Somalia

Drone Strikes Near Khartoum Airport: An Ongoing Conflict Unfolds The early morning air in Khartoum was anything but serene as the familiar hum of drones pierced the pre-dawn sky on Tuesday. Another chapter in Sudan's ongoing conflict was being written, just ahead of the planned reopening of the capital’s main international airport, a key symbol of a war-torn nation’s struggle to normalize after over two years of brutal fighting. A City on Edge For the residents of Khartoum, Tuesday began with a stark reminder of their…

Whoever Leads Them, ISIS in Somalia Keeps Fighting — and Its Leader’s Fate Remains a Mystery BOSASO, Somalia — After months of airstrikes, ground offensives and rumours, the fate of the man who once laid the foundation for ISIS in Somalia remains unresolved. Abdulkadir Mumin, the group’s widely recognised founder, has not been seen in public for months. His absence has left local communities, Puntland State authorities and international monitors speculating — and a violent campaign in the Al‑Miskaad mountains grinding on.…

Opinion | Somalia’s Next Leap Won’t Come From Another Election On a dusty midmorning in Mogadishu, as tuk-tuks weave past concrete blast walls and hopeful new cafes, I asked a lawyer what he most wanted from the state. He didn’t say elections. He said a judge he could trust. That answer hangs over Somalia’s future. For more than three decades, the country has circled the same roundabout: hurry toward a vote, argue over the rules, postpone, compromise, vote, then start over. Each cycle spotlights familiar headlines about…

Drone strike in Lower Shabelle underscores the moral and strategic dilemmas of remote warfare A reported drone strike this week in Akunji village, in Somalia’s volatile Janaale district of Lower Shabelle, has reopened painful questions about who bears the cost of a campaign fought mostly from the air. Local accounts and media reports say civilians may have been killed; authorities have not confirmed responsibility. The fog that surrounds the incident is familiar in Somalia — and emblematic of a broader global debate over…

Somalia: Three brothers killed on family farm in suspected clan-reprisal attack in Lower Shabelle At least three brothers were shot dead while working their fields in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region on Wednesday, in what local residents described as a clan-reprisal attack. The killings took place in Dudumaaye, an area under the Wanlaweyn district, about two hours by road from Mogadishu. Residents reached by phone said the men were tending their farm when gunmen believed to be from a rival militia opened fire. The victims…

Jubaland’s intelligence push tests Somalia’s fragile center-periphery balance KISMAYO — When Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe unveiled a gleaming new headquarters for the Jubbaland Intelligence and Security Agency this month, he did more than cut a ribbon. Standing before a bank of monitors and satellite dishes, Madobe declared that his region’s spy service now outperforms the federal government’s National Intelligence and Security Agency. “When it comes to security information in the Horn of Africa, the agency everyone turns…

As Puntland State claims new victories against ISIS in Cal‑Miskaad, deeper questions remain BOSASO, Somalia — For nearly a year, Puntland State’s security forces have been waging a gritty campaign against Islamic State-linked militants dug into the tangled ridges and cave networks of the Cal‑Miskaad mountains. Local commanders and officials now insist the offensive is paying off — with recent operations dislodging fighters from a strategic base and seizing several cave systems — but analysts and residents warn that military…

Somalia says overnight raid kills seven Al‑Shabaab fighters as counterinsurgency grinds on in Hiiraan Somalia’s intelligence service says its agents, working with international partners, killed seven Al‑Shabaab fighters in a three‑phase raid overnight in the country’s central Hiiraan region, a patch of territory that has swung back and forth between government forces and the al‑Qaida‑linked group over the past two years. In a statement released Tuesday, the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said the…

Behind closed doors in Villa Somalia: former foes, fragile alliances MOGADISHU — In a sign of how fragile and fluid Somali politics remain, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud convened a private meeting at Villa Somalia this week with a who’s who of figures who recently left the Somali National Salvation Council. The gathering — attended by former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, ex-Parliament Speaker Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman, and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the one-time president of SouthWest State — has…

Somalia’s Donor Dollars Meet Local Politics: Hirshabelle’s District Choice Reopens Old Debates In Somalia’s Hirshabelle state, a seemingly technical decision — which district gets the next round of donor-backed support — has turned into a small window on a much larger question: who gets to be seen, heard, and funded in a federal system still finding its feet. The controversy touches the Somalia Recurrent Cost & Reform Financing (RCRF) Phase III program, an internationally funded effort, implemented by the Federal…