Tag Archives: somalia

Twin suicide car bombs claimed by the Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab insurgent group wounded nine people Monday at the entrance to Mogadishu’s fortified airport and a nearby hotel, officials said. The explosion took place soon after Uganda’s army chief Gen Katumba Wamala arraived in Somalia to visit the country’s troops, part …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Twin suicide car bombs claimed by the Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab insurgent group wounded nine people Monday at the entrance to Mogadishu’s fortified airport and a nearby hotel, officials said. The first blast occurred at the Medina Gate entrance to Mogadishu airport, home to the UN, …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Somalia’s top political leaders have announced the presidential election will be held on December 28, the fourth date so far set to conclude drawn-out, delayed and limited polls. The new timetable was laid out in a joint statement issued late Thursday by the government, the …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Raped, abused and subjected to genital mutilation, many women suffer terribly in Somalia, an unrepentantly patriarchal country shown by successive surveys as one of the worst places to be female. A quota reserving 30 percent of parliamentary seats for women in current elections is supposed …

Baidoa, Somalia | AFP | With its security-sealed plastic boxes and cardboard polling booths, Somalia’s election –- under way since last month and still ongoing –- has the trappings of democracy, but few of the functions. Last week in the western city of Baidoa, 51 handpicked representatives of the Reer …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya said on Wednesday it will delay by six months the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, the world’s largest, after calls by the UN and aid groups to postpone it on humanitarian grounds. Interior minister Joseph Nkaissery said the move follows a request from …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  The African Union has lashed the EU for saying it will pay Burundian peacekeepers in Somalia directly, rather than through their government, ostensibly to prevent the money being diverted to the regime in Bujumbura. In a statement issued late Friday after a meeting of its …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | At least 25 soldiers died in weekend fighting between rival Puntland and Galmudug regional forces in the divided Somali town of Galkayo, military officials on both sides said Monday. “We have lost 12 men and there are more than 10 wounded,” said Puntland commander Jumale …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia on Wednesday denied that a string of withdrawals of troops from towns in Somalia were connected to the state of emergency declared in response to nearly a year of anti-government protests. Government spokesman Getachew Reda insisted the removal of troops from a string …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Somali pirates have freed 26 Asian hostages held for nearly five years after the hijacking of their fishing vessel, the last commercial ship seized at the height of the country’s piracy scourge, negotiators said Saturday. The crew of the Naham 3, the second longest held …