MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Artillery shelling between Islamist rebels and Somali government forces killed at least 14 people and wounded 28 others in Mogadishu on Sunday, residents and a rights group said.
Insurgents fired mortars at government troops, prompting a heavier response of shells that killed civilians in several suburbs of Mogadishu and made residents cower indoors.
“Fourteen civ...
HARGEISA, Somalia — A Somali just home from eight years in the US jail at Guantanamo Bay told AFP the prison was “hell on Earth”, and alleged torture there had scarred some of his fellow inmates.
Mohamed Saleban Bare, who arrived in his hometown of Hargeisa on Saturday, said he was innocent of any charges that would have caused security forces to arrest him in Pakistan in 2001 and t...
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth let slip two opportunities to rescue a British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates.
Elite Royal Marine commandos were twice ready to launch a critical assault on the gang who had captured Paul Chandler, 59, and his wife Rachel, 55.
But each time Mr Ainsworth did not order the Royal Marines to move in. Nearly seven weeks later, the couple are still being held for a £...
Fifa, football’s world governing body, loves to present the sport as a means of bridging cultural divides. Even so, there are bound to be raised eyebrows at the news that the voice of next year’s football World Cup belongs to a Muslim rapper from Somalia who believes that its notorious pirates are just misunderstood.
His name is K’Naan and the song, “Wavin’ Flag”...
A huge explosion which rocked Puntland’s commercial capital Bosasso on Tuesday evening killed at least 2 people and wounded 25 others mostly Ethiopians, residents and hospital sources told Newstime Africa. Residents who were reached for comment by this press said that unidentified assailants in a small car threw a hand grenade at a cinema in the city center where people mostly from Oromo communi...
ADRID — A Spanish fishing boat thwarted an attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean in the early hours of Sunday morning, Spain’s defence ministry said.
The pirates fired bullets and threw a grenade at the Spanish-flagged Ortube Berria, before being fought off by the ship’s onboard private security guards, the ministry said in a statement.
The attack happened at 5:37 am (0437 GMT) some ...
Little Mogadishu residents talk of a lack of identity and a life of poverty and racism. And they disagree over their former neighbors who are accused of plotting jihad in Somalia.Reporting from Minneapolis – Barely a block from the Mississippi River sits a neighborhood Mark Twain could not have imagined.
Men with henna-streaked beards and women in full-body hijabs streamed Tuesday past the M...
Federal prosecutors have announced charges against eight more people as part of a long-running investigation of young men who left the United States to fight in Somalia.
As many as 20 young Somali men have left Minnesota over the last two years for Somalia and are believed to have joined the Somali terror group al-Shabab. At least three have died.
The charges unsealed Monday in Minneapolis include...
Paul and Rachel Chandler said they were “unharmed and in reasonable physical health” but their “kidnappers were losing patience”.
The interview, broadcast on Channel 4 News, showed the couple speaking at gunpoint.
It was the first time they had been seen on camera since being captured.
Mr Chandler, 59, urged the Government to start negotiations over a ransom.
“I have...
Somalia has vowed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – a move that would leave the US as the only nation not to back the accord.
The UN, which is celebrating 20 years since the agreement was put into force, welcomed Somalia’s announcement.
But analysts say the Somali government has little authority and its rulings are largely unenforceable.
The US helped draft the a...
In this undated photo released by the family of crew member Pablo Costas, second left, stands aboard the Spanish trawler Alakrana with other crew members at sea in an unkown location. Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Tuesday Nov. 17, 2009 Somali pirates have freed the Spanish trawler with crew of 36 after holding them hostage for more than six weeks. [Agencies]
MOG...
Kulan duco ah shalay lagu qabtay Magaalada zurich ee dalka Switerland kulankaas oo ahaa quraan akhrsi iyo duuco loogu talo galay caalimkii weynaa ilaahy haw naxarasiitee marxuum macalin nuur maxamed siyaad ayaa lagu soo Gab gabaynayay Quraan akhiriskii loo sameenayay Macalin Nuur max,ed Siyaad oo dhawaan ku geeriyooday magaalada nairobi ee wadanka kenya.
Waxaana Goobta isugu yimid Ilmihiisi...
The recruits assembled by moonlight at a watering hole. Hundreds of boys and young Kenyan men were herded onto trucks, which were covered with heavy canvas and driven through the night.
It was so hot inside they could hardly breathe. One recruit, Salad Dahir, said they banged the sides of the truck for water but got none. Some had to urinate where they stood.
Their destination: a secluded training...
ADDIS ABABA — Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed urged Saudi Arabia Sunday to invest in his war-ravaged nation and appealed for help from the kingdom in his battle against hardline insurgents.
Sharif arrived in the Ethiopian capital on Friday to attend the “Saudi-East African Forum”, a four-day gathering that aims to bolster trade partnerships between Riyadh and seven countries in ...
