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The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) international crime watchdog on Friday added Kenya and Namibia to its 'grey list' of countries that need increased monitoring, due to inadequate curbs against money laundering and terrorism financing. "At this Plenary, the FATF added Kenya and Namibia to the list of jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring," said the FATF in a statement. Kenya's Treasury had already said earlier on Friday that it had been put on the 'grey list'. A report from the FATF last year said Kenya mainly faced risks from flows of money linked to terrorism financing from both inside and outside its borders, while cryptocurrencies posed further risks. Namibia's Financial Intelligence Centre said earlier on Friday that putting Namibia on the 'grey list' could have negative impacts on Namibia's foreign direct investment.
Persons: Kenya's, cryptocurrencies Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Kenya's Treasury, Namibia's Financial Intelligence Centre Locations: Dubai, United Arab, Kenya, Namibia, Shabaab, Somalia, al Qaeda
(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
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
MOGADISHU, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The East African Community trade bloc admitted Somalia as its eighth member on Friday, a move Somali authorities and businesses hope will boost the country's war-ravaged economy. "Somalia officially joins the East African Community, reinforcing ties and opening new doors for progress and partnership," Daud Aweis, Somalia's minister for information, culture and tourism said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. In turn the bloc's large population and existing customs union and common market are a draw for investors that Somalia can now tap into. Somali businesses said the country's vibrant private sector, which has overcome long odds to stay afloat, would bring a fresh injection of risk-tolerant entrepreneurs into the trade bloc and boost exchanges across the large Somali Diaspora. "It will be simpler for the large Somali Diaspora living across East Africa to access financial services and products," said Shuayb Haji Nur Mohamed, managing director of Salaam Somali Bank, one of Somalia's major banks.
Persons: Daud Aweis, al, Shuayb Haji Nur Mohamed, Hereward Holland, Elias Biryabarema, William Maclean Organizations: East African Community, EAC, Democratic, East African, Salaam Somali Bank, Thomson Locations: MOGADISHU, Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Al Qaeda, Shabaab, Mogadishu, al Shabaab, Somali, East Africa
By Duncan MiririNAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya pledged on Thursday to reinforce security measures against Somali militants as it commemorated a deadly mall attack which security analysts say led to improvements in the country's readiness to counter threats. Kenyan security forces were widely criticised by the public and local media at the time for their chaotic, uncoordinated response to the attack. After the siege, Kenya worked to improve its security agencies' coordination and readiness to respond to emergencies. Kenyan security forces were praised for ending that siege in less than a day. The government has also been deploying the military and other security forces to fight cattle rustlers and armed bandits in several counties in East Africa's Rift Valley.
Persons: Duncan Miriri, Raymond Omollo, Richard Maige, al, Nicolas Delaunay, Estelle Shirbon, Emelia Organizations: Somali, East, Southern Africa, Crisis Locations: Duncan Miriri NAIROBI, Kenya, Somalia's al Shabaab, Westgate, Nairobi, Somalia, al Shabaab, Kenyan, Southern, Lamu, East
MOGADISHU, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Ethiopian forces engaged in fierce clashes with al Shabaab fighters near the town of Rab Dhuure in western Somalia on Sunday morning, local residents said. At around 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) local residents heard large explosions followed by a heavy near the town of Rab Dhuure in Bakool region, around 20 km (12 miles) from the Ethiopia border. Al Shabaab claimed to have ambushed a large convoy of Ethiopian troops, who are operating in the area as part of regional efforts to wipe out the al Qaeda-affiliated group. "We heard about three huge explosions and then an exchange of heavy guns followed," said local resident Hassan Abdulle. In February Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya agreed to begin what they described as "search and destroy" operations against al Shabaab, in addition to the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force, which is expected to leave Somalia by the end of next year.
