Mohammed Omer Mulla

Somali security forces have arrested three al-Shabab militants in the Amniyat, al-Shabab's intelligence wing in an operation in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, officials said on Sunday evening. Mohamed Abdullahi Tulah, deputy mayor for security in the Benadir region told journalists in Mogadishu that three al-Shabab militants were apprehended Sunday in an offensive conducted by Somali national forces in Wadajir district in Somalia's capital. "Our forces nabbed three al-Shabab extremists as they were trying to assassinate female member of electoral delegation committee," Tulah said. He noted that they will intensify their operations against the extremists. The militants paraded by the government pleaded guilty and asked the people to forgive them. The arrest comes as assassinations in Mogadishu increased. On Feb. 20, militants shot Mohamed Mursal, a Somali deputy attorney general, while on Feb. 24, suspected al-Shabab fighters gunned down Osman Elmi Boqore...

U.S Africa military command (AFRICOM) said Monday that its latest airstrike in Somalia killed 35 fighters in Hiiran region in Central on Sunday. The U.S. military command for the African continent said Sunday’s airstrike targeted the al-Qaida-linked fighters as they were travelling in a rural area about 23 miles (37 kilometres) east of Beledweyne town in Hiran region in Central Somalia. The U.S. has dramatically increased airstrikes against Al-Shabaab since President Donald Trump took office. Its military has carried out 22 such strikes this year, including four on Saturday that eliminated checkpoints used by Al-Shabaab to collect taxes to fund its violent campaign to establish an Islamic state in the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation. The U.S. militray carried out nearly 50 strikes against al-shabab and IS in Somalia in 2018 alone. 

Gunmen in Somalia opened fire on Monday on a team of roadside workers, killing eight and wounding several others, witnesses said. The workers, who included both men and women, were clearing scrubland alongside a road in the Hawa-Abdi area, some 18 kilometers (11 miles) north outside the capital Mogadishu. "Several gunmen attacked innocent civilians, who were clearing bushes along the road," said Mohamed Adan, a local security official; saying eight people had been killed. Witnesses confirmed the incident, adding that several others were wounded by the gunfire. "It was a horrible attack," said Fadumo Kulow, who passed by the site of the killing soon after. "Eight people were killed, and six others were wounded." Ahmed Moalim, another witness, said the wounded were rushed to hospital in Mogadishu. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings, nor was it immediately clear why the workers were attacked. Somalia's al-Shabaab ins...

Due to logistical problems and some cases of violence, polls have been put back to a later date in a few areas.  President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, is seeking a second term. His main challenger is former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, 72.  The election had been due last week but was delayed at the last minute. Whoever wins in Africa's most populous nation and largest economy will have to address power shortages, corruption, security threats, and an economic slowdown. President Buhari cast his ballot in his hometown of Daura in the northern state of Katsina. Asked if he would congratulate his rival if he lost, he said: "I will congratulate myself ." Mr Abubakar, a business tycoon, also said he was confident of victory. The main results centre is expected to open at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT) in the capital, Abuja, but final results are not expected until Monday at the earliest. Most of the country was calm but there were reports of attacks by the Boko...

A U.S. citizen has been charged with kidnapping and other counts for his alleged role in the abduction of a freelance journalist who was held hostage in Somalia for nearly three years. According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in federal court in New York, Abdi Yusuf Hassan and others conspired to kidnap the journalist in January 2012 in Galkayo, Somalia. The journalist was held until September 2014. The complaint says that during the journalist's time in captivity, Hassan directed the journalist to call a family member and to make a video demanding $20 million in ransom. Hassan was born in Mogadishu and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He was arrested in Minneapolis on Friday and will be returned to New York to face charges. Source: star TRIBUNE.

The Kenyan government has warned that it will not cede an inch of its soil in the disputed maritime border with Somalia even as it affirmed that it is committed to a peaceful resolution of the row. At a Cabinet meeting at in Nairobi Thursday, chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta, the government made the decision that was communicated by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Dr Monica Juma in a press briefing. The Cabinet also discussed and agreed on a roadmap for resolving the maritime border dispute with Somalia and measures for safeguarding Kenya’s territorial integrity, marine resources including offshore oil and gas exploration acreage in the Indian Ocean. Addressing the media at a city hotel after a closed-door session with members of the Defence and Foreign Relations committee of the National Assembly Thursday afternoon over the dispute, Dr Juma said the response given by Somalia does not meet Kenya’s expectations. “We sent a protest to Somalia on February 9, when we got...

A Somali deputy Attorney-General was shot dead by two armed men while driving a car in the capital Mogadishu, officials said late Wednesday. Mr Hassan Gelle, a police officer, said two men armed with pistols shot Mohamed Mursal, a deputy AG in Sigale village in Mogadishu's Hodan District. "The armed men ordered [him] to get off his car and shot him dead. They sped off with the car, [which] police later found abandoned on the roadside," Mr Gelle said. Eyewitnesses reported the incident saying they heard gun shots at the scene of the murder. "Two armed men riding in a three-wheeled motorcycle stopped the car of the deputy Attorney-General and then opened fire on him and he died on the spot," Hawa Hussein, a local resident told  Xinhua . On September 27, 2017, armed men shot Mr Mursal's mother, Anab Hashi, who was the general secretary of National Women Organization, at the junction of Hamar Weyne District of Mogadishu. Al-Qaeda affiliated al...