Somalia

A last-minute diplomatic tussle has grounded Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s planned trip to Eswatini, with Taipei accusing Beijing of leaning on other nations to deny overflight permissions—an action it condemned as a breach of international norms and a risk to aviation safety. Taiwan said Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar withdrew Lai’s flight clearances under “intense pressure” and economic coercion from China. Beijing rejected the coercion claim and instead lauded the three Indian Ocean countries, saying it held…

Thursday April 23, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia has renewed its sharp condemnation of Iran’s recent attacks on Arab countries, voicing unequivocal backing for Gulf and regional governments and urging a united front to safeguard Middle East stability. Deputy Foreign Minister Hasan Mohamed Ali set out Somalia’s position at an extraordinary ministerial session of the League of Arab States, held by videoconference on Tuesday. The meeting focused on a draft resolution put forward by Bahrain over Iran’s actions and its…

Thursday April 23, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia and China on Wednesday opened a new research center dedicated to Chinese modernization, a move officials say will broaden cooperation between the two countries and deepen the exchange of ideas. The Center for Research on Chinese Modernization was inaugurated at the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation during a ceremony that brought together senior government officials and diplomats. Permanent Secretary Hamza Haadow and China’s…

Somalia’s security situation is shaped by a long-running insurgency led by al-Shabaab and by ongoing tensions within the country’s fragile political system. Even as Somali forces and international partners target the militants, political divisions across federal and regional authorities can affect how quickly security measures are implemented and how reliably resources reach front-line areas. What Happened In recent months, Somalia’s government and security institutions have continued operations against al-Shabaab,…

MOGADISHU, April 22, 2026 – Somalia’s intelligence service said Wednesday that coordinated operations backed by international partners left at least 33 Al-Shabaab fighters dead in the country’s central Middle Shabelle region. The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said the “planned operations” were carried out in the village of Guulane, where militants were reportedly meeting to organize a new round of attacks. In a statement, NISA said the first precision strike hit a house being used by senior commanders and…

Somalia: Iran Condemns Israel’s Diplomatic Move in North Western State of Somalia TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced Israel’s reported decision to appoint a diplomatic representative to North Western State of Somalia, saying the move amounts to a breach of Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the reported step was a provocative intervention designed to unsettle Islamic countries and widen divisions in the Horn of Africa. “This step…

Tuesday April 21, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Iran on Tuesday sharply criticized Israel’s decision to appoint an ambassador to North Western State of Somalia, accusing Israel of violating international law and undermining Somalia’s territorial integrity as tensions deepen over the breakaway region. In remarks released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the move ran afoul of the United Nations Charter and amounted to an affront to Somalia’s sovereignty. “This unauthorized measure is in blatant…

Somalia’s press came under relentless pressure in 2025, with a new report from the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) detailing 72 violations of media freedom over the course of the year and describing an environment in which journalists are routinely targeted while perpetrators remain untouched. The union said the pattern of abuse, from arrests to violence, shows repression of journalism is not only continuing but deeply rooted. According to the State of the Media Report, 70 of the cases involved individual…

Tuesday April 21, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s constitutional watchdog has moved to force a long-simmering political question into the open, telling cabinet ministers who also sit in parliament that they must give up one of their posts. In a statement released Monday, the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission (ICRIC) said the instruction is grounded in the new federal constitution, which requires a strict separation between the executive and legislative branches. According to the commission, no…

Tuesday April 21, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia has entered into a cooperation agreement with China aimed at broadening the use of satellite technology in national development, a move that signals the country’s growing ambitions in the fields of space and data systems. The memorandum of understanding was signed at the NewSpace Africa Conference 2026 in Libreville by Somalia’s Department of Space and Satellite, which operates under the Ministry of Communications and Technology, and China’s Land Satellite Remote Sensing…