Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo will not attend a political summit set to open Thursday in Kismayo, opposition figures and lawmakers said, underscoring a fluid opposition landscape ahead of Somalia’s 2026 elections. Abdirashid Xidig, a member of the House of the People and an official with the Somali Salvation Forum, said Farmaajo supports the summit’s objectives but is not part of its organizing structure. “Farmaajo is welcome to participate, but he is not part of the organizing…

Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ bound for Venezuela, escalating standoff with Maduro WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered what he called a “total and complete blockade” of all “sanctioned oil tankers” going into and out of Venezuela, a sweeping move that intensifies U.S. pressure on Nicolás Maduro and raises fresh legal and military questions about enforcement in the Caribbean. The announcement, delivered in a late-night social media post, came days after U.S. forces seized an oil tanker…

ANKARA, Turkey — Somalia finalized a wide-ranging cooperation pact with Turkish industrial group OYAK on Tuesday, launching a program to expand and modernize the Horn of Africa nation’s fisheries while strengthening maritime security and creating jobs along its coast. Somalia’s Minister of Fisheries and Blue Economy Ahmed Hassan Adan signed the Cooperation and Marine Production Development Partnership at a ceremony in Ankara, calling it a step-change for the country’s blue economy. The agreement, he said, will channel direct…

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan authorities have deported a group of Somali migrants detained in the capital, the country’s Anti-Illegal Migration Agency said Monday, underscoring an intensified campaign against irregular migration that has swept up foreign nationals across the North African state. In a statement, the agency said the migrants were held at a detention center in eastern Tripoli and removed from the country after court orders and verification of travel documents. Officials said the deportations were carried out in…

Ankara, Turkey — Somalia signed a sweeping cooperation agreement with Turkish industrial group OYAK on Tuesday, launching a multi-year push to modernize the country’s fisheries and blue economy while tightening maritime security and creating jobs along its coastline. The pact, finalized by Somali Minister of Fisheries and Blue Economy Ahmed Hassan Adan in Ankara, formally establishes the Cooperation and Marine Production Development Partnership. The initiative is structured to protect Somalia’s marine environment and unlock…

BAIDOA, Somalia — South West State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen met Tuesday with a Turkish military delegation led by Brig. Gen. Sebahattin, commander of Turkey’s Turksom Military Training Academy, to deepen security cooperation and expand training for Somali forces operating in the region, officials said. The talks at the presidential palace in Baidoa centered on accelerating military training programs, improving operational capacity and sharpening coordination between Somali units and Turkish trainers.…

Somalia hosts EASF defense chiefs in Mogadishu, underscoring rising regional security role MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia on Tuesday hosted the 35th regular session of the Committee of Defence and Security Chiefs of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), a high-level gathering that officials said reflects the country’s expanding role in regional security cooperation. The meeting in Mogadishu, opened by State Minister for Defense Omar Ali Abdi, marked the second time this year that Somalia has convened a major EASF forum.…

FILE - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki hold up a symbolic key during a joint ceremony marking the restoration of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea in Asmara, Eritrea. The 2018 peace initiative formally ended two decades of hostility following a border war and paved the way for the reopening of embassies, flights and cross-border ties. MOGADISHU — Eritrea has withdrawn from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development for the second time, accusing the Horn of Africa…

DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti (AX) — Ali Aref Bourhan, the dominant political figure who led Djibouti during the final decade of French colonial rule and helped steer its fraught path to independence, died Monday after a long illness. He was 91. President Ismail Omar Guelleh announced the death and offered condolences to Bourhan’s family, praising his decades of public service. “Ali Aref Bourhan will remain forever in the hearts of our citizens as a tireless public servant, guided by a strong sense of duty and commitment to…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A young rickshaw driver who had recently won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery was shot and killed late Sunday in Mogadishu’s Dayniile district, police and relatives said, shattering plans to migrate with his pregnant wife and intensifying concern over attacks on transport workers. Police identified the victim as Abdirisaq Abukar Mohamed. Family members said he was driving his three-wheeled motorized rickshaw when gunmen opened fire, striking him in the chest and throat. He died at the scene. Somali police…