By Virginia Pietromarchi Doha, Qatar – Somalia is working closely to restore peace in its northern breakaway region of Somaliland amid heightening tensions between the region’s authorities and local clan forces, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera. “We believe that unity is the only solution… but we don’t want this unity through violence, which makes matters worse,” Mohamud...
Harun Maruf WASHINGTON — The three neighboring countries of Somalia are to send new troops to support Somali forces against al-Shabab in the next phase of military operations, the national security adviser for the Somali president said. In an interview with VOA’s Somali Service on Wednesday, Hussein Sheikh-Ali said Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya will be sending...
By Faisal A. Roble Introduction Beginning with the collapse of the Somali Republic in 1990, the Somali National Movement (SNM) declared a unilateral secession from the rest of Somali Republic at the Burcoa convention on May 18, 1991. Residents in Las Anod and large sections of Sanaag region claim to have not endorsed said unilateralism....
By Mohamed Jama The Genesis of the SSC-Somaliland Conflict Most of the Sool region has been under Somaliland administration since 2007, after the control of the regional capital of Laasanood fell to the grip of Somaliland following a daylong skirmish between Puntland and Somaliland that led to unchallenged takeover of the city of Laasaanood. Somaliland...
Escaping the war in Somalia, Jawahir Roble – also known as JJ – arrived into the UK when she was only 10 years old. After many challenging years, JJ became renowned as a trailblazer in football as she became the UK’s first ever female Muslim hijabi referee. At the age of 10, JJ was unable...
Salem Solomon WASHINGTON — As Ethiopians emerge from two years of conflict, a new Gallup survey paints a bleak picture of people suffering economically and emotionally. The survey conducted in the fall of 2022, found that a record-high 65% of Ethiopians are struggling to afford food, with food prices rising 43% in 2022 compared to 2021, and certain...
Emmanuel Igunza Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki has accused the US of supporting Tigrayan rebels during the recently concluded civil war in northern Ethiopia. In a Sunday interview with local media, the president claimed that the peace deal signed between Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was rushed by the US to prevent the...
ISLAMABAD/DUBAI, (Reuters) – Pakistani former President Pervez Musharraf died on Sunday following a prolonged illness at a hospital in Dubai, after years in self-imposed exile. Pakistan’s military and the country’s mission in the United Arab Emirates announced the death of the former army chief, 79, who was pushed from power in 2008. “I can confirm that he...
Nairobi (AFP) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday held his first face-to-face meeting with Tigrayan leaders since a peace deal was agreed last year, officials and state media said. The talks took place almost three months to the day since the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed an agreement to...
Tom Gardner in Mogadishu The drive from Mogadishu airport to the presidential home at Villa Somalia should take about 15 minutes. It rarely does. Every few hundred metres there is a police roadblock. Nothing can be left to chance: lethal explosions at checkpoints are commonplace. To avoid security breaches, nobody except Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the recently re-elected president,...