Greater Somalia Greater Somalia Greater Somalia (, ) comprises the regions in or near the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited. The territory historically encompassed British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland, the Ogaden in the Ethiopian Empire, and the Northern Frontier District in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya - at the present day, it encompasses Somalia, Somaliland, eastern Djibouti, the Somali region and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, and the Lamu, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera Counties (all except Lamu formed part of the former North Eastern Province, which was abolished in 2013) in Kenya. Since the
2010 timeline of the War in Somalia recaptured the city. Initial reports indicate that 11 al-Shabaab fighters and 1 government soldier died in the battle. Continued fighting has also been reported in the city of Beledweyne. On October 21, the African Union appealed to the United Nations for an air and naval blockade of Somalia. The AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra insisted that such an action was necessary to curb the flow of weapons to al-Shabaab and other Islamist militants in the region, and also called for a total of 20,000 AU peacekeepers to be deployed to Somalia, up from the current deployment of