Monday June 8, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali Danab commandos launched coordinated operations across parts of Lower Shabelle on Sunday, striking al-Shabab positions that military officials say were being used to squeeze money from motorists and residents. The 161st Battalion of the 16th Brigade led the raids in Warmaxan, Tasxiille, Shareey, 10-Buundo, Tabeellaha and surrounding areas near Donka. Military commanders said the targeted sites included checkpoints and concealed bases the group relied on to collect illegal taxes…

Wednesday May 27, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s National Independent Human Rights Commission has launched a preliminary probe into reports that civilians were killed in the Lower Juba region. In a statement issued Tuesday, the commission said the incident occurred on May 20 in the Diigta Margoos area of Kamjiroon, where armed men were reported to have killed civilians. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. “The commission is gathering information on what happened and the circumstances surrounding the…

Friday May 1, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali National Army forces have killed at least 22 Al-Shabaab militants in a planned offensive in the Lower Shabelle region, the Ministry of Defense said Wednesday. In a statement, the ministry said the 72-hour operation struck militant positions in the Bulo Abdalla area, situated between Mubarak and Ugunji. The assault combined ground fighting with coordinated airstrikes, and officials said it left 22 militants dead, among them a senior figure identified as Abdirahman Jeeri. Authorities…

Saturday April 18, 2026 Adan Gedi Mohamed sits in a neighbour's compound after his own house was destroyed in airstrikes/Muna Hussein/Ergo A wave of airstrikes on a farming community in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region has driven hundreds of families from their homes, stripping many of food, water, shelter, and any dependable way to make a living. Since late March, the attacks have flattened houses, farms, and small businesses in Bulo-Khalif, a village where residents relied on the land to survive. Some families have…

Tuesday April 14, 2026 Displaced families grapple with food, water shortages/File Photo/Ergo Pastoralist families uprooted by drought in southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region have reached Kulbiyow, a small border town near Kenya, stripped of their livestock, shelter and dependable access to food. They left behind rural settlements around Buulo-Haaji, near Kismayo, after months of severe drought depleted water points, killed animals and shattered the livelihoods that sustained them. Among those now struggling in Kulbiyow is…

Saturday April 4, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali security forces struck at the heart of al-Shabab’s bomb-making machinery on Saturday, killing nine militants in coordinated operations in the Lower Shabelle region, according to the National Intelligence and Security Agency. NISA said in a statement that the raids were carried out with the support of international partners and were aimed at dismantling sites used to produce improvised explosive devices, the signature weapon of the al-Qaida-linked group. The first phase of the…

Tuesday March 31, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Somalia’s Speaker of the House of the People, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madoobe, landed in Baidoa on Tuesday as federal authorities moved to steer preparations for presidential and local council elections in South West State, one day after federal forces seized control of the city. Accompanying the speaker are Minister of Religious Affairs Mukhtar Robow and Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Ali Hosh, both of whom are expected to be key figures in shaping a new regional administration after…

Friday March 27, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — More than 40 al-Shabab militants were killed on Thursday when the group tried to reclaim a town recently taken in southern Somalia, according to officials. The African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) said the clashes broke out in Mubarak, a strategically placed settlement in the Lower Shabelle region that joint forces from the Somali National Armed Forces and African Union troops seized earlier this month. According to AUSSOM, militants launched an attack on…

Friday March 27, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) - A fierce clash in southern Somalia left more than 40 al-Shabab militants dead after the group tried to claw back control of a recently captured town, officials said Thursday. The African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), said in a statement that the fighting erupted in Mubarak, a strategic town in the Lower Shabelle region that joint Somali National Armed Forces and African Union troops seized earlier this month. According to AUSSOM, the militants struck a…

Saturday March 21, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Marking Eid al-Fitr on Friday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud prayed alongside Somali Armed Forces units in Gendershe, the coastal Lower Shabelle town recently wrested back from al-Shabab. He was accompanied by the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) director, top cabinet members, the Somali National Army commander and the national police chief, sharing the holiday with frontline soldiers. In remarks after the prayer, Hassan Sheikh said his government will move…