By Hassan M. Abukar “History has proven that the Somalis generally do not want any influence from Al-Qaeda or foreigners in their internal affairs.”—Omar Hammami. Omar Hammami, the American jihadist with Al-Shabab, Somalia’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, was killed on Thursday by Al-Shabab fighters according to a report by AP. He was 29 years old. He had...
By Muaz Shabandri The horrific story of Jawaid Khan and his tryst with Somali pirates took center stage at a special session on Wednesday’s anti-maritime piracy conference in Dubai. For 22 months, pirates off the coast of Somalia held Jawaid Khan and his crew from MV Albedo hostage. He recalled moments of anguish and helplessness...
By Nesru Jemal Dhaqabo Ebba, a retired farmer and well-known community elder from the Oromia region in Ethiopia, could be the oldest living person ever, says Mohammed Ademo after watching Ebba’s interview with TV Oromiya. ERTA has adapted his story as follows: At an estimated 160 years of age, Dhaqabo Ebba, a retired farmer and well-known...
WRITTEN BY RICHARD MUGISHA Four months into his new job, the UPDF Commander Land Forces (CLF) Maj Gen David Muhoozi visited Ugandan troops under AMISOM in Somalia for the first time last week. In an interview with Richard Mugisha, the general gives his candid assessment of the mission in Mogadishu. Below are the excerpts: General, this is your...
War-zone thrill seeker stumbles straight into jihadi torture trap By MAUREEN CALLAHAN Bored with her life and fresh off a New Year’s Eve epiphany, a 24-year-old Canadian named Amanda Lindhout quits her job as a cocktail waitress and decides to become a journalist. To get famous fast, she’ll start in Afghanistan, landing in Kabul in...
By Drazen Jorgic and Edmund Blair The president of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region said the central government was undermining plans to create a federal system and that he would develop potential oil resources in his area even without a revenue-sharing deal with Mogadishu. Abdirahman Mohamud Farole’s remarks in a Reuters interview show the deep national...
Double voting in a federal election is a felony. But the Holder DOJ hasn’t acted, so far. About 50 men and women packed a Rice County courtroom Tuesday afternoon as two Somali women pleaded not guilty to charges of voter fraud stemming from the general election last November. Farhiya Abdi Dool, 38, and Amina A Hassan,...
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s economy is likely to grow seven percent a year over the next three to five years, below its average of the last decade, and to push that rate higher, the government needs to change policy to encourage private investment, the World Bank said. While seven percent GDP growth would be the envy...
By Dr. Abdi.M. Warfa The crisis in Kismaayo has the potential to undermine the Somali Federal Government. It also threatens to bring the fragile and recovering nation back to the brink of civil war. Compromise is the only way out” (HIPS Policy Briefing, Kismayo Crisis: options for compromise, June 4th, 2013) President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud:...
Abducted, drugged and gang raped in Somalia: a young mother details the most brutal of allegations against African Union troops and Somali soldiers in a case causing widespread anger. “The soldiers raped me… I tried to defend myself but they beat me badly and I passed out,” she said, speaking to the Somali Channel television...