Axadle - Breaking news and analysis from Somalia, the Horn of Africa, and across Africa.

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOMonday June 8, 2026 East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Falhada Iman Dekow speaking to the press in Garissa town on Sunday. /STEPHEN ASTARIKO A video of Garissa Governor Nathif Jama speaking with a patient at Garissa County Referral Hospital has thrust the Social Health Authority (SHA) programme back into the spotlight, prompting fresh questions over whether the government's health push is delivering on its promise. The clip, recorded on Friday and circulated widely on social media over the…

Mohamed Gabobe, MogadishuSunday June 7, 2026 Fighters from the Union of Islamic Courts took control of Mogadishu in June 2006 For Yusuf Ali, the sounds of Mogadishu’s past have never really gone away. The 34-year-old shopkeeper still lives with the memories of being drawn into Somalia’s insurgency as a child soldier, fighting in the streets of the capital while the city around him descended into ruin. As Mogadishu gradually rebuilds, the psychological wounds left by years of war remain largely untreated. Few services are…

Gunfire erupted near a neighborhood festival in Toledo, Ohio, leaving at least 12 people wounded and prompting a sprawling police search for those responsible, authorities said. Investigators were canvassing the area for suspects, speaking with witnesses and reviewing mobile phone footage after what police believe was an exchange of shots involving at least two people near the Old West End Festival. "Twelve people were struck with bullets... two of them critical," Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joseph Heffernan told reporters,…

Sunday June 7, 2026 Addis Ababa (AX) — Somalia’s ambassador to Ethiopia says Mogadishu is determined to extend federal authority across every part of Somali territory, including Hargeisa and Berbera, as tensions flare again over North Western State of Somalia’s disputed status. Speaking to Al Jazeera this week, Ambassador Abdullahi Mohamed Warfa said the federal government is rebuilding state institutions and bolstering the national army so that federal authority can reach all regions of the country. “Northern Somalia is…

A visit rich in both diplomacy and family history is on the horizon, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney set to travel to Ireland next week. Mr Carney will begin in Dublin, where he is due to meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the first bilateral visit to Ireland by a Canadian Prime Minister in nearly a decade. He will then travel west to Co Mayo, where he is scheduled to meet President Catherine Connolly. The trip also carries a personal dimension for Mr Carney: two of his grandparents left Aughagower, near Westport, for…

Sunday June 7, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Somalia’s Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission has started taking in candidates for the Southwest State presidential election, marking the formal launch of the region’s race for leadership. One of the first to file was Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, a former president of Southwest State, who was handed his certificate of candidacy by the commission. Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe, speaker of the House of the People of Somalia’s Federal Parliament, also received his…

Britain's Deputy Prime Minister has rebuked JD Vance for tying Henry Nowak's murder to immigration, telling the US Vice President he was wrong on the facts and warning that his social media intervention was "not helpful". David Lammy said he confronted Mr Vance in a "robust" phone call yesterday after the American politician suggested the killing was the product of a "mass invasion" of migrants into Europe. Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old student, was handcuffed by police as he lay dying, despite pleading that he had been…

By Abdirahim Husu MohamedSunday June 7, 2026 History offers a blunt warning: societies rarely dread order; they dread disruption. Yet time and again, nations that have managed to remake themselves have done so by moving through uncertainty on the way to lasting stability and growth. From the Industrial Revolution to the shift from monarchy to democracy, from the end of apartheid to sweeping economic reform, change has almost always arrived with unease. It unsettles people. It invites resistance. It can sharpen political…

A fragile calm in the Middle East fractured again overnight as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards cast a missile attack on Israel as a direct warning following Israel’s strike on Beirut, and signaled that any further escalation would trigger a far wider response. "Tonight's operation was a warning. If such aggressions are repeated, the responses will be broader and will cover all US-Zionist targets in the region," the force said. The Israeli military said it detected two waves of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel. The…

Sunday June 7, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Banadir regional police on Saturday showcased a cache of weapons and military vehicles they said were recovered from Mirinaayo neighborhood in Abdiaziz district, where former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed had recently been staying. Banadir Regional Police Commander Col. Mahdi Omar Mumin told reporters the haul included 17 BKM machine guns, five RPG launchers, one sniper rifle, one PTM, 14 vehicles, an undisclosed number of AK-47 rifles and a large quantity of ammunition. Mahdi…