West-Africa

Monday April 20, 2026 Jowhar (AX) — Hirshabelle State President Ali Abdullahi Hussein Guudlaawe has directed his cabinet to accelerate preparations for Somalia’s planned one-person-one-vote elections, pressing for wider public engagement even as political fault lines and security worries grow around the process. Guudlaawe urged officials to step up voter education campaigns and bolster administrative readiness ahead of the expected polls. He also called on residents of Hirshabelle to take part actively in the electoral…

Monday April 20, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s media landscape is still operating under heavy pressure, with journalists facing repeated attacks and those behind them largely escaping punishment, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) said. In its annual State of the Media report, released Sunday, the union recorded 72 violations of media freedom from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025, and said the pattern of abuse was broad, persistent and deeply rooted. The report said 70 of the cases involved individual…

Monday April 20, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — In a bid to calm mounting political tensions, Somali opposition leaders sat down with influential Hawiye clan elders in Mogadishu on Sunday, as the country edges closer to a disputed electoral process. The discussions drew a number of prominent opposition figures, among them former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former Prime Ministers Hassan Ali Khaire and Mohamed Hussein Roble, as well as lawmakers and other political actors. At the center of the talks was Somalia’s increasingly…

By BRUHAN MAKONGMonday April 20, 2026 The African Union has sharply criticised Israel’s appointment of a diplomatic envoy to North Western State of Somalia, saying the move risks stirring fresh instability in the Horn of Africa and does nothing to alter its view that the territory remains part of Somalia. The African Union has condemned reports that Israel has appointed a diplomatic envoy to the self-declared Republic of North Western State of Somalia, insisting that any unilateral recognition of the territory is “null and…

Monday April 20, 2026 Addis Ababa (AX) — Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) says it has detained 138 people it believes were tied to terrorist and extremist networks, alleging the group was preparing violence ahead of the country’s 7th general elections. In a statement released Saturday, the agency said those arrested were helping organize and sustain armed cells designed to undermine peace and stability and interfere with the electoral process. The detentions, it said, came during coordinated…

The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Finance is refuting claims made by the World Bank regarding alleged undisclosed expenditures and the misallocation of federal revenue. Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, has characterized these allegations as a misunderstanding of the situation. He emphasized that media narratives indicating a substantial portion of federal earnings is being improperly channeled are not only incorrect but also misleading. This clarification comes as the ministry addresses interpretations of the…

Monday April 20, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) – The United States Africa Command said it launched an airstrike in Puntland State on Friday, hitting Islamic State fighters in rugged terrain roughly 30 miles southeast of the port city of Bosaso in the Bari region. In a statement released Saturday, AFRICOM said the operation was carried out on April 17, underscoring the continued expansion of U.S. air activity in Somalia. The command gave no additional information about the strike, including casualty numbers or damage assessments,…

Sunday April 19, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) – The African Union Commission has sharply criticized Israel’s decision to name a diplomatic envoy to North Western State of Somalia, saying the move risks upsetting an already fragile regional balance. In a statement released on Sunday, the Commission restated the African Union’s position on Somalia, reaffirming its support for the country’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. It also made clear that the bloc does not regard North Western State of Somalia as an independent…

Sunday April 19, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) - Yemen’s Houthi movement has sharply criticized what it described as Israeli meddling in North Western State of Somalia, calling the issue a “red line” and warning that any Israeli foothold in the region could inflame already tense dynamics across the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. In a statement released Saturday, the Houthis’ foreign ministry accused Israel of trying to set up a base in North Western State of Somalia, the self-declared breakaway region in northern Somalia. The group…

Sunday April 19, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — A diplomatic move by Israel has drawn sharp criticism from 12 Muslim-majority countries, which say the appointment of a representative to North Western State of Somalia violates Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. In a joint declaration released in Islamabad on April 18, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Bangladesh, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Turkey, Indonesia and Kuwait denounced the step as a “flagrant violation” of the unity…