Somalia

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) handed over control of the Afgoye military base to the Somali National Army (SNA) as part of plans to secure the transfer of security responsibilities to Somali forces. Afgoye city was removed from Al-Shabaab's control in May 2012 in a joint operation by AMISOM and SNA. The city, located along the main supply route to northern, western and southern Somalia, had since been secured by AMISOM's Ugandan troops. The base was handed over on Wednesday by AMISOM Deputy Commander in…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia has questioned Kenya's plans to close the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, which have hosted thousands of refugees from Somalia and South Sudan, in a move that could further pressure relations between the two countries. Earlier in the week, Kenya, through Home Secretary Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang'i an ultimatum to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and demanded that the two camps be closed without negotiations. Nairobi said the UN body should spend a maximum of 14 days to…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The United Kingdom has called for the swift implementation of the agreement ahead of the elections on 17 September in Somalia, adding that the political leadership must ensure the success of the planned dialogue to start in the country. According to James Duddridge, who is the British Minister for Africa, the country will hold elections according to the model agreed in 2020, adding that the Baidoa recommendations should also be introduced. The statement comes at a time when the international…

The IMF provides additional temporary assistance to Somalia The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it had provided additional temporary assistance to Somalia under the intensified heavily indebted poor country (HIPC) initiative of $ 0.97 million over a period of time. The IMF said in a statement issued Thursday night that the interim assistance will cover Somalia's debt…

EDITORIAL | There was a joy this week from officials of the Somali Federal Government after receiving Abdirashid Janan, who had reportedly 'surrendered' to the authorities. Janan, who was branded a refugee a year ago, was interior minister in Jubbaland state until Monday this week. Until Tuesday of this week, Mogadishu officials had branded him as a militia leader, a refugee, a bully and a murderer who killed and ran away from justice. These accusations have suddenly been swept under the rug now. And it is not that…

Janan arrives in Mogadishu after his surrender to the Somali government MOGADISHU, Somalia - Former Jubaland security minister Abdirashid Janan arrived in Mogadishu on Thursday afternoon, a day after he surrendered to the government in the city of Gedo region in Beled-Hawo. The wanted minister was abroad, a private jet flew from Dolow on the Somalia-Kenya border along with Prime…

Mortar attacks are targeted at the UN, AU's headquarters in Somalia MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least three civilians were killed and five wounded when a mortar blockade on UN and African Union peacekeeping missions (AMISOM) in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday said a police officer. Abdi Yusuf, a police officer in Mogadishu's Dharkinley district, told the Anadolu Agency by…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The UN humanitarian agency said on Wednesday attacks on aid workers providing humanitarian supplies in Somalia resulted in the deaths of 15 aid workers by 2020. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 12 workers were injured, 24 abducted and 14 arrested in 2020, with 56 incidents involving aid workers reported. "In a single tragic incident, seven health workers were abducted and subsequently murdered. Several cases of confiscation of humanitarian supplies,…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) has renewed the recruitment of members who jumped from the terrorist group Al-Shabaab to bring them into the country's security and military forces. Abdisalam Guled, who served as deputy head of the Somali intelligence service NISA, said Al-Shabaab had infiltrated the bodies of the Somali security agencies under the attention of the international community. "A new Al-Shabaab egg is hatched every day in the security forces," said Guled, who recently brought…

Kenya is calling for the closure of two large refugee camps on its territory. There are more than 500,000 refugees in the Dadaab and Kakuma sites, mainly Somalis for the first and South Sudanese for the second. Nairobi cites security reasons. A message that worries but whose application promises to be extremely complex. The Minister of the Interior gave humanitarian workers 14 days to establish a timetable for closure. Fred Matiangi said there was "no more room for negotiation" and that the government had "an obligation…