Axadle Editorial Desk

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s already fraught political climate sharpened further this week as an opposition alliance urged mass street protests in Mogadishu, even as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud prepared to convene a national dialogue conference on May 10. Former Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, along with other figures in the opposition-backed Council for Somalia’s Future, said they would take part in demonstrations scheduled for next Sunday. They called on residents uprooted by recent evictions to join the…

Thursday May 7, 2026 Somali pirates have left a hijacked Emirati dhow loaded with lemons adrift after failing in an effort to use it as a floating launch pad for attacks on other ships, security sources in Somalia’s Puntland State state told AFP. The fate of the crew of Fahad-4 remains unclear. No information was immediately available on what happened to the vessel’s sailors after the ship was seized in late April by an 11-man pirate gang as it left Mogadishu with its citrus cargo. Amid a recent surge in similar seizures,…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s widening political crisis came under intense scrutiny on Thursday, when international partners gathered at a heavily secured Western embassy inside the Halane compound to assess what comes next for the country’s embattled federal government. According to diplomatic sources, much of the conversation centered on how the international community should deal with Somali authorities after May 15. One of the most disputed issues was whether the World Bank’s Operational Policy 7.30 (OP 7.30) could be…

Thursday May 7, 2026 Missouri (AX) — A Somali national has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after being convicted in the kidnapping of a woman whose body was later found in a roadside ditch in Missouri, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 44, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Megan B. Benton in a case that ended with the death of a woman identified in court records as J.M. According to prosecutors, J.M.’s body was discovered on July 29, 2019, near Missouri Highway 59 after a…

Thursday May 7, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Minister of Internal Security, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag, held talks with Burkina Faso’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, on Wednesday during an official visit to Ouagadougou. Fartaag carried a message from Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, signaling Mogadishu’s push to deepen ties with Burkina Faso and widen cooperation on security matters. According to Somali officials, the discussions focused on building a joint security framework to confront common threats from…

Thursday May 7, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Office of the Attorney General said it has opened an inquiry into allegations surrounding Sadia Moallim Ali Hassan, a Bajaj driver in Mogadishu whose arrest has prompted backlash from opposition figures and international human rights groups. Sadia, who was taken into custody on April 12, is facing accusations of defamation and incitement to public disorder, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office. The Attorney General’s Office said the probe falls within its…

Wednesday May 6, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Wednesday named Abdifitah Qasim Mohamud as the country’s new Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, replacing Daud Aweis Jama in a cabinet change announced in Mogadishu. According to a government press release, the appointment was made in line with constitutional provisions and came after consultations with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The statement did not disclose the reasons for the removal of the former minister. Prime…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOWednesday May 6, 2026 Muslim Religious leaders drawn from SUPKEM during the meeting. /STEPHEN ASTARIKO Religious leaders in Northeastern are sounding the alarm over what they describe as a “silent epidemic” of HIV and AIDS, calling for immediate, coordinated action to confront a health challenge they say is spreading under the weight of stigma and denial. The warning came during a high-level meeting in Garissa convened by the National Syndemic Disease Control Council (NSDCC) in collaboration with the…

Basillioh RukangaWednesday May 6, 2026 Officials say operations at the airport, pictured here in February, have been suspended following the drone strikes Sudan has levelled extraordinary accusations against neighbouring Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), saying the two countries were behind drone strikes on its main airport in what it called "direct aggression". The capital's international airport was struck on Monday, together with military sites across the Greater Khartoum area. The attacks have broken a spell…

U.S. Moves to Lift Eritrea Sanctions Amid Red Sea Security Concerns WASHINGTON — The United States is preparing to lift sanctions on Eritrea, according to an internal government document obtained by Reuters, in a notable policy shift shaped by the East African nation’s growing strategic value as conflict ripples across the Middle East. The move to revoke the penalties, which analysts say reflects Eritrea’s control over a key Red Sea shipping corridor, would mark a major change in Washington’s approach to one of the world’s…