Horn of Africa

Over the past three months, there has been more piracy in the Horn of Africa region than at any point in the last six years, according to Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), an independent think tank, with high ransoms for seafarers or vessels, and robbing of ship passengers by pirates.

"The Ruen hijacking was likely carried out by Somalia-based pirates," said Simon Rynn, senior research fellow for African Security at the Royal United Services Institute. "The resurgence coincides with the Houthi campaign against Israeli-linked shipping but if there is a connection it would at most be due to counter-piracy actors being distracted."

Raffaello Pantucci, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said that while Somalia has been an “attractive battlefield” for British and foreign jihadists in the past decade, its magnetism has extended beyond the Somali diaspora. He added: “Somalia remains a place of potential interest, though these days other places appear more attractive. The history of British jihadis in Somalia and the leadership there of both Shabaab and Isis mean links exist which can always be picked up.”