Somalia

30 Jan 2022; MEMO: A Somali court yesterday ruled that millions of dollars confiscated from an Emirati civilian plane in 2018 will not be returned, local media outlets reported.

According to reports, the Banadir Regional Court instructed the Central Bank not to release $9.6 million found in three unmarked bags aboard a Royal Jet plane that arrived at Mogadishu airport in April 2018.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and its partners said Sunday it has kicked off a week-long asset management technical training program for senior and mid-level officers of the Somali Police Force (SPF).

The training being attended by 18 SPF officers from the departments of logistics, communications, and transport; and others from the SPF Directorate of Training and Planning is to help participants develop effective and efficient control and management skills for all Somali Police assets, the AU mission said.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and ten others wounded in an explosion on Monday in a local restaurant in the southern part of Somalia, local security officials said.

The security officers told state-owned Somalia national television that the explosion occurred at a tea shop in Qalimow town in Middle Shabelle region, about 35 km north of the capital, Mogadishu.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks in Somalia but al-Shabab militants frequently stage such attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

22 Jan 2022; MEMO: Two Turkish humanitarian organisations joined hands to provide free medical treatment and perform surgeries in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) and Doctors Worldwide Turkey (Yeryüzü doktorları) examined 353 people and conducted 74 surgeries in Mogadishu in December, the Turkish state-run Charity said in a statement on Friday.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and ten others wounded in a suicide bombing in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday evening, the police said.

The police said a suicide bomber wearing explosive vests wrapped around his waist blew himself up at a restaurant located near a military training camp in the restive city.

"We can confirm that six people were killed and ten others wounded in the suicide bombing," a police officer who requested anonymity told Xinhua on the phone.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least ten people including five soldiers were killed and nine others wounded in a suicide car bombing in the Somali capital, Mogadishu on Wednesday, officials said.

Deputy Governor of Banadir region, Ali Abdi Wardhere, who is in charge of security, said a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy along Mogadishu's 21st October road near the heavily fortified international airport.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Somali National Army (SNA) said on Monday that its elite forces killed 25 Shabab militants and wounded several others in intense fighting on Sunday in the southern Lower Shabelle region.

Abdullahi Nageye, SNA commander of Gorgor (The Eagles) unit, told Somalia's official news agency SONNA that the army acted on intelligence that the militants were regrouping in an area between Tawakal and Barire locations to attack military bases.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Somalia's regional forces in Galmudug State killed 17 al-Shabab militants who attempted to attack a local town early Friday, security officials said.

The security officials told the state-owned Somali National Television that the terrorists were killed after they attempted to capture Baxdo town in central Somalia.

"The regional forces of Somalia's Galmudug State have repulsed an attack by al-Shabab on Baxdo town, killing 17 terrorists in the early hours of Friday," the television station reported.

01 Jan 2022; MEMO: A deepening rift between Somalia's President and Prime Minister has plunged the Horn of Africa country into political crisis, Anadolu News Agency reports.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who took office in 2017, suspended Prime Minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble and Naval Forces Commander, Abas Amin Ali, on charges of "corruption" and "abuse of public land."

The Prime Minister, however, defied the order, describing the President's decision to suspend him as "outrageous."

27 Dec 2021; MEMO: Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Monday suspended the country's prime minister over alleged corruption and misuse of public land reports Anadolu Agency.