Somali

When a diploma isn’t the barrier — a passport is Mustaf Moha­­med Takoy had done everything right. He won a full scholarship to study a master’s in Environment and International Development at the University of Copenhagen, bought health insurance, secured an acceptance letter and packed the hope of a better future. Then Denmark’s immigration service told him that his Somali passport was not a valid travel document — and that was that. Mustaf’s story, relayed in a short but stark exchange with Danish authorities, speaks to…

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…

Somalia’s cabinet meeting signals a push to turn battlefield gains into public services Mogadishu’s message: accountability, services, and a long game In Mogadishu on Thursday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud sat at the head of the long table in the Council of Ministers and offered his cabinet a familiar charge with a sharper edge: make the machinery of government move faster, cleaner, and closer to the people. The weekly meeting, officials said, looked beyond the security front lines to the hard work of…

Mogadishu on edge: security, protests and the shrinking space for dissent in Somalia When Somalia’s defence minister publicly warned this week that the government will not permit opposition demonstrations in the capital, it was more than a rebuke to critics — it was a message about who will set the rules of political engagement as the country heads into an election season. Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, a close ally of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, accused opposition figures of being backed by “saboteurs” and of mobilising the poor…

Mogadishu Forum Puts Somalia’s Energy Future on Center Stage MOGADISHU — As the Jazeera Hotel fills with ministers, investors and telecom executives on Oct. 15, Somalia’s conversation about power is being reframed. The Somali Success Forum, now in its fourth year and hosted by Hormuud Telecom, has turned a routine business gathering into a public reckoning over how a fragile, resource-rich country can light its way into stability and growth. From dark nights to data centers For decades, Somalia’s electricity story has…

Somali Opposition Condemns Arrests of Journalist and Activists Amid Sinai Market Dispute What happened A prominent Somali opposition coalition on Tuesday condemned a string of arrests tied to a long-running land dispute in Mogadishu, saying authorities had unlawfully detained a television journalist and members of a committee advocating for families displaced from the city’s Sinai Market area. The Somali Salvation Forum, a coalition of opposition groups, said in a statement that the arrests amounted to a “clear violation”…

Somalia and Ethiopia test a fragile thaw in Addis Ababa — and the Horn of Africa is watching On a quiet Sunday in Addis Ababa, far from the sirens that so often announce news in this region, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud stepped off a plane at Bole International Airport and into a delicate diplomatic dance. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed greeted him before the two moved quickly behind the National Palace’s tall gates. The choreography was deliberate: a handshake, a short walk, a private conversation. The…

Somali Army Warns Civilians: Don’t Wear Uniforms, Don’t Touch Military Vehicles, After Militant Attack MOGADISHU — Somalia’s army has issued a sweeping warning forbidding civilians from wearing military uniforms, displaying insignia, or using vehicles tied to the armed forces, an emergency measure meant to choke off a well-known loophole exploited by militants and common criminals alike. The Somali National Army (SNA) said Saturday that anyone caught using military gear or vehicles without authorization will face “legal…

Somalia airstrike controversy tests U.S. credibility — and a community’s trust On a baked stretch of road outside Ceel Buh, in Somalia’s Sanaag region, a car carrying a well-known clan elder was torn apart by an airstrike on a September afternoon. The U.S. military later said it had targeted an al-Shabab arms dealer in northern Somalia. Local authorities have a starkly different account: the man killed was a peacemaker, a bridge-builder, and their friend. In a place where the title “Caaqil” carries the weight of lineage…

Oil, identity and consent: Why Ethiopia’s Somali region is pushing back There are two ways oil can arrive in a place like Ethiopia’s Somali region: with community buy-in and a clear ledger of who benefits, or with suspicion trailing the first truck. This week, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told lawmakers his government is ready to begin using oil from new wells in the Somali Regional State for domestic markets, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) chose the latter framing—warning that a vital moment for Ethiopia’s…