For different reasons, some women have found themselves in the army, more so in the war-torn Somalia. They share about their life in the war zone and the lives that led them there with Risdel Kasasira. We may not mean it literally when we say “I will catch a bullet for you”, but the story is...
Civil war raged in Somalia for more than 20 years. Peace is slowly returning but rape is still commonplace, especially in refugee camps in Mogadishu. Aid agencies help women to break their silence. The walls are lined with fabric, in the center are two couches. The atmosphere is warm and cosy. But when Sharifa Mohamed...
By HELEN COLLIS European imports of khat – a plant chewed as a stimulant – have rocketed recently with border officials seizing 1.3 tonnes of it in Geneva alone this year. Swiss customs staff have documented the vast hauls at Geneva airport over the last two years and show that, despite being made illegal, smugglers often...
By Peter Martell NAIROBI (AFP) – Hopes that Somalia may soon turn the page on decades of anarchy have been dealt a string of blows, giving the internationally-backed government little to cheer as it marks its first birthday. Al-Qaeda-inspired fighters, breakaway regions, rival clans and an ongoing climate of rampant insecurity have conspired to ensure the...
Haseeb Haider The Central Bank of the UAE has asked banks and financial institutions in the country to immediately search and freeze any accounts, deposits or investments owned by branches and leaders of Somalia’s Al Shabaab militia. The Central Bank’s action came in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 1844 (2008) and...
Prof Said Sh. Samatar AUGUST 4, 2013 WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY as the day when the world came to a standstill, the sun gawked from his sphere in astonishment, the moon tore into the heavens with a prodigious peal of Somali laughter, the stars gazed on earth with luminous incredulity. What drove these celestial...
Lindsay Watling Miranda Bryant A pupil who fled war-torn Somalia aged five when her father was killed said she hoped to return one day as a doctor after scoring 11 straight As in her GCSEs. Najma Ahmed, now 16, could not speak a word of English when she arrived with her mother Weliye Salah and...
Somaliland regional Foreign Minister Mohamed Bihi Yonis on Tuesday (August 20th) said his government was willing to continue unity talks with the Somali federal government, Somaliland Press reported. Yonis said representatives of the international donor community will visit Somaliland ahead of the New Deal donor conference in Brussels. Although the Somaliland administration will not be sending a...
By Daisy Carrington In Somalia, getting from point A to B can be a perilous business. Towns are remote, the roads that link them are poor and prone to attack, while the coastline is manned by pirates. So why are so many airline operators eager to launch routes to Mogadishu? Despite Somalia’s many security woes, the...
In mid of the first quarter of the 21st century, Ogaden conflict incinerates its third century as it started from late of 19th century. Moreover, this conflict has been driven by Ethiopian rulers’ provocative imperial expansion as a means of defeating against “a perceived threat from eastern lowlands”. However, Ethiopian rulers were fully dependent on...