Latest Somalia government News

Somalia orders Ethiopia's ambassador to leave the country as diplomatic tensions rise

Apr. 04, 2024 10:40 AM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia on Thursday ordered Ethiopia’s ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours, and the closing of Ethiopia’s consulates in the breakaway region of Somaliland and the semiautonomous region of Puntland. Diplomats and personnel stationed at the...

All 5 attackers killed, ending Somalia hotel siege in which 3 soldiers died

Mar. 15, 2024 09:10 AM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Security forces in Somalia say they have killed all five attackers who laid siege to a hotel in a normally secure area of the capital. Police spokesperson Kasim Roble said Friday that three soldiers were killed and 27 people injured in the Thursday night...

Loud explosion is heard as Somali militant group says its fighters have attacked a hotel in capital

Mar. 14, 2024 16:58 PM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The Somali extremist group al-Shabab said its fighters have attacked a hotel in the capital Mogadishu, where a loud explosion and gunfire were heard Thursday night. Al-Shabab said on its Telegram channel that its fighters managed to penetrate the SYL...

EU maritime force says it is shadowing a Bangladesh-flagged ship seized by pirates off Somali coast

Mar. 13, 2024 15:47 PM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The 23 crew members of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship boarded by pirates off Somalia this week have been taken hostage, and a European Union vessel is tracking the ship as it heads toward the coast, the EU's maritime security force said Wednesday. The...

British military reports a suspected piracy attack off the coast of Somalia

Mar. 12, 2024 10:28 AM EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Several people boarded and took control of a vessel in a suspected pirate attack in the Indian Ocean nearly 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) east of Somalia's coastal capital Mogadishu, the British military reported Tuesday. The vessel was boarded by several...

Turkey and Somalia strike an oil and gas cooperation deal for the Horn of Africa nation

Mar. 07, 2024 11:22 AM EST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey and Somalia reached an oil and gas cooperation agreement for the Horn of Africa nation in Istanbul on Thursday, the Turkish energy minister said, the latest step in strengthening ties between the two countries. The agreement comes against the backdrop...

Fear and loathing in a Super Tuesday state: Democrats angry at Biden back him anyway to stop Trump

Mar. 02, 2024 09:06 AM EST

HOPKINS, Minn. (AP) — Aishah Al-Sehaim laments the 30,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, a grim statistic from a war with Israel that she wishes President Joe Biden would try harder to stop. But the 38-year-old clinical data scientist, an Arab American from the Democratic-heavy...

Somalia announces deal with Turkey to deter Ethiopia's access to sea through a breakaway region

Feb. 21, 2024 13:01 PM EST

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia announced on Wednesday a defense deal with Turkey that includes support for the Horn of Africa nation's sea assets and appears aimed at deterring Ethiopia's efforts to secure access to the sea by way of the breakaway region of Somaliland. Ethiopia...

Somalia's president accuses Ethiopia of trying to annex territory with Somaliland sea deal

Feb. 17, 2024 08:29 AM EST

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud accused Ethiopia on Saturday of trying to annex part of his country's territory by signing a sea access deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland. The agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland signed Jan. 1 “is nothing more than annexing...

Feds charge Minnesota man who they say trained with ISIS and threatened violence against New York

Feb. 16, 2024 17:53 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — A naturalized U.S. citizen who rapped about flying to “shoot New York up” after training with ISIS in his native Somalia has been charged with supporting a terrorist organization, federal prosecutors said Friday. Harafa Hussein Abdi, 41, of Minneapolis was...