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☆ Shabab Gunmen Penetrate Heavy Security to Besiege Hotel in Somalia
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five assailants with the terrorist group Al Shabab stormed a hotel in a highly fortified area close to Somalia’s presidential palace on Thursday night, engaging security forces for about 12 hours in sustained fighting that left three people dead and injured 27 — including members of parliament — before the militants were finally killed, according to Somali officials. The attack underscored Al Shabab’s enduring capacity to stage attacks on a high-profile target in the capital, despite an aggressive counteroffensive by the Somali government, backed by the U.S. military. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud promised to eliminate the group by fighting it militarily, ideologically and financially, when he came to power in mid-2022. The militants with Al Shabab, a Qaeda-linked group, stormed the SYL Hotel in central Mogadishu after 9:30 p.m. local time, a police spokesman, Kasim Ahmed Roble, said Friday. Video footage broadcast on local television showed mangled cars and widespread destruction near the hotel’s entrance, while debris and blood covered the hotel’s floors inside.

Persons: Al Shabab, —, Al, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Kasim Ahmed Roble Organizations: U.S . Locations: Somali, Mogadishu

☆ 3 dead and dozens injured in hotel attack close to Somalia’s presidential palace
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Three people were killed and 27 people injured in a “terrorist attack” at a hotel near Somalia’s presidential palace on Thursday, the country’s state broadcaster Somalia National Television (SNTV) has reported. According to SNTV, five armed gunmen attacked the SYL Hotel in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday night. All five were shot and killed by Somali security forces, SNTV cites Somali police as saying. While SNTV did not identify the organization behind the attack, Somali police spokesman Colonel Qasim Ahmed Roble told AFP that the assailants were from terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited injured victims of the attack at Erdoğan Hospital in Mogadishu on Friday, the state broadcaster said.

Persons: SNTV, Qasim Ahmed Roble, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, “, Josep Borrell, ”, ” Borrell Organizations: CNN, Somalia National Television, AFP, Erdoğan, High, European Union for Foreign Affairs, Security, Somali, United Locations: Somalia’s, Mogadishu, Shabaab, Somalia, Somali, al, Al, United Nations

The attack took place at the General Gordon military base in Mogadishu on Saturday night, the ministry said. UAE personnel had been training soldiers from the Somali Armed Forces as part of an agreement between the UAE and Somalia, the ministry said. A UAE army officer told Reuters that the gunman was a newly trained Somali soldier. “The soldier opened fire on UAE trainers and Somali military officials when they started praying,” the official said. “We understand the soldier had defected from al-Shabaab before he was recruited as a soldier by Somalia and UAE,” the UAE army official said.

Persons: Gordon, “, Shabaab, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Organizations: CNN, United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, Bahrain Defense Force, UAE, Somali Armed Forces, Reuters, ”, UN Security Locations: Mogadishu, UAE, Somalia, Somali, Andalus, al, Shabaab

☆ Five Dead After Soldier Opens Fire at Military Base in Mogadishu
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) -Five people, including Somali military officials and a United Arab Emirates (UAE) soldier, were killed on Saturday after a soldier opened fire at a military base in the capital Mogadishu, an army officer and hospital staff told Reuters. The gun man, a newly-trained Somali soldier, was also shot dead in the Gordon military base managed by the UAE, the officer, who gave his name only as Ahmed, said. "The soldier opened fire on the UAE trainers and Somali military officials when they started praying. Al Shabaab, linked to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack via a statement on its Radio al Andalus and said its fighters had killed 17 soldiers. Al Shabaab has waged an insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 to try to establish its own rule.

Persons: Gordon, Ahmed, Al Shabaab, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Abdi Sheikh, Elias Biryabarema, Surbhi Misra, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Reuters, United, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Erdogan, Surbhi Locations: United Arab, UAE, Mogadishu, Somali, Israel, Gaza, al Shabaab, Somalia, Al, al Qaeda, Andalus, Nairobi, Bengaluru

☆ President Sisi Says Egypt Will Not Allow Any Threat to Somalia or Its Security
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will not allow any threat to Somalia or its security, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday, according to a statement from the presidency, after Ethiopia said it would consider recognising an independence claim by Somaliland. Trying to "jump on a piece of land" to try to control it is something that no-one will agree to, Sisi said in a news conference with Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo. In a memorandum of understanding signed on Jan. 1, Ethiopia said it would consider recognising Somaliland's independence in return for gaining access to the Red Sea. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but it has not won recognition from any country. (Reporting by Mohamed Hendawy, Writing by Clauda Tanios)

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Mohamed Hendawy, Clauda Tanios Organizations: Somaliland, Jan Locations: CAIRO, Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, Cairo, Somaliland

☆ Somali president’s son convicted for fatal collision in Turkey, but spared jail time
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Scott Mclean | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The son of Somalia’s president was convicted in an Istanbul courtroom but spared jail time over a collision that killed a motorcycle courier in the city, in a case that has drawn anger and demands for justice across Turkey. Iyaz Cimen, the lawyer representing Gocer’s family, told CNN that his clients had agreed to drop their formal complaint against Mohamud. Cimen, the lawyer representing Gocer’s family, told CNN in December that Mohamud had left the country on December 2, before the warrant was issued. President Mohamud told the AP he was sorry for Gocer’s family for his loss, and said that he has advised his son to go back to Turkey for court proceedings. Last month, he told CNN Turk that his client was not speeding or under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the collision.

