UN conference raises less than $1 billion for climate-wracked Horn of Africa in major disappointment
May 24, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — A high-level U.N. conference on Wednesday raised less than $1 billion of the more than $5 billion organizers were hoping for to help over 30 million people in the Horn of Africa cope with a major climate crisis and mass displacement after years of conflict, a major disappointment to aid agencies.
UN reports extensive flooding damage in central Somalia
May 16, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Floods caused by the annual rains have left “a trail of destruction" across Somalia, a United Nations spokesman said, citing inundated homes and farmland as well as the shutdown of health facilities.
Official: 148 Somalis evacuated from Sudan via Ethiopia
April 30, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Scores of Somalis fleeing violence in Sudan arrived in their Horn of Africa nation on Sunday, an official said.
Some 148 Somali nationals, mostly students, arrived by plane in the capital Mogadishu, said Abdurahman Nur Mohamed Diinaari, a top official with the Somali foreign ministry.
At least 21 killed as Somalia battles jihadis in remote area
April 22, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia's military repulsed an attack by jihadi fighters in a remote region of the country early Saturday, killing at least 18 of the al-Shabab militants, according to a top army official.
U.N chief calls for massive international support to Somalia
April 11, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for “massive international support” for Somalia on Tuesday during his visit to the East African country, which is facing the worst drought in decades.
Witnesses say extremist attack in Somalia kills at least 9
March 14, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Witnesses say at least nine people, including five soldiers, were killed Tuesday when an explosives-laden car targeted the entrance of a guest house in the southern Somalia town of Bardhere in Gedo region.
US citizen, Somali convicted in journalist’s hostage-taking
March 7, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Two men have been convicted of helping Somali pirates who kidnapped a U.S. journalist for ransom and held him for 2 1/2 years, prosecutors said.
Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed and Abdi Yusuf Hassan were convicted by a federal court jury in New York on Feb.
Somalia drought ‘extremely critical’ but no famine projected
February 28, 2023 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Food security experts say life remains “extremely critical” for more than 6 million hungry people in Somalia’s historic drought, but they no longer project famine for the worst-hit population of nearly a quarter-million people between April and June.
3 killed when African Union helicopter crashes in Somalia
February 26, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A helicopter belonging to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia crashed, killing three people and injuring eight others.
The mission reported that the helicopter was carrying Somali National Army officers on a joint training mission for casualty evacuation drills when it crashed Saturday at Baledogle airstrip in Lower Shabelle region
Somali security forces end al-Shabab siege that killed 10
February 22, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Security forces in Somalia have ended a siege by al-Shabab extremists that killed 10 people and wounded three others at a home in the capital, Mogadishu.
The Information Ministry late Tuesday said the al-Qaida-linked fighters launched the rare attack on a private home with a suicide bombing.
Regional heads plan joint push against al-Shabab in Somalia
February 1, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The leaders of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya have agreed on a joint “search and destroy” military campaign against the Somali al-Shabab Islamic militant group that has carried out attacks in the region — including firing mortars near the meeting venue in Mogadishu before officials gathered Wednesday.
Wife of Islamic State leader jailed for 8 years in Somalia
January 30, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A military tribunal in Somalia has sentenced the wife of the head of a terrorist organization linked to the Islamic State group to eight years in prison for passing on information and organizing financial transactions for the group, a military official said Monday.
US urges donors to give far more as Somalia faces famine
January 29, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The first U.S. Cabinet member to visit Somalia since 2015 urged the world’s distracted donors Sunday to give immediate help to a country facing deadly famine, which she calls “the ultimate failure of the international community.”
Somalia, extremists claim over 100 killed in intense battle
January 20, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s government and al-Qaida-linked fighters both claimed more than 100 people were killed Friday in their deadliest battle since the government launched a major military offensive against the extremists in August.
5 Somali troops die in attack; 21 al-Shabab fighters killed
January 17, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — An attack by the al-Shabab extremist group on a military facility north of Somalia's capital on Tuesday killed five soldiers, officials said. Somali troops repelled the assault, killing 21 al-Shabab fighters.
Al-Shabab extremists deny contact with Somalia’s government
January 9, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group has denied having contact with the Somali government after the country’s deputy defense minister claimed that the extremists had for the first time asked to negotiate.
Death toll in Somalia twin bombings rises to at least 35
January 5, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A doctor says the death toll in a pair of suicide car bombings in Somalia early Wednesday has risen to at least 35, including nine members of the same family, in one of the worst attacks by al-Shabab extremists in retaliation for a government offensive described as “total war.”
Twin bombings targeting Somalia’s military kill at least 10
January 4, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Police in Somalia say two suicide car bombers killed at least 10 people early Wednesday when they targeted a military facility in a region at the heart of the government’s offensive against al-Shabab extremists.
Ugandan soldier fatally shoots 3 colleagues in Somalia
January 3, 2023 GMTKAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Ugandan soldier has shot and killed three colleagues serving in Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force, Uganda’s military said Tuesday.
