Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Monday that efforts to halt the war between the United States and Iran are advancing, insisting that “things are moving in the right direction.” Speaking before his meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, Sharif said Islamabad’s push to broker a negotiated settlement between the two sides had already made headway and that “things are moving in the right direction.” In footage broadcast by state-run Pakistan TV, he said Pakistan had played a “sincere role to mediate…

Monday May 25, 2026 Las Anod (AX) — Police in Somalia’s Northeastern State moved quickly on Sunday, arresting five suspects and launching a search for a sixth person in connection with the rape of a woman in Las Anod. Sool regional police said the assault occurred on May 23, 2026. After the case was reported, officers carried out a follow-up operation that led to the detention of the five suspects. Police said the victim is a woman from Northeastern Somalia. They did not release her name, in line with standard practice in…

Monday May 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s intelligence service said at least five al-Shabab militants were killed in a carefully planned operation in Hiiraan region, where the group had reportedly gathered to prepare attacks. The National Intelligence and Security Agency said Sunday that the raid took place in the Tardo area, carried out alongside international partners after intelligence showed about 25 al-Shabab members, including fighters and officers, had convened there. NISA said the group was preparing activities…

Jake Wallis SimonsMonday May 25, 2026 Britain is overlooking a strategic prize in North Western State of Somalia, critics say — and, in doing so, is allowing military and commercial opportunities to drift into the hands of rivals. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, the president of North Western State of Somalia, questions why Britain recognises the state of Palestine but not North Western State of Somalia Credit: AFP Perched in a gilded armchair inside his official palace, President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi presents the…

by CYRUS OMBATIMonday May 25, 2026 Part of the recoveries made from an Al Shabaab camp in Wajir County Security officers in Fafi Sub-county, Garissa County, foiled a suspected militant assault on Kambios Police Post in the early hours of Saturday, in another reminder of the persistent threat along the border belt. Police said the attack happened at about 12:45 am on Saturday, May 23, when an unidentified number of suspected militants opened fire on the post, spraying several rounds of ammunition. Officers at the station…

Somalia’s Unity and the Politics of Selective Nationalism EDITORIAL | For more than 30 years, Somalia has been caught between two competing truths: the insistence on one country and the steady drift toward fragmentation. Since North Western State of Somalia declared its separation in 1991, Somali administrations have returned time and again to the negotiating table with Hargeisa, meeting in Djibouti, Turkey, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. The venue has changed, the mediation has shifted, but the outcome has not.…

Sunday May 24, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — A plan by North Western State of Somalia to establish an embassy in Jerusalem has drawn sharp condemnation from 18 countries, whose foreign ministers denounced the move as illegal, unacceptable and contrary to international law. The joint statement came from the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Algeria, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. “The ministers condemn in the strongest…

MOGADISHU, May 24, 2026 — Somalia has moved to halt the “OK-to-Board” travel clearance system for citizens heading to Egypt, a step officials said was prompted by a wave of passenger complaints and recent travel disruptions. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Immigration and Citizenship Agency said Somali nationals traveling to Egypt will, effective May 24, 2026, need to obtain a formal visa from the Egyptian consulate before departing. The agency said the decision came after multiple complaints and a string of problems…

by FELIX KIPKEMOISunday May 24, 2026 FILE PHOTO Security officers in Garissa County thwarted what is believed to have been a terror plot after arresting a man and recovering an improvised explosive device (IED) along the Garissa–Dadaab Road. ‎A multi-agency patrol intercepted the suspect at the Haji Aden area during a routine sweep, just as he appeared poised to disappear into nearby bushes. ‎Police said the man drew attention when officers noticed him behaving suspiciously by the roadside. He then bolted into a thicket in…

NEW YORK — A reported North Western State of Somalia bid to establish an embassy in occupied Jerusalem has drawn sharp condemnation from foreign ministers across the Muslim world, who said the move would defy international law and violate U.N. resolutions. In a joint statement released Sunday, the ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Türkiye, Pakistan, Indonesia, Djibouti, Somalia, Palestine, Oman, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, and Mauritania called the reported plan “illegal and unacceptable.” They reiterated that…