Axadle - Leading News from Somalia and the Horn of Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s federal government said Thursday that a planned airstrike in the al-Shabab-held town of Jilib on Dec. 10 killed two senior leaders of the extremist group, including a bomb-making chief who carried a $5 million U.S. bounty. The National Intelligence and Security Agency, known as NISA, said the strike killed Abdullahi Osman Mohamed, widely known as Engineer Ismail, describing him as al-Shabab’s chief explosives planner. The United States had offered up to $5 million for information leading to his…

HARGEISA, North Western State of Somalia — North Western State of Somalia on Thursday denied that it had agreed to resettle Palestinians from Gaza or host Israeli military bases in exchange for recognition from Israel, rejecting the claims as false and politically motivated. In a statement posted on X, North Western State of Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “firmly rejects false claims made by the President of Somalia alleging the resettlement of Palestinians or the establishment of military bases in North…

Tragedy Strikes as Migrant Boat Capsizes Off The Gambia At least seven people have died and many others remain missing after a boat carrying about 200 migrants capsized off the coast of The Gambia while attempting to reach Europe. This harrowing incident underscores the grave dangers faced by those seeking a better life, and it highlights the ongoing migration crisis engulfing the region. The vessel overturned near Jinack village in the North Bank Region, a noted backdrop for previous such attempts. It was later…

Gabon National Football Team Suspended Following Disappointing AFCON Exit Gabon's government has announced sweeping changes to its national football setup following the team's dismal performance in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The measures include suspending the national team, dismissing head coach Thierry Mouyouma, and imposing a ban on star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The decision was conveyed by Sports Minister Simplice-Desire Mamboula after Gabon's early exit from the tournament, culminating in a 3-2 loss…

EU warns of sabotage risk as Finland seizes ship suspected in Baltic cable damage Europe “remains vigilant” as its critical infrastructure faces a high risk of sabotage, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said, after Finnish authorities seized a cargo vessel suspected of damaging a subsea telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn. Finnish police detained the Fitburg, a 132-meter cargo ship, and its 14 crew members as part of an investigation into damage to a telecoms cable in the Gulf of Finland. Authorities…

Anthony Joshua was discharged from a hospital in southwestern Nigeria after being injured in a car crash that killed two of his close friends, state officials said. The former world heavyweight boxing champion had been traveling Monday along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway when the SUV he was in struck a stationary truck in Ogun state. Joshua was accompanied by friends identified as Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, who both died in the crash, according to the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE). The agency said…

China has removed a three-decade-old tax exemption on contraceptive drugs and devices, imposing a 13% value-added tax on items such as condoms and contraceptive pills from Jan. 1, in a fresh bid to arrest a prolonged slide in birth rates. The change subjects most contraceptives to the standard VAT applied to consumer goods in the world’s second-largest economy. It marks a policy shift after years in which such products were treated as tax-exempt public health items, and it arrives as Beijing ramps up efforts to encourage…

SOFIA — Bulgaria has become the 21st country to adopt the euro, giving up the lev at midnight in a moment that drew both celebration and unease in a nation divided over the change and anxious about inflation and political instability. As the clock struck 12, images of Bulgarian euro coins were projected onto the central bank’s facade in Sofia. “I warmly welcome Bulgaria to the euro family,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said, calling the single currency a “powerful symbol” of shared values and collective…

OPINION | Israel’s move to recognize North Western State of Somalia did not create Somalia’s political crisis, but it revealed the country’s fault lines with unusual clarity. Instead of a unified response to an external challenge touching sovereignty and territorial integrity, the reaction laid bare fractures inside the federal system—most visibly in the silence of key federal member states and the central government’s tendency to turn unity into a political weapon. That silence has been most pronounced in Puntland State and…

Trump administration freezes $185 million in Minnesota childcare funds, orders audits of Somali American immigration cases MINNEAPOLIS — The administration of President Donald Trump has suspended federal childcare funding to Minnesota and ordered audits of immigration cases involving Somali Americans, escalating a fraud crackdown that critics say disproportionately targets immigrant communities in the state with the nation’s largest Somali population. The Department of Health and Human Services froze $185 million in…