Somali troops returning from once-secret training in Eritrea
December 21, 2022 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somalia’s government says the first group of 5,000 Somalis who were sent to Eritrea for military training has returned home, to the relief of parents who had alleged their sons had been recruited under false pretenses.
Somali forces storm hotel held by extremists, free 60 people
November 28, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali forces on Monday stormed a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, where Islamic extremists had been holed up for more than 18 hours after killing eight civilians and trapping dozens in the building, officials said.
Al-Shabab extremist group attacks hotel in Somali capital
November 27, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali security forces were attempting to flush out armed assailants from a hotel in the Somali capital, a police spokesman said Sunday, after the extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.
5 killed in attack at Somali military training camp
November 6, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Military officers in Somalia say at least five people were killed and 11 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the front gate of a military training camp in Mogadishu on Saturday evening.
US military hits al-Shabab extremists in Somalia
November 5, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The United States military says it has carried out an airstrike in support of the Somali government’s operations against the al-Shabab extremist group that has killed some of the group's fighters.
Police say explosion in Somalia’s capital kills 2 students
November 3, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Police in Somalia say at least two people have been killed and five others wounded by a roadside explosion that hit a vehicle carrying students in the Dayniile district of Mogadishu.
Treasury sanctions IS-Somalia weapons traffickers, al-Shabab
November 1, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department announced sanctions Tuesday against a weapons trafficking network affiliated with the Islamic State group in Somalia and the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, which are accused of carrying out deadly terrorist acts on civilians including car bombings.
Somalia car bombs death toll up to 120, some still missing
October 31, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The death toll from twin car bombings in Somalia's capital has reached 120 and could rise further because some people are still missing, the country's health minister said Monday.
Somalia car bombings kill at least 100, president says
October 30, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least 100 people were killed in two car bombings at a busy junction in the capital, Somalia's president said, and the toll could rise in the country's deadliest attack since a truck bombing at the same spot five years ago killed more than 500.
Two explosions rock Somalia’s capital, killing at least 30
October 29, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Two car bombs exploded Saturday at a busy junction in Somalia's capital near key government offices, causing “scores of civilian casualties" including children, national police said.
8 killed in Somalia as militants attack port city hotel
October 23, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Eight people were killed after militants stormed a hotel in Somalia's port city of Kismayo, an attack that started with a suicide bombing Sunday before gunmen forcibly entered and exchanged fire with security forces.
Al-Shabab attack kills 20, wounds 36 in town in Somalia
October 3, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic extremist fighters on Monday targeted the local Somali government headquarters in the Hiran region, leaving 20 people dead and 36 wounded in a town at the center of a recent mobilization against the extremists, officials and witnesses said.
With support from allied militia, Somalia hunts al-Shabab
September 21, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Militia members in central Somalia have helped kill scores of al-Shabab militants in an ongoing operation against the Islamic extremist rebels that is receiving air support from the United States, Somali authorities said.
UN says part of Somalia will reach famine later this year
September 5, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The United Nations says “famine is at the door” in Somalia with “concrete indications” famine will occur later this year in the southern Bay region. This falls just short of a formal famine declaration as thousands are dying in a historic drought made worse by the effects of the war in Ukraine.
After Somalia hotel siege, a vow to tackle al-Shabab ‘snake’
August 26, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Hell began at sunset.
It was a Friday evening in Somalia’s capital. The patrons of the Hayat hotel had finished their latest prayers and settled in for coffee, tea or dinner.
Somali forces end hotel attack that left 21 dead, 117 hurt
August 21, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali authorities on Sunday ended an attack by Islamic extremists that left 21 people dead and over 110 wounded when gunmen stormed a hotel in the capital.
It took Somali forces more than 30 hours to contain the fighters who had stormed Mogadishu's Hayat Hotel on Friday evening in an assault that started with loud explosions.
Gunmen storm hotel in Somali capital, leave 20 dead
August 20, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic militants have stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital, engaging in an hours-long exchange of fire with the security forces that left at least 20 people dead, according to police and witnesses.
Suicide bombing in Somalia kills 11 including local official
July 27, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Witnesses say at least 11 people are dead after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a government building in southern Somalia.
District Commissioner Abdillahi Ali Waafow was among those killed in Wednesday's attack, the secretary-general of the Marka town administration in the Lower Shabelle region, Mohamed Osmaan Yariisoow, told The Associated Press by phone.
Passenger plane crashes in Somalia, no deaths reported
July 18, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A passenger plane has crashed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu with the 30 people on board safely evacuated.
Airport authorities said passengers and crew have disembarked from the Jubba Airways-operated plane, which was arriving on a domestic flight from the inland city of Baidoa.
Mo Farah’s story draws horror, understanding in Somalia
July 16, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Many Somalis are reacting with horror — and a sense of understanding — at British runner Mo Farah's tale of being trafficked to Britain as a child and forced to look after other children.
Ukraine’s shadow: Deadly crises like Somalia starved of aid
July 6, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — More than two dozen children have died of hunger in the past two months in a single hospital in Somalia. Dr. Yahye Abdi Garun has watched their emaciated parents stumble in from rural areas gripped by the driest drought in decades.
