Mohammed Omer Mulla

The hearing of a maritime-border dispute between Somalia and Kenya, which is calling for a negotiated settlement, has been postponed again, and is now scheduled for June. Kenya’s reapplication for a postponement was granted on the understanding that there will be no further delay, according to documents from the United Nations International Court of Justice. The session was due Nov. 4. The case is related to the neighbors’ claims of ownership of a 150,000 square-kilometer (58,000 square-miles) area off their Indian Ocean coastline, that’s said to be rich in oil, gas and tuna fish. In 2014, Somalia went to court to challenge a 2009 agreement that set its maritime border along latitudinal lines extending 450 nautical miles into the sea. It’s the second time the ICJ moves dates for court-hearing dates on Kenya’s request and against the wishes of Somalia. Kenya had asked the sessions to be held in September 2020 to allow it time to recruit a new legal team. In the mean...

  Security was tight in Somalia on Monday on the second anniversary of the country’s worst-ever terror attack, which claimed the lives of more than 600 people.   On Oct. 14, 2017, terrorists of the al-Qaeda-affiliated group al-Shabaab carried out two truck bombings in the capital Mogadishu, destroying a hotel and also injuring some 300 people. On the anniversary, busy roads in Mogadishu and business places remained closed as people thronged to the site of the bombing to commemorate and mourn their loved ones.  “I thank everyone who came in to help us. I lost my mother who was a doctor, but I have left everything to God,” Ahmed Abshir Mohammed told Anadolu Agency. Before the attack, the 29-year-old medical student was set to meet with her mother at a hotel near ground zero but was delayed by an errand. Abdulrashid Abdikadir, the brother of bombing victim Dr. Mohamed Abdikadir, who operated a clinic in Mogadishu, praised his brother, saying his d...

  Reports from Jalalaqsi district in Hiraan region indicate that heavy fighting broke out between AMISOM troops and SNA troops in the district. The clashes erupted after the Djiboutian army attempted to close down the Hormuud Telecommunication Company during AMISOM search operation, but blocked by the Jalalaqsi district administration. The resident has said that the two forces exchanged heavy gunfire result one person dead and other injuries though they could not prove the exact number. The Djiboutian contingent wanted to conduct a landmine search operation on the outskirts of Jalalaqsi district in Hiraan region and shut down Hormuud Telecommunication Network during its operations. Source: Goob-Joog News

Somalia’s government is implementing a new curriculum for primary and secondary school students, for the first time since the civil war broke out in 1991. In the past, schools had to make do with whatever materials came to hand. More than 40 curricula were used across Somalia, creating a hodgepodge of competing education systems in a variety of languages, the government said. Schools sourced textbooks from more than 10 countries during the civil war and English and Arabic replaced Somali as the language of instruction This new syllabus is better than the old Kenyan syllabus, which was in English. Up to 2 million textbooks printed in Somali have been issued to pupils in most of Somalia since August and their schools have synchronised academic terms, the ministry of education said. The new books cover English, Arabic, Somali, maths, Islamic studies, science, physical education, technology, and social studies. “Students have coped well with the new curriculum ...

  United States has reopened its embassy in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, nearly three decades after it was shut as the Horn of Africa nation plunged into civil war. Washington closed its embassy during the 1991 overthrow of then-President Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of chaos. However, diplomatic relations have strengthened in recent years. "Today we reaffirm the relations between the American people and the Somali people, and our two nations," said Donald Yamamoto, the US ambassador to Somalia, in a statement on Wednesday.  "It is a significant and historic day that reflects Somalia's progress in recent years, and another step forward in regularising US diplomatic engagement in Mogadishu since recognising the federal government of Somalia in 2013," he added.  A permanent diplomatic presence was established in Mogadishu in December 2018, but was operated out of Nairobi in neighboring Kenya. In his st...