Somalia

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: The death toll from  Friday's attack in Mogadishu that killed several high-ranking military and police officials has risen to 15, local authorities confirmed on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking to local media, security officials said that 15 people lost their lives in the suicide attack that happened in the central town of Galkayo in the Mudug region.

28 Nov 2020; MEMO: The Al-Shabaab militant group on Saturday claimed responsibility for last night's suicide bombing in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, reported by Anadolu Agency. 

At least eight people were killed in the Friday evening blast at a popular ice-cream parlour frequented by foreigners and government officials.

MOGADISHU, Oct 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Somali National Army (SNA), killed 12 members of al-Shabab fighters, in an operation in the central region of Hiran, a military official said yesterday.

The operation was conducted in an area between Bule Burde and Jala Laqsi towns, where the militants were forcing the locals to pay mandatory charities, and security forces later reached the neighbourhood, said Mohamud Hassan Ibrahim, commander of SNA’s 5th Unit, division 27.

MOGADISHU, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Somali President Mohamed Farmajo has appointed Mohamed Hussein Roble as the country's new prime minister to replace Ali Hassan Khaire, who was impeached by parliament in July.

Farmajo, who made the announcement on Thursday night, directed Roble to form a new government to lead the country through the transition period as Somalia prepares for the 2020/2021 general elections.

MOGADISHU, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somalia’s attorney general has appointed a special prosecutor for crimes against journalists.

The prosecutor will probe and prosecute “those who carried out killings and maiming of journalists,” Dr Suleiman Mohamed Mohamud said in a statement.

He added that perpetrators would face the full force of the law.

This comes four months after the Banadir regional court directed the attorney general’s office to investigate allegations of killing of journalists in the country.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A huge blast rocked a military base in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu near a stadium on Saturday, killing at least eight people and injuring 14, emergency workers said, and the militant group al Shabaab claimed responsiblity.

Soldiers opened fire after the explosion which sent clouds of smoke into the sky, said Halima Abdisalan, a mother of three who lives near the area.

“We ran indoors in fear,” she told Reuters. “Soon I could see a military pickup speeding and carrying many soldiers covered with blood. I do not know if they were all dead or injured.”

MOGADISHU, June 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somalia’s parliament ousted Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in a no-confidence vote, as a simmering power struggle between him and the president came to the fore.

Khaire and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed have been tussling over whether to delay a national election due in February next year, with the prime minister insisting it go ahead and the president favouring postponement.

01 July 2020; MEMO: Somalia has rejected as “ridiculous” an offer made by the UAE for the African state to join the war in Yemen in return for financial incentives, the country’s foreign minister has revealed.

MOGADISHU, June 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somali security forces have killed a commander of the al Shabaab militant group in a military operation, state radio reported.

Ahsraf Azmi Abu Hamdan, who was from Nepal, was a senior trainer in the Islamist group.

He was killed in an operation in the Middle Juba region in southern Somalia, state radio said. Three other fighers were also killed.

Al Shabaab has been fighting to topple Somalia’s central government since 2008 to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islam’s sharia law.

HARGEISA, June 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The self-declared republic of Somaliland has freed controversial Somali journalist Abdimalik Muse Oldon following a presidential amnesty.

Oldon had been behind bars for more than 13 months. He was found guilty of defamation and spreading false news by a court in Hargeisa in July 2019 and sentenced to three and half years in prison.

He has repeatedly denied all the charges and his lawyers termed the judgement as injustice.