in Saudi history in favor of Saudi state nationalism.
https://robashlar.substack.com/p/review-stations-along-the-rim-nibras

Can we take a moment to recognize how Erdogan has put Turkey well on its path to becoming the most important country in West Eurasia?
>economic growth above 4% for almost two decades
>economy on course to surpass the uk's en france's
>more major defense companies than germany
>manufacturing hub for europe
>well poised to economically capture north africa, central asia, caucasus, middle east, pakistan and afghanistan, somalia and maybe the sahel (a market of almost a billion people
>turkish companies are building africa, turkish companies will start extracting oil in somalia (90% revenue for turkey only) and pakistan
>soon to be space power, ongoing localization of military manufacture, just achieved intercontinental missiles, soon to get nuclear power plants
>massive soft power thanks to turk soap operas
>massive tourism flows, istanbul is the fifth most visited city in the world
>military bases in iraq, syria, qatar, djibouti and somalia (last one essentially just a turkish protectorate at this point)
>fully embedded in nato and western world order yet able to talk and trade with the third world and russia increasing its importance to america as conduit to keep potentially unfriendly thirdies like aes or pakistan in check
>just achieved highest ever pisa scores, surpassing almost every european country, including germany, france, sweden, italy and spain
Seriously, I hate Erdog but how can anyone say he's incompetent? He's pretty much assured Turkey's dominance over Europe, MENA, Central Asia, Pakistan and gotten Turkey a place at the table in Africa and space. I think the only thing that could stop Turkey's rise is Israel going full schizo and provoking a crisis with it or trying to engineer a more publicly Israel-friendly successor to Erdogan.

Inside Somaliland: How Berbera Port is central to the Red Sea's power struggle
Across the Gulf of Aden, Yemen's Houthis are warily watching Israel and the UAE entrench themselves at a military base here. Meanwhile, to the south, Somalia, flush with new arms from Turkey, sees Berbera typifying the independent ambitions of Somalilanders which need to be stamped out.
Recent satellite imagery shared by open-source analysts suggests the UAE has expanded its presence at the city's airport with new surface-to-air-missile sites, radar facilities and hangars. The UAE is also building a naval facility a few kilometres away from the commercial port. The construction has coincided with rising tensions not just between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but also between Israel and the Houthis.
Abu Dhabi has used the airport as a stopover for flights carrying military equipment to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Reuters reported in December 2024. The RSF is battling Sudan’s military, which is backed by Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, the UAE evacuated its ally and leader of Yemen's Southern separatist movement, Aidarus al-Zubaidi, to Berbera, after Saudi Arabia attacked the group.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/inside-berbera-port-center-scramble-red-sea
<Why the FUCK do the Houthis just sit idle while the UAE builds these fucking bases in Somaliland? They WILL be used against them at some point.
<Just fucking send Zionist Somalia's economy down the shitter by destroying the port.
Inside Somaliland: The Israel-Turkey clash coming to the Horn of Africa
Officials and analysts in Somaliland say their diplomatic normalisation with Israel in January 2026 -widely condemned by the wider Muslim and Arab world - was, in part, motivated by the need to check Turkey’s growing military footprint in Somalia.
“We need air defence systems,” Mohamed Osman Fadal, a senior foreign affairs advisor to Somaliland’s president, said in an interview. “Turkey has F-16s in Mogadishu, and it wants to build a drone base in Somalia.”
“We want Israel to support us against Turkey,” he said.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-turkey-clash-coming-horn-africa

'Mayfair means money': A walk through the Gulf elite's favourite part of London
It is Mayfair, though, that has become a real home away from home for wealthy Gulf citizens. The area, which includes North Audley Street, where Mohammed bin Rashid and his group were shouted at, is one of the richest in the world - full of upscale restaurants, luxury car dealerships and grand hotels.
“We come to London because we have a lot of investments here and we like to help them out,” the noticeably confident Khaled says.
“Sudanese people are ignorant,” he tells Middle East Eye when asked about the incident with Dubai's ruler. “We are helping Sudan. We are sending humanitarian aid. It was disrespectful.”
“Yes, you can have freedom of speech, but you can’t say that to a leader; it’s not respectful,” says Mohammed, whose father was a soldier and who remembers a “simpler, harder life” in Dubai before oil transformed the city.
Today in the Emirates, he says, you can “get whatever you want within minutes. Someone will bring it to you. You don’t even have to get up”.
But although the family visit Oxford and Hampshire, London for this teenager from Dubai begins and ends in the affluent parts of the centre.
“We don’t go to the areas where there are roadmen and lots of migrants and stabbings,” he says, before getting out a map on his phone marked up with his favourite spots.
The list, which does not stray far beyond Mayfair, is described by Khaled as a map of "prime khaleeji hangouts". It includes the restaurants Cipriani, Ivy Asia, Sexy Fish, Supernova and Nobu.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mayfair-means-money-walk-through-gulf-elite-favourite-part-london