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Latest developments Somalia’s military said it has seized new ground from Al-Shabaab in coordinated operations across Lower Jubba and Bakool, underscoring a stepped-up campaign in the south and center of the country. In Jamaame, Lower Jubba, security forces reported a significant blow to the militants over the weekend. In Bakool, troops overran an Al-Shabaab camp in the Moora-Gaabeey area, about 37 kilometers from Xuddur. In Jamaame, the army says close to 60 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in an operation backed by…

Overview: Asbestos contamination in children's play sand forces school checks Authorities in New Zealand and Australia are investigating decorative play sand found to contain asbestos, prompting dozens of school and daycare closures as officials trace affected batches. The disruption has focused attention on imported classroom materials and the potential health risk to children and staff. Forty schools and daycare centres in New Zealand closed temporarily while decorative sand was located and removed. More than 70 schools…

Somalia: Allied forces report 56 al-Shabaab killed in Lower Juba operation Jubbaland State forces, the Somali National Army and U.S.-trained Danab commandos launched a coordinated sweep across Jamaame district on Sunday, striking multiple militant sites at once. Authorities described the multi-front push as a highly planned operation aimed at weakening al-Shabaab’s rural grip. Security officials said at least 56 al-Shabaab fighters were killed and 20 others captured alive. The allied units moved simultaneously to overwhelm…

Kenya’s elite unit thwarts Al-Shabaab IED plot in Garissa after community tip-off NAIROBI — Kenya’s Special Operations Group (SOG) says it disrupted a potentially deadly attack by Al-Shabaab militants in Garissa County after local residents alerted security forces to suspicious activity along a rural stretch of road. Officials reported that eight suspected militants were intercepted on the Welmerer–Yumbia road as they were attempting to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Security teams engaged the group,…

Somali businesses step in to turn displacement into livelihoods MOGADISHU — On a sun-baked morning in a sprawling camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, the signs of lives interrupted are unmistakable: corrugated iron shelters clustered along dusty tracks, makeshift stalls selling tea and charcoal, children weaving between tents. For many inside, the question is no longer just where to sleep tonight but how to rebuild a future when formal jobs are scarce and public services thin. Into that breach this week stepped an alliance…

Somali forces arrest suspect said to be planting landmines in border town Beled Hawo, Somalia — Security forces in Somalia’s Gedo region say they have detained a man accused of attempting to lay two landmines along a busy route in the border district of Beled Hawo, averting what officials believe could have been a deadly attack on civilians and military convoys. The late-night arrest on Tuesday, confirmed by the Somali National Army’s media unit, came during a targeted operation as patrols swept through the district’s main…

Puntland State seizes foreign trawlers in weeklong crackdown on illegal fishing BOSASO, Somalia — Puntland State authorities said Thursday that their maritime police have rounded up several foreign fishing vessels and support boats in a weeklong operation aimed at stamping out illegal fishing off Somalia’s northeastern coast — a flashpoint that has long fuelled tensions between local communities and foreign fleets. Multiple vessels detained, crews moved to Bosaso The Puntland State Maritime Police Force (PMPF), working…

Ceasefire Holds as Gazans Stream Back to Ruins and Uncertainty Under a truce that went into effect at midday local time, thousands of displaced Palestinians began a slow, solemn return to the shattered neighborhoods of Gaza on Saturday as Israeli forces pulled back from some urban positions. The first trickle of people soon became a flood, as families who had lived for months in tented camps walked north along the coastal road toward Gaza City, many stepping over rubble and past burnt-out buildings to stand again where…

Two years on, ceasefire talks shadowed by airstrikes and the weight of memory On the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks that plunged Israel and Gaza into an ever-expanding war, negotiators gathered in Sharm el‑Sheikh for what many describe as the most serious attempt yet to halt the fighting. Yet beneath the diplomatic fanfare, tanks rolled, jets and naval vessels struck and families on both sides marked the day with grief that a single negotiated text has so far failed to touch. The talks — cautious hope,…

In Puntland State’s Cal-Miskaad, a puncture wound to ISIS — and a reminder of unfinished war BOSASO, Somalia — For nearly a year, Puntland State’s counterterrorism forces have methodically pushed into the mazelike caves and dry riverbeds of the Cal‑Miskaad Mountains, chipping away at an ISIS presence that once projected violence across Somalia’s northeastern corridor. This weekend’s operation — which local commanders say captured two key spring sites and netted a foreign fighter — is being framed in Puntland State as proof…