Somalias

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia opened its Third National Cybersecurity Forum on Monday, bringing together government, industry and academia in Mogadishu to strengthen digital defenses and coordinate responses to rising cyber risks targeting the country’s essential services and Digital Public Infrastructure. The two-day meeting, themed “Promoting Digital Security in Somalia,” is jointly organized by the National Communications Authority (NCA) and Mogadishu University. Senior government officials, policymakers, cybersecurity…

Airstrikes target al-Shabab bases in central Somalia after clashes, sources say WARSHEEKH, Somalia — Airstrikes struck villages in the Warsheekh district of Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, targeting al-Shabab fighters who had recently infiltrated the area, local sources said. The strikes were concentrated around the Jabad-godane area, which in recent days had been occupied by the militant group, according to the sources. The air campaign followed ground clashes between government troops and fighters loyal to al-Shabab as…

Op-Ed: Somalia’s Election Standoff Is a Referendum on Its Post-Transition State Somalia’s election standoff is not just another dispute over timelines or term limits. It is a referendum on the country’s post-transition order—and on whether the political norms forged during debt relief and state-building can withstand a powerful presidency. The opposition-aligned National Consultation Conference in Kismayo has accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of constitutional violations, governance failures, and abandoning the fight…

Somalia’s latest political confrontation is more than a quarrel over election dates. It is a stress test of the country’s post-debt-relief political order—and, by extension, of the international state-building model that has underwritten Mogadishu’s progress for more than a decade. At the center is the National Consultation Conference, an opposition-aligned gathering that closed this week in Kismayo with a stark indictment of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government. Its communiqué accuses the presidency of…

KISMAYO, Somalia — A coalition of Somali opposition leaders on Saturday gave President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud one month to convene an inclusive national dialogue on elections, warning they will move to organize an alternative process if he fails to act by Jan. 20, 2026. In a communiqué issued after a three-day meeting in Kismayo from Dec. 18–20, the Somali Future Council (SFC) said an urgent, consensus-based agreement is needed to avert a “constitutional vacuum, security crisis and the threat of terrorism.” The newly formed…

Somalia’s 2026 choice: avoid a legitimacy crisis by fixing the election model, not the scoreboard Somalia is entering another high-stakes transition with too little time, too much polarization, and a volatile security map. The federal government’s drive to centralize authority while invoking universal suffrage risks breaking the very political settlement that has held the country together — imperfectly but functionally — for a quarter century. A safer way through 2026 is available: an improved, time-bound indirect election…

Liverpool drill rappers filmed with armed troops in Somalia could face UK police questioning Two drill rappers from Liverpool who appeared carrying guns and posing with troops amid a clan conflict in Somalia could be questioned by police when they return to Britain, according to UK authorities and footage obtained by the BBC. British citizens Abdifatah Gulaid, 31, and Noah Ihiekwe, 30 — known musically as Still Brickin’ and Rayzer — traveled to Somalia’s northeast earlier this year and were seen in the Sanaag region’s town…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Saturday that Somalia’s federal government is open to dialogue and compromise with opposition leaders, as the opposition-led Somali Future Council conference in Kismayo entered its third day. Speaking in Mogadishu, Mohamud urged participants at the Kismayo gathering to produce constructive, negotiable proposals that the public and the government can engage with, signaling a willingness to defuse political tensions through talks. “I say to the brothers in…

Somalia’s relaunched e-visa website contains a fresh security flaw that could let malicious actors download large numbers of e-visas containing passport numbers, full names and dates of birth, Al Jazeera confirmed this week after receiving a tip from a web developer. The vulnerability, which Al Jazeera was able to replicate, allowed the downloading of e-visas for dozens of applicants in a short period, exposing sensitive data on people from Somalia, Portugal, Sweden, the United States and Switzerland. Al Jazeera alerted…

MOGADISHU — U.S. Africa Command carried out airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab militants in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region on Dec. 18, following clashes sparked by a militant assault on government and allied militia positions, the command said. The strikes occurred near Nur Dugle, approximately 215 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu. AFRICOM described the action as part of ongoing cooperation with Somali authorities to diminish the extremist group’s operational capacity. “AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of…