‘Only God can help’: Hundreds die as Somalia faces famine
June 8, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — No mother should have to lose her child. Owliyo Hassan Salaad has watched four die this year. A drought in the Horn of Africa has taken them, one by one.
Now she cradles her frail and squalling 3-year-old, Ali Osman, whom she carried on a 90-kilometer (55-mile) walk from her village to Somalia’s capital, desperate not to lose him too.
War in Ukraine adds to food price hikes, hunger in Africa
May 30, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — It now costs Ayan Hassan Abdirahman twice as much as it did just a few months ago to buy the wheat flour she uses to make breakfast each day for her 11 children in Somalia's capital.
For new Somalia government, al-Shabab a threat to authority
May 25, 2022 GMTA Somali police officer recently received an unexpected summons from the enemy. An unknown caller ordered him to report to a town outside the capital, Mogadishu, where the extremist group al-Shabab would settle a dispute between him and his brother.
Somali lawmakers elect president voted out 5 years ago
May 15, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A former Somali president voted out of power in 2017 has been returned to the nation's top office after defeating the incumbent leader in a protracted contest decided by legislators in a third round of voting late Sunday.
Somalia set to elect new president amid growing insecurity
May 12, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia is set to hold its long-delayed presidential vote on Sunday, ending the convoluted electoral process that raised tensions in the country when the president's term expired last year without a successor in place.
Police: 4 killed in Somalia blast ahead of presidential vote
May 11, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali police say at least four people have been killed by a suicide explosion that targeted a checkpoint near the airport in the capital, Mogadishu.
Burundian peacekeepers in Somalia killed in jihadi attack
May 4, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The African Union says a number of Burundian peacekeepers were killed in Tuesday's attack by Islamic extremist rebels who targeted a remote military base in Somalia.
The African Union condemned the attack and paid “tribute to the Burundian peacekeepers who lost their lives helping to bring peace and stability to Somalia,” in a statement issued Wednesday.
Somalia’s al-Shabab rebels attack African Union base
May 3, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia's al-Shabab Islamic extremist rebels have attacked a military base of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, witnesses told The Associated Press.
The attack started early Tuesday when a vehicle rammed into the fence surrounding the base and exploded in El-Baraf, a strategic town 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu in the Middle Shabelle region, residents said.
Somalia’s extremists bomb restaurant in the capital; 6 dead
April 23, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A bomb blast by Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels hit a popular seaside restaurant in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, killing at least six people, ambulance service officials say.
Somalia swears in lawmakers as UN warns of famine
April 14, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia on Thursday inaugurated 290 new lawmakers, bringing the country a step closer to completing a prolonged electoral process marred by alleged corruption and irregularities.
Somaliland market fire losses estimated at up to $2 billion
April 3, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A massive fire in an expansive market in the capital of Somaliland destroyed property worth up to $2 billion, according to local officials in the autonomous region of Somalia.
Somali female lawmaker among scores killed by suicide bomber
March 24, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A prominent Somali female lawmaker is among at least 48 people killed in a suicide bombing that hit a polling station in rural central Somalia, police and a local official said Thursday.
Al-Shabab gunmen attack airport in Somalia’s capital
March 23, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Gunfire rang out in Somalia's capital Wednesday as Islamic extremists attacked the international airport, injuring at least three police officers.
Somali security forces repulsed the assault, killing two armed attackers, Somali Police Commissioner Gen.
Delegation, governor want destroyer to be named for war hero
February 16, 2022 GMTPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's congressional delegation and governor are urging Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro to name a destroyer for a soldier who sacrificed his life while attempting to rescue a downed helicopter crew in Somalia.
Somalia says al-Shabab attack kills 5 outside capital
February 16, 2022 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An attack by the al-Shabab extremist group on Wednesday killed five people and wounded 16 on the outskirts of Somalia's capital, police said.
Somalia’s government said the early morning attack targeted police and checkpoints outside of Mogadishu.
Fleeing drought, hunger, thousands trek to Somalia’s capital
February 12, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Sitting under the hot sun, hungry women and children await food aid in a camp on the outskirts of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. They have walked for days, fleeing the drought now ravaging a large part of rural Somalia.
UAE welcomes Somali apology for seized cash, easing dispute
February 2, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates late Tuesday welcomed the prime minister of Somalia's public apology for a Somali operation in 2018 that resulted in the seizure of Emirati aircraft and $9.6 million in cash, wrecking relations between the two nations.
Al-Shabab claims deadly bombing near Somali military camp
January 18, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least four people were killed and 10 others wounded in Somalia's capital when a man in an explosive vest detonated at a teashop opposite a Somali military training camp on Tuesday, the Somali National News Agency reports.
Somalia’s government spokesperson wounded in suicide bombing
January 16, 2022 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s government spokesperson was wounded Sunday in a suicide bombing that the al-Shabab extremist group has claimed responsibility for.
Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu appeared to be the sole target in the attack near his residence by a busy intersection in the capital, Mogadishu.