Somalias

TEL AVIV - Israel on Wednesday named its first ambassador to North Western State of Somalia, the breakaway region of Somalia, in a move certain to deepen a long-running diplomatic dispute. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Michael Lotem has been appointed as a non-resident ambassador to North Western State of Somalia. According to Israel's public broadcaster KAN, Lotem has previously served as ambassador to Kenya, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. Israel announced mutual recognition with North Western State of Somalia in December…

By: Prof. Abdinasir Ali OsmanTuesday April 14, 2026 A Condensed Investigative and Forward-Looking Policy Analysis of Curad-1 and Somalia’s Offshore Future Somalia’s offshore oil frontier has quickly become one of the Horn of Africa’s most closely watched energy stories. In a region where maritime security, foreign investment, and state-building often collide, the Curad-1 drilling program has pushed Somalia from theory into action. This condensed investigative analysis draws on international reporting, institutional…

By Dr. Ali Said FaqiTuesday April 14, 2026 Somalia is approaching a defining crossroads. The possibility of offshore oil and gas development by the Turkish firm could open a route to economic independence and lasting stability. For a nation long dependent on outside assistance, it is an unusually promising chance to shape its own economic destiny. Yet promise by itself will not deliver results. Around the world, resource-rich countries have learned that without sound governance, natural wealth can deepen instability instead…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Turkey has moved F-16 fighter jets into Somalia, a development that sharply raises the level of military backing for the federal government as it presses to tighten control over the country and confront regional resistance. The deployment, first disclosed by defense intelligence outlet Janes, comes after months of upgrades at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, where Turkish-built hangars and maintenance facilities have been added to support the aircraft. Turkish officials say the jets are…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — U.S. Africa Command, working with the Federal Government of Somalia, carried out airstrikes against ISIS-Somalia on April 6 and 7, officials said. In a statement released Friday, AFRICOM said the strikes hit targets in the Golis Mountains, about 55 to 75 kilometers (34 to 47 miles) southeast of the port city of Bossaso in northeastern Somalia. AFRICOM said the mission was intended to weaken ISIS-Somalia’s capacity to plan and launch attacks that could endanger the U.S. homeland,…

Friday April 10, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia marked a major energy breakthrough on Friday as Turkey’s deep-sea drilling vessel Çağrı Bey arrived off Mogadishu’s coast, setting the stage for the country’s first offshore deep-water oil exploration project. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, senior government officials and other dignitaries gathered at Mogadishu port to استقبال the vessel, which will anchor the opening drilling campaign under a bilateral energy agreement between Somalia…

WASHINGTON — Somalia’s ambassador to the United Nations is facing fresh scrutiny after a senior U.S. health official said he has ties to an Ohio health care company that was later convicted of Medicaid fraud, a claim emerging as fraud cases involving Somali Americans draw intensifying attention in the United States. Jim O'Neil, deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, made the allegation against Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent representative to the United Nations and a former president of…

BAIDOA, Somalia — Southwest State is approaching a decisive political moment, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s talks in Baidoa placing the region squarely between the prospects of peace and the threat of deeper conflict. The president met with traditional elders as tensions mounted over the future of the regional leadership. According to reports, Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed, widely known as Lafta-Gareen, has been pushed to the margins amid political maneuvers involving the federal government.…

By Hon. Ali M OmarSunday April 5, 2026 The Federal Government says it will not accept lessons in democracy from critics it accuses of trying to weaken Somalia’s hard-won political progress. A wave of commentary on Somalia, both online and in other forums, has offered what the government sees as a selective and misleading picture of the country’s politics. The debate over South West State, it argues, has similarly obscured the deeper question: whether Somalia’s federal arrangement can be protected and strengthened. That,…

Saturday April 4, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s federal takeover of Baidoa and the swift naming of an interim administration in Southwest State have ignited a bitter constitutional showdown, with supporters of the move pointing to newly amended provisions and critics insisting the action breaches both federal and regional law. Federal government forces, working alongside fighters aligned with Southwest opposition groups, seized Baidoa after intense clashes with regional troops. Southwest President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed…