Mogadishu, Somalia | THE INDEPENDENT | The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is reconstituting its Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) to enhance safety and security of its troops. The exercise will also involve reviewing the design and layout to help establish sustainable FOBs which have positive impact on troop protection, logistical …
Read More »Somalia’s Puntland picks ex-minister as regional president
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Businessman and politician Said Abdullahi Deni was elected president of the semi-autonomous state of Puntland in northern Somalia on Tuesday in a vote by regional lawmakers. Puntland, like much of the rest of Somalia, has suffered from decades of clan warfare and, more recently, terror …
Read More »UN council regrets Somalia’s decision to expel envoy
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council on Saturday expressed regret after Somalia expelled a UN envoy but added that it expected “full cooperation” between Somalia and the United Nations. The council released the unanimous statement after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday agreed to …
Read More »Somalia refuses to take back expelled UN envoy
United Nations, United States | AFP | Somalia’s president told UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday that he will not reverse a decision to expel a UN envoy who raised human rights concerns, diplomats said. Guterres spoke by phone with President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Friday — his second call …
Read More »Somalia tells UN not to interfere after expelling envoy
United Nations, United States | AFP | Somalia on Thursday told the UN Security Council not to interfere in its national affairs after expelling a UN envoy who questioned the government’s decision to arrest an al-Shabaab defector running for election. Somali Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman did not specifically mention his …
Read More »Somalia orders top UN envoy to leave
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somalia’s government has ordered the UN top envoy to the troubled country to leave, accusing him of “deliberately interfering with the country’s sovereignty.” The order comes days after the official, Nicholas Haysom, raised concerns at the action of Somalia’s UN-backed security services in recent violence …
Read More »Burundi military opposes Somali withdrawal plan
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The Burundi army on Sunday said it opposed a request by the African Union that it withdraw 1,000 soldiers serving in an African peacekeeping force in Somalia by February 28. Burundi army spokesman Colonel Floribert Biyereke said in a statement that the military would ask …
Read More »Death toll from Somali bombing rises to 20
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | The death toll from a double car-bomb attack near the presidential palace in Somalia rose to 20 on Sunday, police said. Police on Saturday had said seven people were killed following the two blasts in Mogadishu, which were claimed by the jihadist Shabaab group. “The …
Read More »Shabab blasts kill seven near Somalia presidential palace
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Seven people were killed Saturday in a double car bomb attack claimed by the jihadist Shabaab group near the presidential palace in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said. “We have confirmed seven people died in the two blasts and more than ten others wounded,” local …
Read More »Burundi told to cut force in Somalia under African pullback
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The African Union has asked Burundi to reduce its contribution to an African peacekeeping force in Somalia by a thousand men under a progressive pullout from the country by the AU. The AU made the request through a diplomatic document called a note verbale, requesting …
Read More »