Somalia

Analysis: Somalia bets on Swahili to anchor its East African future In Mogadishu this week, amid tight security and a self-assured regional mood, Somalia’s president reached for a tool as old as nation-building itself: language. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said his government will speed up the introduction of Swahili into Somalia’s schools and universities, a decision aimed squarely at deepening the country’s new place inside the East African Community (EAC). “The Somali National University, along with all Somali…

Puntland State’s opposition rejects reported North Western State of Somalia understanding — and the political ground shifts In Garowe, the political heart of Puntland State, four opposition parties walked into a hastily called meeting and walked out with a message sharper than usual for Somalia’s notoriously tempered political language: whatever “understanding” was reportedly reached between Puntland State and neighboring North Western State of Somalia, they want no part of it. The parties — Ifiye, Mustaqbal, Mideeye, and…

In Puntland State’s Cal-Miskaad, a puncture wound to ISIS — and a reminder of unfinished war BOSASO, Somalia — For nearly a year, Puntland State’s counterterrorism forces have methodically pushed into the mazelike caves and dry riverbeds of the Cal‑Miskaad Mountains, chipping away at an ISIS presence that once projected violence across Somalia’s northeastern corridor. This weekend’s operation — which local commanders say captured two key spring sites and netted a foreign fighter — is being framed in Puntland State as proof…

Mohamud’s Visit to Kismayo: A Fragile Gesture Toward Reconciliation KISMAYO, Somalia — When Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud travels to Kismayo this weekend for talks with Jubaland’s leader Ahmed “Madobe” Mohamed, he will be stepping into a political landscape that has been scarred by years of public acrimony, private deals and military showdowns. The trip — brokered quietly by Nairobi and welcomed, cautiously, by regional capitals — is less a triumph than a test of whether local rivals can move from brinkmanship to…

Somali and AU Forces Secure Awdheegle in Push to Root Out al‑Shabab MOGADISHU — Somali National Army troops, backed by Ugandan contingents operating under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), announced on Saturday that they have taken full control of Awdheegle, a strategic town in the Lower Shabelle region, as part of a wider offensive aimed at dislodging al‑Shabab militants. The operation, called “Silent Storm,” has been under way for days across swathes of the fertile Lower Shabelle, where farmers,…

Suicide Blast and Gunfire Rock Mogadishu’s Most Secure Prison, Hours After Government Claims Citywide Gains Mogadishu — A bold and deadly assault hit one of Somalia’s most fortified sites on Saturday afternoon, when suspected al-Shabaab militants stormed Godka Jilacow, the high-security prison run by the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). The attack began with a suicide bombing at the facility’s perimeter, followed by sustained gunfire as security forces fought to secure the compound. Initial reports…

Djibouti’s new troop deployment highlights a widening fault line in Somalia’s fragile stabilisation Djibouti’s announcement that it will send additional troops to Somalia is a small but telling development in a long-running struggle that has consumed the Horn of Africa for more than a decade. The move — formalised in a new bilateral agreement with Mogadishu and presented at the United Nations by Djibouti’s envoy Mohamed Siad Doualeh — is aimed at bolstering the African Union-led stabilisation effort against the Islamist…

Somalia’s fragile human-rights transition meets a test on press freedom GENEVA — In a packed room at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Somali and British officials yesterday set out an upbeat case that Somalia is inching toward stronger national institutions. But the event’s most urgent testimony came from civil society: a warning that progress on paper is being undermined by a resurgent and more sophisticated campaign to silence journalists. The UK and Somalia jointly hosted the side event during the council’s 60th…

African Union mission in Somalia teeters as $180 million shortfall threatens gains against al‑Shabab MOGADISHU — The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is confronting a funding cliff that could unravel years of hard-won progress against the Islamist insurgency, AU officials warned at the United Nations General Assembly. With about 11,000 troops from Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda deployed across Somali towns and desert tracks, the mission now faces an estimated $180 million…

U.S. Embassy in Somalia Scales Back Services as Washington Shutdown Ripples Overseas Mogadishu — The U.S. Embassy in Somalia said Wednesday it is curtailing some regular operations following a federal government shutdown in Washington, underscoring how a budget stalemate in Congress can reverberate far beyond the Beltway and into one of the world’s most complex diplomatic environments. “Due to the lapse in appropriations, this X account will not be updated regularly until full operations resume, with the exception of…