Wararka laga helaya magaalada Nairbo ee dalka Kenya ayaa ku waramaya in Safiirka Safaaradda Soomaaliya u fadhiya dalka Kenya Maxamed Cali Ameeriko la gaarsiiyay warqad lagu amrayo in uu kaga tago shaqada, taasoo ka timid madaxda sare ee dowladda Soomaaliya.
Qoraalka uu guddoomay Maxamed Cali Ameeriko ayaa loogu magac daray Isbadalada heyiddaha qaranka iyo abuurida shaqsiyaad lagu aamino hantidada ...
Security officials in Somaliland narrowly thwarted a terror attack that had been planned against a peace conference in the town of Hargeisa last Sunday. The gathering of clan leaders had been organised by Finn Church Aid, the foreign aid arm of the Finnish Lutheran Church.
Ten kilos of powder-based explosives were found in the possession of two uninvited guests. The aim was apparently t...
Qaar ka mid ah masaajida Somalida Stockholm ee caasimada dalka Swedan ayaa waxaa ka socda ururin dhalinyaro loo dagaal geelyo koonfurta Somaliya halkaasoo ey isku hayaan dowladda federalka Somaliya iyo kooxo Islaamiyiin ah.
Warkan ayaa waxaa sheegay sarkaal u hadlay sirdoonka dalkaasi ee Säpo mar uu wareysi siinayay raadiyaha dalkaasi ee Sveriges Radio.
Sarkaalkan ayaa sheegay in howshan ururinta...
An American who was captured by Kenyan forces in January 2007 filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington on Tuesday, arguing that FBI agents allegedly involved in his interrogation and transfer to other countries violated his constitutional rights.
The suit, brought on behalf of Amir Meshal by the American Civil Liberties Union, is the first by a U.S. citizen seeking damages for the practice...
Somali pirates have attacked an oil tanker some 1,000 nautical miles (1,850km) off the coast, the EU’s anti-piracy mission says.
The Hong Kong-registered BW Lion managed to evade an attack by two fast skiffs, firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, it says.
This is said to be the furthest pirate attack yet from the Somali coast.
Meanwhile, a maritime expert reports that pirat...
NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates attacked an oil tanker and fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades Monday farther out at sea than any previous assault, suggesting that pirate capabilities are growing as they increase activity off East Africa.
Pirates in two skiffs fired at the Hong Kong-flagged BW Lion about 1,600 kilometres east of the Somali coast, the European Union Naval Force ...
NAIROBI, 9 November 2009 (IRIN) – Heavy rain, lack of medical services, few latrines and reduced aid have worsened the plight of the growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) camping on the outskirts of Mogadishu, sources said.
“We have two clinics in the area covering over 30 camps, with an average population of 550 families (3,300 people) per camp,” Hussein Ali Moha...
OTTAWA — Islamic radicalization of Canada’s Somali community is becoming a national security concern, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said Friday.
The potential of Somali-Canadians adopting the extremist ideology of the Islamist insurgency ravaging the failed state is on an evolving list of national security issues and threats Elliott outlined in a sobering speech to an Ottawa conference...
Bond was set Thursday at $300,000 for Ahmed Abdi of Greeley, accused in the stabbing death of a woman tentatively identified as Warsan Aden of Fort Morgan.
Abdi, 25, like the victim an East African, was in Morgan County District Court with an interpreter for rights advisement in the case.
District Attorney Robert Watson said he was not yet certain what charges would be filed, but preliminary repor...
Somali pirates were engaged in a deadly stand-off with Spanish forces last night after threatening to kill three fishermen held hostage for more than a month.
The pirates, who seized the Spanish tuna trawler Alakrana, moved three hostages ashore from the boat off the Somali coast and threatened to kill them if the Spanish Government refused to release two captured pirates.
The pirates’ tactics m...
Three crew members of the Alakrana had been taken ashore and would be killed within three days unless Spanish authorities released two Somali men arrested in connection with the hijacking of the tuna boat last month, the pirates said.
The Spanish navy captured two Somalis in the Indian Ocean shortly after pirates overran the Alakrana on Oct 2 and took its 36 crew hostage. The two suspects are set ...
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali pirates seized a Greek-owned vessel full of wheat in the Indian Ocean on Thursday and threatened to hand three Spanish captives to the families of two suspected gunmen being held in Spain.
The Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier MV Delvina was hijacked with seven Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board, the EU anti-piracy naval force said.
Pirates have plundered t...
ATHENS — Pirates seized a Greek cargo ship with its Ukrainian and Philippine crew off the east African country of Tanzania Thursday, Greek port police said.
The Delvina, which had a cargo of wheat, was heading for Mombasa, Kenya from the Mediterranean when it was captured 280 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian coast.
The European Union’s naval mission to the region said the crew numbered...
Hardline al Shabaab insurgents who seized the southern Somali port of Kismayu have banned “corrupt” musical ringtones.
Sacdiyo Sheeq, 25, used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone in the failed Horn of Africa state.
But she told reporters: “Al Shabaab wants our ringtones to be only a Muslim cleric reading the Hadith or Koranic verse.
“I used to...
