security

Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting probed as terror attack; Israel’s envoy urges protection for Jewish Australians SYDNEY — Dozens queued along Sydney’s Bondi Beach to lay flowers and light candles for the victims of the weekend’s Hanukkah festival shooting, as Australia opened a terrorism investigation and Israel’s ambassador called for stronger protection of the country’s Jewish community. Police said 16 people were dead, including one of the alleged gunmen, after two attackers opened fire on Sunday in Australia’s worst mass…

Somalia signals deeper AU security role at Addis Ababa defense summit ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Somalia joined African Union defense and security talks this week in Addis Ababa, underscoring a bid to move from recipient of assistance to contributor in shaping the continent’s collective response to rising threats. Deputy Defense Minister Omar Ali Abdi led Somalia’s delegation to the 17th Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Specialized Technical Committee on Defense, Safety and Security at AU headquarters. The forum convened…

HONG KONG — Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday on two counts of foreign collusion and one count of seditious publication, a landmark verdict under Hong Kong’s national security law that could send the 78-year-old founder of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper to prison for life. Lai, who has been jailed since 2020, listened impassively with folded arms as a panel of national security judges delivered the verdict in one of the Chinese territory’s most closely watched trials since Beijing imposed the…

MOGADISHU — The U.N. Security Council has unanimously renewed sanctions targeting Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab, extending maritime interdictions and expert monitoring while resisting Somali pressure for faster loosening of arms controls. All 15 members on Friday adopted Resolution 2806, keeping in place an arms embargo, asset freezes and travel bans focused on the insurgent group that has fought the Somali government for more than 16 years. The measure extends authorization for naval inspections to enforce the…

Somalia defense minister rebukes ex-president’s warning on Mogadishu security, says critics undermine reforms MOGADISHU — Somalia’s defense minister, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, on Thursday rejected former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s assertion that Mogadishu remains unsafe, accusing the opposition figure of eroding confidence in security gains and obstructing the country’s political transition. In a statement posted on Facebook, Fiqi said Sheikh Sharif and allies in the Council of National Salvation have consistently…

Somali troops kill would-be suicide bomber at Mogadishu’s General Dhagabadan base, averting mass-casualty attack MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali army guards shot and killed a suicide bomber who attempted to enter the General Dhagabadan military camp late Wednesday, thwarting what officials said could have been a large-scale attack on one of the country’s most important training bases. The Somali National Army said the attacker approached the camp’s main gate in Mogadishu wearing an explosive vest and tried to blend into a line…

MOGADISHU — Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has rejected the government’s plan to hold one-person, one-vote elections in Mogadishu this month, warning the process lacks legal consensus, adequate security and public confidence. The vote would be the capital’s first direct election in more than 50 years. In an interview with the BBC Somali Service, Sharif — a leading member of the Council for Somalia’s Future, a coalition that includes the Somali Salvation Forum as well as the Puntland State and Jubaland…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A strategically vital bridge near the town of Afgoye has been rebuilt months after Al-Shabaab militants destroyed it, restoring a critical artery for security forces, trade and civilian movement in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region. The span, located by Sabiid and Anole villages about 35 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, was blown up in June as militants retreated amid intensified operations by Somali government troops backed by the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). The…

North Western State of Somalia MP accuses security forces of shooting civilians as Borama unrest leaves at least 10 dead At least 10 people were reported killed over two days of unrest in Borama, the capital of North Western State of Somalia’s Awdal region, as a lawmaker accused national security forces of deliberately shooting unarmed civilians and President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro ordered troops to return to their bases. MP Mohamed Abiib Yusuf says civilians were shot amid clashes in Borama President Irro…

Somalia graduates 23rd Darwish police cohort in Djibouti as security build-up accelerates ahead of 2026 vote MOGADISHU — Somali Police Commissioner Brig. Gen. Asad Osman Abdullahi on Thursday attended a graduation ceremony in Djibouti marking the completion of training for the 23rd batch of the Somali Police Darwish forces, underscoring a push to professionalize Somalia’s security services as the country prepares for a landmark one-person, one-vote election in 2026. The Darwish cohort completed rigorous training in Djibouti…