Latest Somalia News

In this April 3, 2020 photo, a woman carrying a child walks past a closed courier business featuring a U.S. flag and the Spanish phrase:

Virus crisis cuts off billions sent to poor around the world

Apr. 7, 2020 7:01 PM EDT

MIAMI (AP) — Until a month ago, Diana Leticia Hernández sold face cream door to door in Miami. Her husband painted houses. The money fed their family and at least six relatives in Honduras. Hernández has sold nothing since last month due to fear and social-distancing restrictions in South...

US says airstrike in Somalia kills an al-Shabab leader

Apr. 7, 2020 8:55 AM EDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday it has killed a high-ranking leader of the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group with an airstrike in Somalia. A statement by the U.S. Africa Command said Yusuf Jiis was one of three extremists killed in Thursday’s airstrike near Bush Madina...

US again accused of killing civilians in Somalia airstrikes

Apr. 1, 2020 2:09 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The U.S. military is facing more allegations of killing civilians with airstrikes in Somalia, and now says it will address the issue more fully in upcoming public reports. Amnesty International said in a new report Wednesday that the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, killed two civilians...

In this photo taken Thursday, March 26, 2020, residents live in crowded conditions in the Sayidka camp for internally displaced people in Mogadishu, Somalia. The country has only a handful of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus so far but residents of the camp, who have already fled drought and violence from the Islamist al-Shabab militant group, say they are fearful of the virus and feel vulnerable. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

In Somalia, coronavirus goes from fairy tale to nightmare

Mar. 29, 2020 6:03 AM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At first, the coronavirus was just a fairy tale, a rumor along the dusty lanes of the displaced persons’ camp that Habiba Ali calls home. It seemed fantastical: an illness sweeping the world far beyond Somalia’s borders, killing thousands of people and sending some...

A man living in his car reacts to police and army patrolling downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, March 27, 2020. Police and army started patrolling moments after South Africa went into a nationwide lockdown for three weeks in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

'Go home!' South Africa has 1st death as lockdown begins

Mar. 27, 2020 2:58 PM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa announced its first death from the coronavirus Friday as the country's cases rose well above 1,000 and a three-week lockdown began, with military patrolling and police screaming at the homeless on quiet streets. But some people cooly strolled through townships, alcohol in...

Somalia suicide bomber detonates in tea shop, killing 2

Mar. 25, 2020 10:14 AM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber has walked into a tea shop in Somalia's capital and detonated, killing at least two people. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the bomber, posing as a pedestrian, entered the shop and detonated his vest among the crowd. Wednesday's blast in...

A Kenyan Health Ministry official sprays disinfectant onto a hand-cart to control the spread of the new coronavirus, in the Gikomba outdoor street market in the capital Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 21, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough and the vast majority recover in 2-6 weeks but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health issues, the virus that causes COVID-19 can result in more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/John Muchucha)

Africa lockdowns begin as coronavirus cases above 1,000

Mar. 21, 2020 5:48 PM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Lockdowns have begun in Africa as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000, while Nigeria on Saturday announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent's most populous country. Rwanda said all unnecessary movements outside the home are...

A Somali man wears a surgical mask and gloves on the street after after the government announced the closure of schools and universities and banned large gatherings, following the announcement on Monday of the country's first case of the new coronavirus, in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, March 18, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough and the vast majority recover in 2-6 weeks but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health issues, the virus that causes COVID-19 can result in more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

Africa should 'prepare for the worst' with virus, WHO says

Mar. 18, 2020 2:01 PM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Africa should “prepare for the worst” as the coronavirus begins to spread locally, the World Health Organization's director-general said Wednesday, while South Africa became the continent's new focus of concern as cases nearly doubled to 116 from two days before. South...

The Latest: SKorea warns churches over flouting restrictions

Mar. 17, 2020 12:38 AM EDT

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 182,000 people and killed more than 7,100. The COVID-19 illness causes mild or moderate symptoms but most people, but severe symptoms are more likely in the elderly or people with existing health problems. More than 79,000 people have recovered...

A man uses his hand to cover his nose as he walks along a downtown street Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster. Ramaphosa said all schools will be closed for 30 days from Wednesday and he banned all public gatherings of more than 100 people. South Africa will close 35 of its 53 land borders and will intensify screening at its international airports. For most people, the new COVID-19 coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

New Africa coronavirus crisis looms with internal spread

Mar. 16, 2020 2:07 PM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The coronavirus has now been confirmed in at least 30 of Africa’s 54 countries, officials said Monday, and regional power South Africa warned of a new crisis once the virus begins to spread at home and into crowded low-income communities. The most alarming confirmation of a first...

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