First Independent Mena Newspaper
Africa has surpassed a staggering 155,000 deaths linked to militant Islamist groups over the past decade, according to a new report from the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies. The report highlights an alarming 60% surge in fatalities since 2023, driven primarily by intensifying insurgencies in the Sahel and Somalia. In the past year alone, […]
Somalia has intensified its campaign against terrorism financing, taking decisive action to dismantle the financial infrastructure sustaining extremist group Al-Shabaab. The National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), led by Finance Minister Bihi Iman Egeh, reported the deactivation of 575 mobile lines and the freezing of 21 bank accounts […]
At least 120 children have been abducted in recent days by Islamist insurgents in Mozambique’s northern oil-rich Cabo Delgado province, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported, adding that they were reportedly being forced into labor, used to transport looted goods, and in some cases turned into child soldiers or forced into marriage. The kidnappings mark […]
Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on Tuesday when his convoy was targeted by a roadside bomb in Mogadishu. The bomb exploded near the presidential palace as the president’s motorcade was leaving the building en route to the airport. The militant group Al-Shabaab, which has long waged attacks against the Somali […]
At least six people perished Tuesday when al-Shabaab militants orchestrated a coordinated assault on a hotel in Beledweyne, central Somalia, where local elders and government officials had gathered for security discussions. The attackers initiated the siege by detonating a powerful car bomb before storming the building with gunfire. Social media footage revealed thick black smoke […]
Ethiopia and Somalia have reached an agreement on the deployment of Ethiopian forces as part of the newly established African Union (AU) Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). The deal, outlined in a joint communiqué released on 22 February, follows a visit by Ethiopian officials, including Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, chief of staff of […]
A deadly assault by the Islamic State (ISIS) targeted a Puntland military base in Somalia’s Bari region, resulting in at least 100 fatalities among both the militants and soldiers. The attack, which reportedly took place in the Togga Jacel area of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, saw ISIS militants using suicide car […]
37 suspected members linked to major terrorist organizations, including ISIS and al-Shabaab, were arrested in a joint counter-terrorism operation with Afripol, international police agency Interpol announced on Monday (27 January). ISIS, Al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, which have strongholds in some countries on the continent, have suffered significant setbacks following a large-scale Interpol raid that […]
One of al-Shabaab’s top commanders, Mohamed Mire, was killed in a drone strike in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle Region, the military group has said, blaming the United States for the killing. It comes as the US military confirmed on Thursday (26 December) it carried out an airstrike on 24 December in the south of the Horn […]
Kenya and Somalia have agreed to reopen their common border crossings after more than a decade, amid warming ties between the two neighbors following years of tensions. Kenya has decided to reopen its border crossings with Somalia at Mandera, Lamu, and Garissa, effectively ending a 12-year barricade that began in 2011, Kenya’s interior minister said […]