Persons: al, Rab Dhuure, Al Shabaab, Hassan Abdulle, Fatuma Ali, Abdi Sheikh, Hereward Holland, Susan Fenton Organizations: African Union, Thomson Locations: MOGADISHU, al Shabaab, Rab, Somalia, Bakool, Ethiopia, Al, Qaeda, Djibouti, Kenya
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
WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) - A top U.S. Treasury official will highlight Washington's efforts to facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer exports during a visit to Kenya and Somalia and stress that Moscow's exit from the Black Sea grain deal will hurt African states, a spokesperson said on Monday. This week's visit by Brian Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to host African leaders in St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday and promises them free Russian grain "to replace Ukrainian grain." BLACK SEA GRAIN DEALRussia quit the deal allowing Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain last week, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertilizer exports had not been met, and that not enough Ukraine grain had reached the poorest countries under the Black Sea deal. Since Russia quit the deal and began attacking Ukrainian food-exporting ports on the Black Sea and Danube river, global wheat and corn futures prices have risen sharply. The Black Sea grain deal was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey a year ago to combat a global food crisis worsened by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Persons: Brian Nelson, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Nelson, Russia's, Daphne Psaledakis, Don Durfee, Cynthia Osterman, Sonali Paul Organizations: U.S, Treasury, Reuters, Biden, Islamic, Black, Thomson Locations: Kenya, Somalia, St . Petersburg, Nelson's, Africa, East Africa, U.S, Nairobi, Somalia's, Mogadishu, Islamic State, al Shabaab, Sudan, Russia, Ukrainian, Turkey, Ukraine, Moscow
[1/5] A Somali police officer uses his cell phone inside the rubble of the Pearl Beach Restaurant following an attack by Al Shabaab militants at the Liido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia June 10, 2023. REUTERS/Feisal OmarMOGADISHU, June 9 (Reuters) - Nine people were killed in an attack claimed by al Shabaab Islamist militants at an upmarket restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday night, police said. Those killed at the popular Pearl restaurant were six civilians and three soldiers, police said in a statement. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab said it was behind the attack. Al Shabaab controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back in government counteroffensives since last year.
Persons: Al Shabaab, Omar MOGADISHU, al, Abdikadir Abdirahman, Hussein Mohamed, Shabaab, Abdi Sheikh, Feisal Omar, Jose Joseph, George Obulutsa, William Mallard, Frances Kerry Organizations: Pearl, REUTERS, Security, Somali National News Agency, Twitter, Mujahideen, Thomson Locations: Somali, Mogadishu, Somalia, al Shabaab, Shabaab, Lido Beach, Al Qaeda
CNN —Ugandan troops discovered the bodies of 54 Ugandan soldiers who were killed during an al-Shabaab attack on an African Union base in Somalia last week, according to Ugandan officials. “During that operation, UPDF discovered the lifeless bodies of 54 fallen soldiers, including Lt Col Edward Nyororo, the commander….,” the agency said. After Ugandan troops reclaimed the base, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced that two commanders who ordered their soldiers to retreat during the May 26 militant attack would face a court martial. Ugandan soldiers are stationed at the forward operating base as a peacekeeping force. Unverified images shared on jihadi media channels showed about a dozen Ugandan troops, with arms restrained behind their backs, being captured by the militants.
Persons: UPDF, Col Edward Nyororo, , Yoweri Museveni, Oluka, Obbo, Shabaab, Organizations: CNN, African Union, Uganda People’s Defense Force, Twitter, European Union, United, Somali, US State Department Locations: Somalia, Uganda, Buulo Mareer, Mogadishu, State, United States
Uganda says 54 soldiers killed by al Shabaab in Somalia
  + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
KAMPALA, June 4 (Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said on Saturday that 54 Ugandan peacekeepers were killed in an attack last week by militant group al Shabaab on a military base in Somalia. Museveni said the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) had since recaptured the base from the Islamist group. “Our soldiers demonstrated remarkable resilience and reorganized themselves, resulting in the recapture of the base by Tuesday,” the president said. Al Shabaab fighters had targeted the base early last Friday in Bulamarer, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu. Al Shabaab, which has said it carried out suicide bomb attacks and killed 137 soldiers at the base, has been fighting since 2006 to replace Somalia's Western-backed government with its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Museveni, , , Al Shabaab, Kanjyik Ghosh, Elias Biryabarema, Cynthia Osterman, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Somalia's, Thomson Locations: KAMPALA, Shabaab, Somalia, Uganda, Bulamarer, Mogadishu, Al Shabaab, Bengaluru, Kampala
The assailants numbered about 800 and during the attack the Ugandan troops were forced to withdraw to a nearby base, about nine kilometres away, he said. Al Shabaab fighters targeted the base early on Friday in Bulamarer, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu. Al Shabaab said in a statement at the time that it had carried out suicide bomb attacks and killed 137 soldiers at the base. Al Shabaab tends to give casualty figures in attacks that differ from those issued by the authorities. ATMIS has so far not said how many troops were killed or wounded in the attack.
