July14 , 2026

Al-Shabaab: Mogadishu on a Knife’s Edge

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Buried Circle in Scotland Rewrites Violence Before Rome

Scotland's Buried Circle Rewrites Violence Before Rome Keywords: Neolithic Scotland, Machrie Moor, conflict, stone circles, archaeology, Roman Britain Brief: Standing stones in moorland mist; a bronze blade laid beside excavated earth.New discoveries at Machrie Moor and a major Edinburgh exhibition are pushing Scotland's prehistory away from pastoral myth and closer to a landscape of ritual, memory and organised violence.Scotland's ancient past is often imagined in stone, fog and silence. The newest archaeology suggests something noisier. Historic Environment Scotland this week announced the detection of a possible new prehistoric ring beneath the peat on the Isle of Arran: a circle of 12 pit-like anomalies forming a feature approximately 28 metres across, with space for two additional settings that may bring the original total to 14 posts or stones. Led by Dr Nick Hannon, the survey team used geophysical scanning equipment that detects underground disturbances without lifting a single turf. "The discovery of a new circle completely surpassed our expectations," Dr Hannon said. The find arrives at the same moment as the National Museum of Scotland opens Scotland's First Warriors, an exhibition tracing 4,000 years of conflict from the Neolithic to the Romans, covering more than 200 objects and asking how and why people fought, what weapons they used and what early conflict did to communities. Taken together, the two stories complicate the old image of early Scotland as a remote edge of prehistory waiting passively for civilisation to arrive. Ritual and Conflict Shared the Same Landscape It is tempting to separate ceremonial monuments from warfare, as if one belonged to religion and the other to politics. The new exhibition suggests prehistoric Scotland did not organise life so neatly. Machrie Moor's circles date from between roughly 3500 and 1500 BCE, and excavations have shown that several were preceded by timber circles in the same positions. The timber circle at Machrie Moor 1 has been radiocarbon-dated to 2030 ± 180 BCE, before the wooden posts were replaced with stone around 2000 BCE. The circles align with a prominent notch at the head of Machrie Glen, where the midsummer sunrise would have been visible, and later served as burial grounds for cremations and inhumations. The Edinburgh exhibition changes the emotional map of prehistoric Scotland. Stone circles were not necessarily built by peaceful mystics untouched by danger. They belonged to societies capable of both ceremony and force, burial and battle, symbolic order and lethal dispute. As the exhibition makes clear, interpersonal violence, fortification and organised conflict were real parts of Scotland's deep past, not marginal episodes but structural features of life on the moor. The landscape was never only sacred space. It was lived space. Before Rome, There Was Already History The most useful thing about these discoveries is that they pull Scottish prehistory out of the shadow of Rome. Too often, Britain's northern story begins when classical writers notice it. The Arran circle and the "first warriors" frame both insist that Scotland already had long, structured histories of monument-building, territorial meaning and conflict before Roman contact ever entered the picture. The Arran cursus, a ceremonial enclosure approximately 1.1 kilometres long sitting adjacent to the stone circles, underlines the landscape's sustained importance as a gathering place across millennia. The new ring at Machrie Moor has not yet been excavated, and the evidence for prehistoric violence remains open to interpretation. But the direction of travel is clear. Early Scotland looks less like an empty northern fringe and more like a dense world of ritual landscapes, armed communities and social memory stretching back 5,000 years. The stones were never mute. We are only getting better at hearing what kind of world they belonged to.Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates! Read also: The Outlander Effect: How the Show Put Scotland on the Map Rural Europe Pushes Back Against Megafarms Homer in a Mummy Rewrites Cultural Borders

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The militant group al-Shabaab has captured nearly 20 towns and villages in central Somalia in recent weeks. The renewed push brings the fighters dangerously close to the capital Mogadishu.

Capital Under Threat as Militants Seize Key Towns

Al-Shabaab forces have reached positions just 10 kilometers from Mogadishu. The group set up checkpoints between Mogadishu and Afgoye town to gather illegal taxes from drivers.

The militants took over the key town of Barire on Friday. This adds to their hold on Awdhegle and Sabid. All three towns lie along river crossings that lead to the capital.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has urged local leaders to back the army’s efforts. He wants to stop towns like Adale and Adan Yabal from falling to the militants.

The president’s own convoy came under attack near the presidential palace. The bold strike showed al-Shabaab’s growing strength and reach.

Analyst Warns of Shift to Offensive Campaign

Militancy expert Mohameden Ayba Ayba told The Daily Euro Times that al-Shabaab has shifted to attack mode.

Ayba: "Anyone following al-Shabaab's latest meetings can see they changed their strategy from defense to attack phase about a month and a half ago," Ayba Ayba said. "They've entered a sweeping offensive across all areas of Somalia under their control."
Al-Shabaab: Mogadishu on a Knife's Edge  Daily Euro Times

Ayba Ayba noted the group had even tried to kill the Somali president on his way to Mogadishu airport.

"Their control of several towns and push toward Mogadishu shows they've truly entered the phase they planned – the advance and attack phase."

The analyst believes the Syria scenario may have spurred al-Shabaab’s moves despite the different geography and demography. But “what works in Syria might not work in Somalia – still, it’s worth a shot.”

Ayba Ayba mentioned talk of Turkish planes perhaps stopping the fall of the capital. The Turkish involvement “follows Ethiopian troop buildups to block the capital from falling to al-Shabaab.”

Al-Shabaab and IS: Two Rivals With Different Goals

While al-Shabaab links to al-Qaeda and seeks to build an Islamic state through Somalia, IS works with a more global outlook.

The U.S. has carried out airstrikes against IS fighters in Somalia’s Puntland region. One strike killed 13 fighters on 8 May.

IS has won some followers in Puntland. Yet it stays small next to al-Shabaab, which once held much of Somalia.

The two groups often clash with each other. Al-Shabaab wants to set up rule in Somalia first. IS seeks to be part of a wider caliphate beyond Somalia’s borders.

Al-Shabaab has changed its ways. It now avoids killing many civilians and runs its own form of order in areas it holds.

This is no longer just a militant group staging random attacks, writes Adam Daud Ahmed, a Horn of Africa expert. Al-Shabaab "is capturing strategic towns, creeping ever closer to the capital, and shifting from an insurgency to a government-in-waiting."

Regional Powers Add to Tricky Picture

Ethiopia has ruled out sending ground troops to Middle Shabelle region.

Addis Ababa still uses planes to hit al-Shabaab spots.

Egypt plans to send 1,500 troops with attack choppers to the area. This has made al-Shabaab rush toward Mogadishu before these forces come in June.

Horn of Africa expert Rashid Abdi asked, “Why would they clear Shabelle for Egypt, a strategic foe?” This hints at the long dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt.

The people of Mogadishu live in calm for now. Yet many seem to accept that al-Shabaab might take over. 

If Mogadishu falls, the crisis will shake the whole Horn of Africa. Kenya, which has faced deadly al-Shabaab raids, may see more attacks.

Ethiopia would face more threats when already dealing with its own troubles.

The Somali government seems split by inner fights and power grabs. "Somalia's leaders are too busy fighting each other to fight al-Shabaab," Ahmed points out.

It seems unity is the only weapon worth fighting for in this battle.

Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates!


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