Somalia

Northeastern State of Somaliavotes against the president's extended mandate Somali state legislature Northeastern State voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to deny the outgoing president another two years in office after extending his term. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo provoked condemnation at home and abroad after signing an extension of his mandate to law this week. His…

Road blast in Somalia kills top military commander At least two people, including a commander-in-chief of the national army, were killed when a roadside bomb targeted a military vehicle outside Bal'ad, the Middle Shabelle region, an official said Saturday. The attack took place near Gololey on the outskirts of Bal'ad, an agricultural town 40 kilometers from the capital Mogadishu.…

Following the failure of the election negotiations and the two-year extension of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's mandate, Farmajo says, the opposition is raising the tone. The presidential candidate coalition has called on its supporters to reject what they call a "threat to peace and stability" and to challenge President Farmajo. The 14 presidential candidates have all suspended their election campaigns in retaliation for extension of the Head of State's mandate, which sparked an international outcry this week.…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A two-day meeting to evaluate the gains of the security sector in Somalia has ended in Mogadishu, the capital, with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army (SNA) agreeing on strategies for Somali security forces to take a leading role in security operations forward. Attending the meeting were representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), military leaders of the Somali National Army (SNA) and AMISOM as well as officials from the United Nations Support…

Somalia's protracted political crisis has entered a new, dangerous phase. In a hastily convened session on April 12, MPs overwhelmingly endorsed a bill that would delay the election by two years, effectively extending the term of office of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo". The movement is an alarming escalation of a dispute that could very well turn into widespread violence unless Somalia's political elite returns to the negotiating table. The opposition is said to be considering forming a parallel…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Outgoing Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo convened a closed-door meeting with foreign diplomats on Saturday at the Afisyonie tent at Mogadishu airport. Sources close to Villa Somalia said Farmajo went to the venue early in the morning to hold talks with international partners five days after Parliament in the lower house extended its mandate by two years, a move the Senate rejected as unconstitutional. Axadlesources revealed that the foreign diplomats are making a final effort to convince…

EDITORIAL | Somalia's foreign minister, Minister Balal Cusman Balal Osman, was left with an egg in his face on Thursday after presenting the wrong flag when he hosted Russian diplomat Mikhail Golovanov in Mogadishu. Instead of placing the Russian miniature flag in front of the visiting ambassador, Mr Ottoman's team placed the Dutch flag upside down. It may have been a mistake . But it may well be a depiction of President Mohamed Farmajoo's government and the way it treats its image. Mr. Golovanov's visit was supposed…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Outgoing President Farmajo met the new police chief in Mogadishu on Wednesday amid tensions in the Somali capital following an illegal extension of his tenure by the House of Commons in a move that has sparked war in the country. Farmajo had its term extended as the lower house insisted that the country would now hold direct elections within two years, a move that technically overturned the September bargaining agreement, which among other things had approved an improved clan-based election model.…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 17 civilians have been killed in Middle Shebelle, a region that has struggled with stability following a bomb blast aimed at a minibus traveling from the capital Mogadishu, amid a running stalemate before the country’s election. Officials said the incident took place near Gololey about 50 kilometers north of Mogadishu, the country's capital, which has been battling insecurity for the past few months. The dead traveled from Mogadishu to Jowhar, the regional administrative capital of…

HARGEISA, Somalia - In the midst of ongoing political upheavals in Somalia, the self-proclaimed state of North Western of Somaliahas released Mogadishu's brewing tensions as "unprecedented" and dismissed the government of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as "oppressive" and "tyrannical". In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, North Western of Somaliasaid it was "seriously concerned" about undemocratic and destabilizing events in "our neighboring country" Somalia, in another step that could trigger more…