First Independent Mena Newspaper
Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud returns to the helm of Somalia after he was elected as president for the second time on Sunday, at a time the Horn of Africa country faces an Islamist insurgency and looming famine. After a marathon vote to decide between 36 candidates, broadcast on national television, parliamentary officials counted more than 165 […]
The U.S. has imposed visa restrictions on a number of Somali officials, including regional leaders, suspected of obstructing the electoral process. This is in response to the missed deadline for the completion of Somalia’s long-delayed elections. The country’s National Consultative Assembly, which is chaired by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, has extended the deadline for […]
The Somali jihadist Shebabs claimed responsibility for the attack launched on Sunday on a famous hotel in Mogadishu, frequented by government officials, that killed ten civilians and a police officer, according to an official report in the evening. It took security forces four hours and a raging gun battle to regain control of the Elite […]
Shebabs carried out an attack against the head of the Somali Defense Forces, General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh, in Mogadishu, where his convoy was targeted by a suicide car bomb attack. The general, who is known for his relentless fight against the Islamists, escaped unharmed. The operation failed but the explosion killed between one and five […]
A historic summit between Somalia and Somaliland ended Thursday in Djibouti with the signing of a five-point compromise including a code of conduct, a commitment to build confidence, and a promise to implement previous agreements on investment and humanitarian aid. The compromise was reached after several days of negotiations between the Somaliland President Muse Bihi […]
The presidents of Somalia and the former province of British Somalia that seceded in 1991, called Somaliland, met face to face for the first time on Sunday June 14 in Djibouti. Officially, it was a “consultation summit” intended, above all, to open negotiations on the conflictual relations between the two capitals. After being greeted on […]
The United States announced it has killed a founding member of the militant Islamist group al-Shabab, Yusuf Jiis, in an airstrike in Somalia carried out on April 2. The US Africa Command said in a press release Tuesday that its post-strike assessments confirm that one of the three terrorists killed in the command’s Apr. 2 […]
The Paris Club of creditor countries have agreed to restructure Somalia’s external public debt with an immediate cancellation of $1.4 billion. The decision cancels 67% of the debts owed to Paris Club by Somalia. Several of Somalia’s Paris Club creditors, including the United States, the UK and Norway, as well as the World Bank and […]
Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Mohamed on Sunday met Kenya’s interior minister Fred Matiang’i and other security officials, dispatched by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The visit comes after Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo spoke on the phone on Thursday with President Uhuru Kenyatta. The two leaders agreed to work together to ensure security at the border. […]
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said Saturday it had handed over to the Somali Federal Government weapons of war captured from Al-Shabaab terrorists. The weapons, which included Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers, general-purpose machine guns, and assault rifles, were captured during joint operations by AMISOM and the Somali security forces. The Head of […]