Persons: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ”, Yunus Emre Gocer, Mohamud, Iyaz Cimen, Gocer, Cimen, Ekrem Imamoglu, Yilmaz Tunc, “, Musaeed Ahmed Musaeed Hussein, Yemen’s, Ahmed Musaeed Hussein, Hussein, Pakize Ozer, CNN Turk, Ozer, Kerim Bahadır Organizations: CNN, TRT Haber, TRT, Mohamud, BMW, Traffic, Department, Forensic Medicine Institute, ” CNN, Associated Press, AP, Anadolu Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, Turkish, Istanbul’s, Somali, Ankara, Anadolu, “

☆ He Killed a Man. Turks Wonder Why a Well-Connected Somali Went Free.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Safak Timur | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First he was allowed to leave Turkey after he hit a motorcycle courier with his car in November. Then the police blamed the courier, who later died in the hospital, before reversing course. Widespread perceptions that the driver, Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 40, a doctor, repeatedly received preferential treatment from the authorities have prompted outrage in Turkey and accusations that justice was denied to the courier, Yunus Emre Gocer, 38, a father of two young children. Many Turks speculated on social media that Mr. Mohamud had been treated differently because of his father’s position and vented about the unusually swift judicial process. Similar cases typically take 18 months to two years, legal experts say.

Persons: “, ”, Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Yunus Emre Gocer, Mohamud Locations: Turkey

☆ UN Security Council Due to Vote on Lifting Arms Embargo on Somalia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Michelle Nichols and Giulia ParaviciniUNITED NATIONS/NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Friday to remove the final restrictions on weapons deliveries to Somalia's government and its security forces, diplomats said, more than 30 years after an arms embargo was first imposed on the country. The 15-member body is due to adopt two British-drafted resolutions on Friday, diplomats said - one to remove the full arms embargo on Somalia and another to reimpose an arms embargo on Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab militants. One of the draft resolutions spells out that "for the avoidance of doubt, that there is no arms embargo on the Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia." Somalia's government had long asked for the arms embargo to be removed so it could beef up its forces to take on the militants. The Security Council began to partially start lifting measures Somalia's security forces in 2013.

Persons: Michelle Nichols, Giulia Paravicini, Mohamed Siad Barre, Al Shabaab, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, al, Grant McCool Organizations: Giulia Paravicini UNITED, United Nations Security, Government of, Security, Union Locations: Giulia Paravicini UNITED NATIONS, NAIROBI, Somalia, of Africa, Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Federal Republic of Somalia, Al, Somali, al Shabaab

☆ Somalia bans TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet over 'horrific' content, misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Residents gather outside the Pearl Beach Restaurant following an attack by Al Shabaab militants at the Liido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia June 10, 2023. REUTERS/Feisal Omar/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOGADISHU, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Somalia has banned TikTok, messaging app Telegram and online-betting website 1XBet to limit the spread of indecent content and propaganda, its communications minister said. Members of insurgent group al Shabaab often post about their activities on TikTok and Telegram. The decision comes days after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said a military offensive against al Shabaab aims to eliminate the al Qaeda-linked group in the next five months. TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Persons: Al Shabaab, Feisal Omar, Jama Hassan Khalif, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 1XBet, TikTok, Abdi Sheikh, George Obulutsa, Devika Organizations: Pearl, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Mogadishu, Somalia, Rights MOGADISHU, Shabaab, TikTok, United States, Montana

☆ Somalia says it will revert to direct vote for officials starting next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOGADISHU, May 28 (Reuters) - Somalia will start electing its president and other officials by direct vote next year, the government announced on Sunday, ending a system of indirect voting in the Horn of Africa country that has endured three decades of conflict and clan battles. "Starting next year, there will be a one person, one vote election held every five years," said a statement tweeted by Somalia's state media SONNA. "The Premier post will be abolished and replaced with a presidential system where the president and vice president are elected directly by the people on a single ticket." The decision was reached after a four-day meeting in the capital Mogadishu, chaired by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Reporting by Feisal Omar and Abdiqani Hassani Writing by Elias Biryabarema Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At least five injured after blast at mayor's office in Mogadishu
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Somali policemen prepare to take their positions near the mayor's office following a blast in Mogadishu, Somalia January 22, 2023. REUTERS/Feisal OmarMOGADISHU, Jan 22 (Reuters) - At least five people were injured in a blast on Sunday at the gates of the mayor's office in Somalia's capital Mogadishu and gunfire continued to sound, a member of the ambulance service and a witness said. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance Services, told Reuters that ambulance staff had so far evacuated five injured people from the scene of the blast. "We were in the office and we were deafened by a blast, we ran out, gunfire followed," Farah Abdullahi, who works in the mayor's office, told Reuters. The mayor's office is located in the local government headquarters building in a well guarded area of Mogadishu.

