Sports

Somali forces arrest suspect said to be planting landmines in border town Beled Hawo, Somalia — Security forces in Somalia’s Gedo region say they have detained a man accused of attempting to lay two landmines along a busy route in the border district of Beled Hawo, averting what officials believe could have been a deadly attack on civilians and military convoys. The late-night arrest on Tuesday, confirmed by the Somali National Army’s media unit, came during a targeted operation as patrols swept through the district’s main…

Somalia’s Seat at East Africa’s Table: Why Mogadishu’s New EALA Delegation Matters A quiet milestone in Mogadishu In a bright room at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed Somalia’s first full slate of lawmakers to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA). The ceremony, following a parliamentary vote that selected nine representatives, was deliberately understated — no brass bands, no triumphal headlines. Yet the significance should not be missed. Less than a year after its…

Somalia’s new passport push is about far more than a booklet Somalia’s decision to tender a “third-generation” e-passport sounds technocratic on the surface — a procurement notice, new materials, a better chip. But in a country where mobility is survival, identity is politics, and trust has been fragile for decades, the stakes are far higher than a redesign. The Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) has put out a global call for bids to produce a polycarbonate, biometric passport aligned with International Civil Aviation…

Somali Army Warns Civilians: Don’t Wear Uniforms, Don’t Touch Military Vehicles, After Militant Attack MOGADISHU — Somalia’s army has issued a sweeping warning forbidding civilians from wearing military uniforms, displaying insignia, or using vehicles tied to the armed forces, an emergency measure meant to choke off a well-known loophole exploited by militants and common criminals alike. The Somali National Army (SNA) said Saturday that anyone caught using military gear or vehicles without authorization will face “legal…

Oil, identity and consent: Why Ethiopia’s Somali region is pushing back There are two ways oil can arrive in a place like Ethiopia’s Somali region: with community buy-in and a clear ledger of who benefits, or with suspicion trailing the first truck. This week, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told lawmakers his government is ready to begin using oil from new wells in the Somali Regional State for domestic markets, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) chose the latter framing—warning that a vital moment for Ethiopia’s…

Al‑Shabaab’s War Chest: How a Militant Tax System Fuels a Comeback in Somalia A militant economy hiding in plain sight The hardest thing to see in Somalia’s long war is often the most obvious: the receipts. A new assessment by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point says al‑Shabaab, al‑Qaida’s Somali affiliate, is now the network’s financial powerhouse—pulling in an estimated $100 million to $200 million a year. That money isn’t just paying for bullets. It’s rebuilding a parallel state. The report, The Global State…

Somalia’s Skies Welcome a New Captain — and a Revival of Possibility At dawn in Mogadishu, when the ocean breeze carries the call to prayer over the runway and the heat hasn’t yet settled on the tarmac, a young captain strides toward her aircraft with the calm of routine and the knowledge that nothing about this is ordinary. Headset in hand, checklist tucked under her arm, Captain Yasmin Abdi Farah powers up the cockpit of a Maandeeq Air jet bound for Nairobi. A familiar route, yes—but the story it tells is new. Yasmin,…

Mogadishu arrests seven youths after knife stunts go viral, exposing a volatile mix of bravado and boredom On a recent evening in Mogadishu, a string of shaky smartphone videos began ricocheting across social media: young men flashing knives inside public stadiums, daring friends and onlookers to watch, filming each other in tight circles that felt equal parts bravado and boredom. By night’s end, Somali Police announced they had arrested seven youths in the capital’s Warta-Nabadda district, a neighborhood that includes the…

Ramla Ali Comes Home: Somalia Honors a Fighter Who Changed the Script On a humid afternoon in Mogadishu, where the Indian Ocean throws salt into the breeze and the city’s traffic hums like a restless drum, a boxer walked into City Hall and rewrote an old story. Ramla Ali, Somalia’s first Olympic boxer and one of its most recognized athletes, accepted the Medal of Honor from the Governor of Banadir Region and Mayor of Mogadishu, Hassan Mohamed Hussein Muungaab—an emblem of a nation eager to celebrate achievement amid the…

Ramla Ali’s Homecoming: A Boxer’s Quiet Power in a Country Finding Its Feet At Aden Adde International Airport, where the palm fronds sway and the wind blows in from the Indian Ocean, a ripple of applause rolled down the arrivals hall. Flag-waving fans pressed forward, mothers hoisted toddlers onto their hips, and the noise swelled into a chant for a fighter who once trained in secret. Ramla Ali—Somalia’s first Olympic boxer and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador—was back in Mogadishu. On Sunday, the 35-year-old featherweight…