Eye on Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia - International partners are urging dialogue and restraint as tensions rise between Mogadishu and South West State, warning that the standoff could deepen Somalia's wider federal crisis. Calls for talks reflect the same kind of settlement logic usually associated with the National Consultative Council, where federal and regional leaders are expected to negotiate high-stakes disputes rather than escalate them. At its core, the confrontation is another test of Somalia's federal system and the limits of…

Wycliffe Muia, NairobiSunday March 29, 2026 Giant African harvester ants - seen here in Kenya - have become highly sought after by hobby collectors across the world Right now, the ants are taking flight in Kenya. In the rainy season, clouds of them rise from thousands of anthills around Gilgil, a quiet farming town in Kenya's Rift Valley that has unexpectedly become the hub of a lucrative illegal trade. The mating ritual sends winged males out of the nest to fertilise queens, which also take to the air at this time. That…

Sunday March 29, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s federal government has thrown out the results of Saturday’s elections in Baidoa, branding them illegitimate and intensifying a tense showdown with the Southwest State administration. In a statement from the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, officials said the vote amounted to a “premeditated appointment” that did not reflect the wishes of the people of Southwest State. “The election was not legitimate,” the ministry said. “Any process based on…

Somalia is moving step by step toward one-person, one-vote elections, a shift from decades of clan-based and indirect voting. In 2026, the process is no longer only a political promise: local voting has started, electoral laws have advanced, and Somalia's election institutions are working to widen the model beyond pilot areas. Still, disputes over inclusion, security, and political consensus remain central to whether the 2026 timetable can hold. Somalia's election reform effort has followed a phased approach: building…

Israel reported a first-ever missile attack from Yemen early Saturday, as air-raid sirens sounded for the third straight night across parts of the country—amid an escalating war that has already reshaped regional shipping and battered global markets. Shortly after dawn, Israel’s military said a missile was launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory. The Houthis—an Iran-backed rebel movement that has governed Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014—have not yet acknowledged responsibility. Siren alerts were reported around Beer…

Saturday March 28, 2026 BAIDOA (AX) — Southwest State lawmakers convened in Baidoa on Saturday and re-elected Dr. Ali Said Fiqi as Speaker of the regional parliament, underscoring a fresh attempt to restore stability within the state’s political leadership. The electoral commission supervising the vote said Dr. Fiqi won with 67 votes, defeating Diini Sheikh Hassan, who received 11. Commission officials reported that two ballots were rejected as invalid. In total, 80 members of parliament took part in the election. After the…

Saturday March 28, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen has won re-election for a further five-year term after voters went to the polls on Saturday in Baidoa, the interim administrative capital of the region. Under the supervision of the electoral commission, Laftagareen received 66 votes, narrowly but decisively beating his challenger, Abdullahi Haji Hassan, who secured 13 votes. The vote takes place as political tensions continue to mount between the Southwest administration and…

Mohamed DhaysaneSaturday March 28, 2026 Somali forces, backed by international partners, carried out coordinated strikes on Thursday that killed more than 42 al-Shabaab fighters, including two senior figures, while leaving several others injured across operations in Middle Juba and Lower Shabelle, officials said. In one of the joint actions, the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said it killed Abdihamid Ali Abdullahi Macalin, an al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab commander responsible for handling international…

In southern Somalia’s Ladan camp, a child’s cry can be heard—but for the most malnourished youngsters, even sound can be out of reach. Mothers there are focused on a single question: whether their children will survive. At the Ladan camp, on the outskirts of the town of Dollow, families who have fled drought-stricken areas arrive with little more than their children. Their farms and livestock were wiped out after four failed rainy seasons, leaving displaced people to seek shelter in crowded conditions where hope is measured…

Tragedy struck in Sudan as drone strikes claimed the lives of 28 civilians in two separate incidents, health officials confirmed on Thursday. As the conflict between Sudan's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensifies, these attacks highlight a disturbing rise in drone warfare. On Wednesday, devastation hit the town of Saraf Omra in North Darfur. A drone strike on a bustling market resulted in a fiery explosion, killing 22 people, including an infant, and injuring 17, according to a local clinic…