Somali

A Somali audio startup turns listening into a bridge for a scattered nation On a humid morning in Mogadishu’s Hamar Weyne market, the bustle runs on engine oil and conversation. A tea vendor pours spiced shaah with one hand and, with the other, taps play on his phone. In his ear, a familiar voice narrates the ideas of Marcus Aurelius—in Somali. Five thousand miles away, a nurse on a night shift in Jigjiga cues up a 20-minute deep dive on genetics. In Minneapolis, a rideshare driver squeezes in a lesson on economics between…

Somali forces say they killed seven al‑Shabaab fighters in coordinated raid in Hiiraan MOGADISHU — Somali security forces, aided by international partners, killed seven al‑Shabaab militants in a multi‑phase operation on Monday in Kuukaayle, a locality in the Mahas District of Hiiraan region, officials said, underscoring the continued, often murky partnership between Somali units and foreign military planners in the fight against the insurgency. Three‑stage operation Somali authorities said the mission was launched after…

Turkey’s Residency Freeze Meets Somali Realities: What a Quiet Diplomatic Meeting Reveals In Ankara this week, a low-key meeting between Somali Ambassador Fathudiin Ali Mohamed Ospite and Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya put a human face on a policy that has reshaped daily life for foreigners across Turkey: the suspension of most new residency permits. The conversation was practical—how to help Somali citizens renew and obtain legal stay when the rules have tightened—but the implications are wider. As countries from…

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…

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”…