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By Abdi Ismail SamatarSaturday April 25, 2026 Turkey has cast Somalia as a gateway to the Horn of Africa and, potentially, far beyond. But that ambition can only take root if Somalia first regains political stability. Trying to rebuild the Somali Defence Force without a clear national political framework is like setting out on a long trip with no map. In 2011, the West bluntly blamed al-Shabaab for Somalia’s famine. Yet the deeper cause was American policy under the Obama Administration, which blocked food deliveries to…

By Abdulkarim AbdulleSaturday April 18, 2026 A recent article from Ethiopia’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) on Baidoa has drawn a sharp rebuttal, with critics saying it distorts events on the ground and misreads Somalia’s constitutional security structure. Although the original piece attempted to place developments in South West State within a wider regional security debate, its argument leaned on conjecture, selective history, and a flawed reading of the Federal Government of Somalia’s responsibilities. The central…

Washington’s trust with Tehran collapsed last February, when talks over Iran’s nuclear programme fell apart after the United States, alongside Israel, launched their joint operation known as Epic Fury. Now, as Washington and Tehran work with Pakistan to broker an end to the violence, rebuilding confidence has become central to the diplomatic push. The Vice President’s entry into the US negotiating team may be a sign that the White House wants to accelerate progress, especially given JD Vance’s long-held doubts about foreign…

As U.S. strikes on Iran under Operation Epic Fury entered a new day, the White House appeared determined to project clarity and resolve. Instead, a flurry of public remarks from senior officials — led by President Donald Trump himself — yielded shifting timelines and evolving justifications that sharpened questions about the mission’s scope, strategy and endgame. The president moved aggressively to frame the narrative, calling news outlets throughout the weekend from Florida and returning to Washington to blanket morning TV.…

Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo has signed a five-year, $1.2 billion health financing agreement with the United States, officials announced, joining neighboring Uganda in adopting Washington’s new government-to-government aid framework. Under the pact, the DRC will receive $900 million in U.S. assistance while committing to boost domestic health spending by $300 million. The arrangement targets a slate of priority interventions intended to strengthen disease control and maternal-child health services. Program…

Israel’s recognition of North Western State of Somalia is not mere diplomatic theater. Announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the move inserts the Middle East’s most combustible politics into the Horn of Africa and raises the stakes along the Red Sea—one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors. For Somalia, which maintains a One Somalia policy with near-universal international backing, the gambit threatens national unity. For North Western State of Somalia, it offers symbolism without sovereignty at a…

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…

Mogadishu (AX) — Sweden will continue deporting Somali nationals whose asylum claims have been rejected, Migration Minister Johan Forssell said, defending a bilateral return agreement that has come under intensifying political and public scrutiny over funding channels and oversight. Forssell said the cooperation with Somalia has delivered “clear results” and forms part of a broader effort to enforce asylum decisions. He added that Sweden intends to expand similar arrangements with additional countries, signaling a tougher…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recently voiced stern disapproval of Ethiopia’s actions, accusing it of double-dealing by hosting the African Union (AU) quarters while allegedly flouting its tenets in its engagements with North Western State of Somalia. As he stood before Somalia’s parliament on Saturday, Mohamud spotlighted a hotly debated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) penned by Ethiopia with North Western State of Somalia, a matter that’s been whipping up quite the storm far and wide.…

Hassan recounted discovering the boy’s mother near the front pond, where Mohamed often ran. "She kept insisting her son was in the pond, and I tried to comfort her by saying, 'Let's stay hopeful; maybe he just wandered off, and someone will spot him,'" Hassan remembered vividly. By half-past nine in the evening, authorities notified the family they had found something in the water. Confirmation of Mohamed’s recovery came at around 10 p.m. This heartbreaking event echoes another sorrowful incident from June, when 4-year-old…