MOGADISHU, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Three people died and eight others were injured when a helicopter operated by the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia crashed on Saturday in the country's Lower Shabelle region, the mission said in a statement on Sunday. In the statement the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said the helicopter, carrying eleven passengers including soldiers from Somalia military, was participating in training drills for casualty evacuation when the crash occurred. Eight injured officers have been evacuated to Mogadishu for urgent medical attention," ATMIS said in the statement. ATMIS is assisting Somalia's central government in its war against the Islamist al Shabaab insurgency. The al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab group has been fighting for more than a decade to topple Somalia's government and establish its own rule based on its own strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
[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.
U.S. military says Somalia strike killed 30 al Shabaab fighters
  + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. military strike has killed approximately 30 Islamist al Shabaab militants near the central Somali town of Galcad, where Somalia's military was engaged in heavy fighting, U.S. Africa Command said in a statement. U.S. Africa Command, the military arm of the American government's presence on the continent, said no civilians were injured or killed in the strike. Al Shabaab fighters had stormed a Somali military base in Galcad on Friday and killed at least seven soldiers, according to the Somali government and the militant group. Al Shabaab has been fighting since 2006 to topple the country's central government and install its own rule, based on a strict interpretation of Islam. Friday's attack underscored the formidable threat that al Shabaab poses for Somalia's military, despite government successes against the al Qaeda-allied militants last year.
MOGADISHU, Jan 14 (Reuters) - One person was killed and at least six others injured in a suicide car bombing at a checkpoint manned by Somali government troops in the central region of Hiran on Saturday, witnesses said, part of a twin suicide car attack. Federal government soldiers and allied clan militias launched a major offensive against al Shabaab last August. The group has retaliated with a series of attacks after they were driven out of some of the territories. "A suicide car bomb exploded at a government forces checkpoint near the bridge," said Seinab Abdullahi, a shopkeeper in Jalalaqsi, who counted one body and six injured victims. Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Christina Fincher and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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.
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.
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.
Car bombs explode at Somalia's education ministry
  + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
MOGADISHU, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Two car bomb explosions at Somalia's education ministry rocked the capital Mogadishu on Saturday and blew out windows of nearby buildings, witnesses and the emergency services said. "Two car bombs targeted the education ministry building along K5 street," an inhabitant Ahmed Nur told Reuters. The first explosion hit the walls of the ministry while the second blast occurred as ambulances arrived and people gathered to help the victims, police captain Nur Farah told Reuters. A Reuters journalist near the blast site said the two explosions occurred within minutes of each other and smashed windows in the vicinity. Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Somalia blast hits Kismayu hotel, gunfire heard - police
  + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
The state-run Somali National Television said on Twitter security forces were dealing with a "terrorist incident" at the hotel, which al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has taken responsibility for. "There is a blast at Tawakal hotel and there is gunfire being heard," Mohamed Nur, a police captain, told Reuters from Kismayu. "The security forces have besieged the scene," Farah Ali, a shopkeeper in Kismayu, told Reuters. Kismayu is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al Shabaab. Al Shabaab was driven out of Kismayu in 2012.
The United Nations warned at the beginning of September that two districts were projected to face famine between October and December, with more than half a million children in Somalia at risk of dying from malnutrition. A previous screening in June and July found 28.6% of children in the camps were suffering from acute malnutrition, including 10.2% with severe cases. The last four rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa region have failed, making this the worst drought in 40 years. An IPC Famine Review Committee of four to six independent experts is responsible for approving any famine declaration. In Somalia's last famine in 2011, half of the more than 250,000 victims were later determined to have died before the famine was officially declared.
Suicide bombing in Somalia kills one soldier and injures six
  + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMOGADISHU, Sept 25 (Reuters) - One soldier was killed and at least six others injured in Somalia on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a military base in the west of the capital Mogadishu, a soldier and a hospital worker told Reuters. The suicide bomber had disguised himself as a regular soldier and joined others as they filed into a military base early Sunday before he detonated the explosive, Captain Aden Omar, a soldier at the base told Reuters. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA nurse at Madina Hospital in Mogadishu told Reuters they had received one dead soldier and six others who were wounded. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attack but Islamist group al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings and gun attacks in Somalia and elsewhere. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; editing by David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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