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

Pirates have seized an oil tanker carrying 17 crew members off Somalia’s coast, multiple security officials told the BBC, in a brazen reminder of a menace once thought to be fading in the region. The vessel, Honour 25, was taken over late on Wednesday by six armed men when it was about 30 nautical miles offshore, the officials said. For years, this stretch of the Indian Ocean was synonymous with pirate attacks, but until three years ago such incidents had largely vanished. Since then, however, piracy has returned, with…

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…

Mike BungeSaturday April 25, 2026 A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison after investigators say he tried to join ISIS and provide support to the extremist group. U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank sentenced Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 23, to 102 months behind bars, followed by 15 years of supervised release. Hassan had pleaded guilty in September 2025 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which the U.S. State Department designated a foreign terrorist…

Hunger tightened its grip on the world’s most vulnerable communities last year, with two-thirds of those facing food crises concentrated in just 10 countries and one-third of them in Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN-backed annual report said today. Conflict again stood out as the leading cause of acute food insecurity, according to the Global Report on Food Crises, which draws on data from the United Nations, the European Union and humanitarian agencies. With wars continuing and climate extremes…

Saturday April 25, 2026 An oil tanker was left under guard after being freed, a stark reminder of how quickly piracy can again unsettle the waters off Somalia. Somali pirates have hijacked four ships in the past month.Credit...Abdiqani Hassan/Reuters Mogadishu (AX) — Somali pirates seized an oil tanker carrying 18,500 barrels of fuel and 17 crew members off Somalia’s northeastern coast, officials said Friday. The ship, identified as Honour 25, was taken late Wednesday by at least six armed men roughly 30 nautical miles…

A fragile ceasefire and a fresh burst of diplomacy brought the Middle East conflict to another pivotal moment as Iran's foreign minister arrived in Pakistan and US envoys traveled to Islamabad in hopes of reviving stalled peace negotiations. The White House said emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would hold an "in-person conversation" with Iranian representatives, though Iranian state media insisted direct talks were not on the agenda. Even after US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the ceasefire in…

The US Justice Department is moving to widen both when the federal death penalty is pursued and how executions can be carried out, saying it wants to add the firing squad, electrocution and gas alongside lethal injection. "The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers," acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said. In a statement, Mr Blanche said…

A fresh diplomatic push is taking shape as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner prepare to fly to Pakistan tomorrow morning for talks involving Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News this evening. "I can confirm Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks ... with representatives from the Iranian delegation," Ms Leavitt said. Vice President JD Vance is not expected to…

Oil prices climbed sharply today as fears of renewed conflict in the Middle East gripped markets after Iran released footage showing commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, with little sign of progress toward reopening the crucial shipping lane. Traffic through the strait, which before the war handled roughly a fifth of global oil output, remains effectively shut down. Iran’s seizure of two cargo ships has also underscored the challenges Washington faces in trying to secure passage through the waterway.…

Hassan IstiilaFriday April 24, 2026 On a dusty roadside in Elasha Biyaha, some 15 kilometers from Mogadishu, Sharmarke Aden sits in his bajaj, thumbs moving over a Samsung phone as he tries again and again to pull up his digital national ID. The app, eAqoonsi, sits at the center of Somalia’s drive to take public services online. In the best-case scenario, it should spare Aden the expense and lost time of traveling to a registration center and standing in long lines, all while sacrificing a day’s earnings. Instead, patchy…