West-Africa

Sunday April 26, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Saturday attended the inauguration of Murusade sub-clan traditional chief Ugaas Abdirisaq Ugaas Abdullahi in Mogadishu, joining opposition leaders and traditional elders at the ceremony. The gathering brought together a wide range of figures from across Somali regions, among them government officials, opposition representatives and customary leaders, underscoring the event’s broader national weight. Hassan Sheikh…

Saturday April 25, 2026 Somali pirates have seized an oil tanker off the country’s northeastern coast, underscoring a renewed threat on a sea lane long watched by global naval forces. A maritime policeman guarded an oil tanker after its release. Somali pirates have hijacked four ships in the past month.Credit...Abdiqani Hassan/Reuters Mogadishu (AX) — Somali pirates hijacked an oil tanker carrying 18,500 barrels of fuel and 17 crew members off Somalia’s northeastern coast, officials said Friday. The vessel, named Honour 25,…

Saturday April 25, 2026 Severe drought has driven at least 62,000 people from their homes in five districts across Somalia since the beginning of 2026, as the country faces mounting climate pressures, the International Organization for Migration said on Friday. The United Nations migration agency said its data shows drought is now responsible for three out of every four new displacements, marking a 22 percent increase from a year earlier and underscoring the worsening toll of climate shocks. Manuel Marques Pereira, IOM’s…

Violence erupted early Saturday on the outskirts of Bamako, as well as in various regions throughout Mali, when the Malian army engaged in fierce clashes to counter large-scale, coordinated assaults from armed groups, multiple media sources have reported. A coalition of jihadist and separatist factions launched a significant offensive across the nation, targeting key military installations and urban areas, extending from the northern regions all the way to the capital. This marked one of the most notable escalations in…

Saturday April 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s push to shore up its digital defenses moved a step forward on Saturday when the National Communications Authority (NCA) brought together a wide range of stakeholders to discuss a proposed Cybersecurity Risk Management and Compliance Framework. The national consultation drew representatives from government institutions, the private sector, education, civil society, and the technical community, all tasked with helping shape a framework designed to strengthen the country’s…

Sundus AbdiSaturday April 25, 2026 Ifrah F Ahmed turned to Somali community members around the world to research her book, Soomaaliya: Food, Memory and Migration. Photograph: Khadija Farah On a video call from Brooklyn, with a book tour stretching between cities, Ifrah F Ahmed sips ginger-root tea. The aroma pulls her back to a childhood kitchen where her mother would often bake fragrant cardamom cake. “That’s a core childhood memory for me,” she said. For Ahmed, food has never been only about eating. It carries memory,…

Saturday April 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s push to tighten its digital defenses took a step forward as the National Communications Authority (NCA) brought together government agencies, private-sector representatives, educators, civil society actors, and technical specialists for a national consultation on a Cybersecurity Risk Management and Compliance Framework. The gathering was designed to collect feedback and deepen coordination around a framework intended to bolster the country’s cybersecurity posture, protect…

Saturday April 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Friday unveiled a new initiative in Doolow designed to bolster urban resilience for internally displaced people and the communities that have taken them in, as Somalia grapples with the twin pressures of displacement and economic hardship. Addressing the launch ceremony in Mogadishu, Barre said the project seeks to strengthen livelihoods and lay the groundwork for longer-term stability in areas strained by conflict and repeated drought. The project,…

By Abdi Ismail SamatarSaturday April 25, 2026 Turkey has cast Somalia as a gateway to the Horn of Africa and, potentially, far beyond. But that ambition can only take root if Somalia first regains political stability. Trying to rebuild the Somali Defence Force without a clear national political framework is like setting out on a long trip with no map. In 2011, the West bluntly blamed al-Shabaab for Somalia’s famine. Yet the deeper cause was American policy under the Obama Administration, which blocked food deliveries to…