The conflict in Ukraine and the ongoing escalations in the Middle East have stretched the limited bandwidth of the international community, gobbling up much of diplomatic attention and aid at the expense of on-going low intensity counter terrorism operations. With the exception of direct military intervention by western militaries, counter terrorism missions especially in Africa have largely relied on military and material support by western governments to sustain pacification of terrorist groups like al-Shabaab and ISIS clamoring to secure strong holds in deferent parts of the continent.However, the Ukraine war coupled by the quagmire of escalating geopolitical turmoil in the middle east has stretched their existing resources limiting their capacity to bolster counter terrorism operations.

Africa has seen a steady rise of al-Qaeda and ISIS linked groups that have mushroomed over the last several decades. Most of these militant groups have taken advantage of vast areas of weak government control or existing social-political turmoil, conditions present in some countries within the continent to try etch caliphates. The mobilization of the western military industrial complex to provide munitions, high tech military hardware and training for allies such as Ukraine and Israel has diverted resources away from counter terrorism missions. Effects of this have already been felt in the horn of Africa. The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) which will be operationalized on 1^st January 2025 and is mandated to work with Somalia to support various political processes such as federalism, reconciliation, and the implementation of the constitutional review process is facing several challenges key among them, financing.

In its mandate to degrade al-Shabaab, AUSSOM is likely to face challenges of unpredictable funding and logistics similar to its predecessors. The stakes are high as al-Shabaab has proven to be resilient, employing asymmetric warfare tactics and adapting to counter-terrorism efforts by the African Union missions and the Somali government. Geopolitical tiffs among troop contributing countries of Ethiopia versus Egypt and Somalia, all of who are expected to form closer working relationships for the success of the AUSSOM mission are counterproductive. Al-Shabaab remains a shared national security threat in the East Africa and the horn at large. Proper mobilization of troops, resoures and diplomatic efforts are crucial to undermining the insurgency.