☆ Somalia: Gunfire heard inside besieged hotel, parliament session delayed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters —Gunfire was heard on Monday from inside a besieged hotel in the Somali capital that was attacked on the weekend, a nearby resident and a police officer said, while parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session. “There is still heavy gunfire inside the hotel, and we hear explosions from time to time … we are still in our houses since last night, when the siege started,” Ismail Haaji, who lives near the hotel, told Reuters. “The fighters who launched the attack are still fighting inside the hotel, and they are fighting with the forces of Haramcad and Gaashaan, and security forces are trying to rescue the people trapped inside the hotel,” the officer added. Government officials in Mogadishu frequently use the Villa Rosa hotel for meetings. Somalia’s parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session for both of its houses.

☆ Militants attack hotel used by officials in Somalia's capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOGADISHU, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Islamist militants attacked a hotel used by government officials in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Sunday evening, police and witnesses said. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which controls large swathes of the country, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that it was targeting the nearby presidential palace. Security forces were responding to an attack by al Shabaab on a hotel in the capital's Bondhere district, state broadcaster SNTV said on Twitter. The assailants stormed the Villa Rose hotel, which is close to the presidential palace, two police officers told Reuters. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected earlier this year, has been carrying out a military offensive against al Shabaab.

At least 100 people died when two car bombs tore through a busy Mogadishu intersection on Saturday, Somalia’s president said Sunday after visiting the site of the attack, the same place where the largest terrorist attack in the country’s history killed more than 500 people almost exactly five years ago. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said at least 300 people were hurt in Saturday’s twin bombings, which he blamed on the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group that has been trying to overthrow Somalia’s U.S.-backed government for more than a decade and a half. He said the number of victims was likely to increase as rescue workers continued to sift through the rubble. Mogadishu hospitals urged the public to donate blood to help treat the injured, and anxious relatives were frantically searching for their missing loved ones.

☆ Dozens killed in Somalia after explosions rock capital city
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

One ambulance responding to the first attack was destroyed by the second blast, director Abdulkadir Adan added in a tweet. People observe a destroyed building and vehicles at the scene of two explosions in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday Oct. 29, 2022. Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP“I was 100 meters away when the second blast occurred,” witness Abdirazak Hassan said. An Associated Press journalist at the scene said the second blast occurred in front of a busy restaurant during lunchtime. The attack occurred at Zobe junction, which was the scene of a huge al-Shabab truck bombing in 2017 that killed more than 500 people.

☆ Somalia president: at least 100 people killed in car bombs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view shows the scene of an explosion near the education ministry building along K5 street in Mogadishu, Somalia October 29, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal OmarMOGADISHU, Oct 30 (Reuters) - At least 100 people were killed and 300 injured in two car bombs that exploded outside the education ministry in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday, the country's president said in a statement early on Sunday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, although the president blamed the Islamist group al Shabaab. The first of the explosions hit the education ministry near a busy junction in Mogadishu. The attack took place at the same place as Somalia's largest bombing, which killed more than 500, in the same month in 2017.

CNN —At least 100 people were killed after two car bombs exploded near Somalia’s education ministry in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamist group al-Shabaab has claimed other recent attacks. The two car bombs exploded near a busy intersection in the capital and near the Ministry of Education, according to an official with the president’s office. Mohamed Muhudin/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesMohamed Moalim, who owns a restaurant near the ministry, said his wife, Fardawsa Mohamed, a mother of six, tried to help victims of the blast. “We recognized the number plate of the tuk tuk, which was now rubble,” Aden said.

☆ Car bombs at Somali education ministry leave scores of casualties
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOGADISHU, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Two car bomb explosions at the education ministry in Somalia's capital Mogadishu killed or wounded scores of people on Saturday, police and the state news agency said. Authorities said the Islamist group al Shabaab carried out the attack, which they said had targeted the education ministry, an intersection and a school. "At 2:00 p.m. al-Shabaab terrorists carried out two explosions targeting civilians, including children, women and the elderly," police spokesman Sadiq Doodishe said. State news agency SONNA, said the blasts had caused "scores of civilian casualties including independent journalist Mohamed Isse Kona". [1/8] A view shows smoke rising following a car bomb explosion at Somalia's education ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia October 29, 2022 in this picture obtained from social media.

Asked about the peaceful proceedings, Ruto said that the situation has been improving since 2007, and the next election will be even better. Amanpour later asked whether outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, who supported Odinga's election bid despite Ruto being his vice-president, had been in touch since the election. "Unfortunately, President Kenyatta has not seen it fit to congratulate me," he said. Amanpour later quizzed Ruto on human rights, particularly his previous comments that there was "no room" for homosexuality in Kenyan society. Amanpour also pressed Ruto on his controversial promise to deport Chinese people from Kenya, but the President-elect argued that he had been taken out of context.

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