Somalia

Banking on Recovery: How Salaam Somali Bank is Center Stage in Somalia’s Economic Reinvention In a country where the pulse of daily life is often set by drought cycles, clan politics and the steady flow of money from abroad, a bank has quietly become a barometer of Somalia’s recovery. Salaam Somali Bank (SSB), reconstituted in 2009 after decades of state collapse, is positioning itself as more than a commercial lender: it is a public utility, a bridge to the diaspora, and a partner in climate resilience. From…

At UN Week, Somalia and Allies Sound Alarm Over Funding Gap for AU Mission NEW YORK — Inside a packed conference room just off the United Nations General Assembly floor, Somalia and its closest partners issued an unusually blunt warning: if the world does not step up with reliable money, hard-won security gains against al-Shabab could begin to unravel within months. The urgency is not abstract. The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) — the AU-led force that helps secure towns, main roads,…

U.S. launches fresh strike against ISIS-Somalia in Cal-Miskaad mountains MOGADISHU — The U.S. military carried out a precision airstrike late last week in the Cal-Miskaad mountain range near Bosaso, targeting fighters from the Islamic State in Somalia (ISIS-Somalia), U.S. Africa Command said Monday. The operation is the latest in a sustained campaign of air attacks that U.S. officials say are aimed at degrading the group’s ability to threaten American interests, Somali forces and regional allies. The strike, conducted in…

Arab League’s classroom diplomacy lands in Mogadishu On a humid Saturday in Mogadishu, Somalia’s prime minister received a delegation from the Arab League with a familiar promise: help for the country’s classrooms, and a renewed push to strengthen the teaching of Arabic. The visit, led by Zayd Al-Sabbaan, who oversees the Horn of Africa and Sudan at the Arab League, came with warm words about deepening cooperation on politics, economics and development. It also arrived with few specifics—no dollar amounts, no timelines, no…

Jubbaland’s stark warning over alleged abuses in Mogadishu exposes Somalia’s deeper struggle over land, law and power In a sharply worded statement from Kismayo on Thursday, the Jubbaland administration accused security forces in Mogadishu of beating two parents and seizing their property by force—allegations that, if confirmed, would add to a long and painful ledger of evictions and abuses in Somalia’s crowded capital. Jubbaland said the attack occurred on Wednesday and described it as “a tragic incident in which innocent…

Somalia’s opposition takes the fight to the courts — and the country risks paying the price Somalia’s fragile political equilibrium rattled further this week when a coalition of opposition figures lodged a formal legal complaint accusing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and senior officials of corruption, human-rights violations and unconstitutional power grabs. What began as a paper filing in Mogadishu is best read not merely as another courtroom drama, but as a symptom of a deeper crisis in a state still stitching itself…

Trump’s jab at Ilhan Omar isn’t just a feud. It’s a mirror of America’s anxieties. When former President Donald Trump told reporters he had asked Somalia’s president to “take back” Rep. Ilhan Omar, the line landed like a punchline in the room—and a gut punch across the Somali diaspora. Omar, the Somali-born Democrat from Minnesota and one of the most visible Muslim women in American politics, answered in kind, calling Trump “a lying buffoon” and urging the public not to dignify his claims. The exchange may sound familiar.…

Kenya and Ethiopia deepen military ties in bid to secure unstable borderlands ADDIS ABABA — In a gesture that underlines shifting patterns of regional security cooperation in the Horn of Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia on Monday signed a defence cooperation agreement aimed at tightening the two neighbours’ response to cross‑border threats, including the al‑Shabaab insurgency that has long bled into northeastern Kenya. Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Charles Kahariri, and Ethiopia’s commander, Field Marshal Birhanu…

Somalia as a Stage: Can Mogadishu Keep Egypt and Ethiopia from Turning It Into Another Front? When Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told the BBC Somali Service this week that his country “will not be a host to proxy wars” between Egypt and Ethiopia, he was addressing more than a regional spat over Nile water and peacekeepers. He was speaking to a fragile nation that has long been a canvas for others’ ambitions — and to a neighbourhood where resource rivalries are increasingly exported as power politics. Mohamud’s…

Somalia’s president rejects the idea of a proxy war as Egyptian and Ethiopian forces prepare to serve side by side President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s calm confidence — “there will be no proxy war” — is as much a diplomatic posture as it is a strategic calculation. His reassurance, given in an interview with the BBC, comes as Egypt prepares to send troops to Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission that already includes Ethiopian units. The announcement has unexpectedly exposed one of the Horn of Africa’s most…