Somalia

Isaias Afwerki’s rebuke of the UN exposes deep fault lines in Horn of Africa diplomacy When Eritrea’s longtime president, Isaias Afwerki, told the new United Nations special envoy for the Horn of Africa that the world body has “not been effective,” he did more than deliver a familiar rebuke. The comments — relayed by Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Meskel — crystallize a growing regional narrative: international institutions, however well-intentioned, are increasingly seen as instruments that fall short of producing…

Farmaajo Returns to a Changed Mogadishu — And a High-Stakes 2026 Race Begins MOGADISHU — The political weather in Somalia shifted on Thursday with the return of former president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmaajo, after more than two years abroad. He arrived to a rousing welcome at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport — lawmakers, veteran politicians, and clusters of supporters waving flags and phone cameras — and immediately became the most consequential opposition figure in the capital. His timing…

East Africa’s integration at a crossroads as landlocked states push for ocean access NAIROBI — Tensions over access to the sea are testing the fragile architecture of East African integration, exposing a fault line between landlocked ambitions and coastal sovereignty that could reshape politics, security and commerce across the region. Recent months have seen a flurry of diplomatic rivalries and public statements — from Ethiopia’s short‑lived overture to North Western State of Somalia to Uganda’s president declaring a…

The Human Cost of Ghana’s Economic Struggles: A Tragic Stampede in Accra The heart of Ghana’s capital, Accra, was struck by tragedy on Wednesday when a military recruitment event turned disastrous, resulting in the loss of six lives. The event, meant to be a pathway to opportunity for many young Ghanaians, spiraled into chaos as eager job seekers overwhelmed security barriers at the stadium. A Surge of Hope and Desperation The military described the stampede as triggered by “an unexpected surge of applicants who breached…

Voices from the Shadows: Women Endure the Unthinkable in Sudan’s Darfur Region In the dusty, war-torn city of el-Fasher, Sudan, desperation permeates the air as the human cost of conflict continues to rise. With the recent capture of the city by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the region of Darfur finds itself plunged deeper into a humanitarian nightmare. Women fleeing the violence recount stories that chill the heart, tales of terror and resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship. A City Under Siege The…

Mogadishu’s new bet on green and blue jobs aims at a generation shut out of opportunity MOGADISHU — On a warm morning in the Somali capital, officials and bankers gathered under a tented pavilion to unveil a project that reads like a roadmap for a country trying to turn deep challenges into opportunity. The United Nations Development Programme and the Hormuud Salaam Foundation announced an 18-month partnership designed to funnel training, digital tools and finance into Somalia’s “green” and “blue” economies — and,…

Somalia’s New Opposition Bloc Warns of ‘Red Lines’ as Federalism Wobbles NAIROBI — In a city that often hosts Somali politics in exile, a newly formed alliance of regional leaders and opposition figures gathered Wednesday and issued the sort of warning that lands with a thud in Mogadishu: Do not bend the country’s fragile constitutional order. Do not change the rules without consensus. Do not extend your mandate. And do not squeeze Somalia’s federal system until it breaks. Calling itself the Somali Future Council, the bloc…

Opinion/Analysis A pragmatic embrace: What Somalia’s deals with Algeria really mean On a crisp day in Algiers, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Algeria’s Abdelmadjid Tebboune signed a set of agreements that, on the surface, read like a conventional exercise in diplomacy: memorandums, scholarship pledges and cooperation pacts. But beneath the ritual of ceremonial pens and ministers exchanging folders there is a subtler story about how fragile, resource-rich states seek partners beyond the usual Western and…

EU warship seizes suspected pirate ‘mother ship’ off Somalia after tanker hijack; 24 crew freed unharmed A 30-hour standoff ends without casualties in the Western Indian Ocean European naval forces have captured an Iranian-flagged dhow believed to have served as a pirate “mother ship” in the hijacking of the oil products tanker Hellas Aphrodite, bringing a tense 30-hour standoff to a close and freeing all 24 crew members unharmed, officials said. Operation Atalanta, the European Union’s counter-piracy mission, said the dhow…

Why Sweden’s Quiet Mission in Somalia Matters MOGADISHU — This summer, small units of the Swedish Armed Forces arrived in Somalia. They are not the first foreign troops to set foot here, but their focus — training, advising and what militaries call “technical exploitation” — speaks to a shift in how European nations are choosing to engage with fragile states long shadowed by jihadist violence. “We were invited,” a Swedish defence statement said, underscoring a rarely spoken rule of intervention in Somalia: foreign help is…