Tag Archives: somalia

The Somali government says it has killed more than 130 fighters from the Islamist militant group al-Shabab – including top commanders. It says a joint operation was carried out with Somalia’s international partners, which include the US military. The group has recently lost swathes of territory as the result of …

Islamist al Shabaab militants on Friday killed five soldiers at a Somali military base in a town recently re-captured by the government, troops and residents said. “The attack was eventually repelled,” Reuters agency quoted an officer at the base in the central Somali town of Galcad as saying. He said …

At least nine people were killed and several others injured in simultaneous car bomb attacks in a central Somali town, according to reports. “The blasts occurred near a restaurant not far from a district administration building in Mahas,” according to witnesses. “I saw the dead bodies of nine civilians including …

Somalia’s religious affairs ministry has banned the use of the name al-Shabab – “the youth” in Arabic – and asked the public to refer to the militant group as “Khawarij”, a derogatory term meaning a deviant sect. In a statement, the ministry also prohibited clerics from dealing with the al-Qaeda-allied …

At least 17 people died over the weekend in an attack attributed to a terrorist group close to Al-Qaeda targeting transport buses in the Hiran region of central Somalia. According to the official Somali news agency Suna, it was the al-Shabab militia that carried out this operation. “Seventeen civilians were …

The attack on a hotel in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, by Al-Shabab Islamist militants caused the death of at least 21 civilians, according to a new official report on Sunday. The attack lasted 30 hours until Saturday evening, according to reports. The attack was the bloodiest in Somali Capital since …

Former deputy leader and spokesman of Al-Shabab Islamist militant group, Mukhtar Robow, has been appointed religious affairs minister in Somalia’s new government. The former militant leader had been under house arrest for four years. He was detained during the previous president’s term for organizing a militia. He was also accused …

A suicide bomber, wearing an explosive belt, burst into the Merka governorate building in Ethiopia’s Shabeellaha Hoose region and blew himself up, Anadolu Agency reported, citing a police source. According to the agency which quotes the source, the attack “caused the death of 6 people, including the governor of Merka, …

Two journalists were injured on Monday following a landmine explosion in the town of Qabno in central Somalia, Anadolu Agency reported, citing a security source. According to the source, the blast was caused by a landmine laid beside a road. The landmine targeted a car carrying two journalists in the …

Security has been tightened in the Somali capital, Mogadishu and around Aden Adde airport ahead of the inauguration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday. Main roads in Mogadishu were closed on Wednesday with police deployed in large numbers and armoured vehicles on the streets leading to the presidential palace. …