Somalia

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Police: Dozens Dead in Attack on Beach Hotel

Al-Shabab takes responsibility for attack, which left dozens more injured, in Somalia's Mogadishu

(Newser) - Police in Somalia said Saturday that 32 people died and 63 others were wounded in an attack on a beach hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, the previous evening. Al-Qaeda's East Africa affiliate, al-Shabab, said through its radio that its fighters carried out the attack, per the AP . Police spokesperson...

Two Navy SEALs Missing Off Somalia Coast

One went overboard during mission Thursday night, the other went in after

(Newser) - Two US Navy SEALs are missing after conducting a nighttime boarding mission Thursday off the coast of Somalia, according to three US officials. The SEALs were on an interdiction mission, climbing up a vessel, when one got knocked off by high waves. Under their protocol, when one SEAL is overtaken...

US Navy Sailors Go Missing Off Coast of Somalia

Search and rescue operation is underway

(Newser) - A search and rescue operation is underway off the coast of Somalia after two sailors from the US Navy went missing on Thursday night, reports Reuters . "For operational security purposes, we will not release additional information until the personnel recovery operation is complete," read a statement from US...

Runner's Extremely Slow Race Is a Head-Scratcher

Somalia's sports minister apologized after strange incident

(Newser) - Somalia's sports minister publicly apologized Wednesday and ordered that the chairwoman of the national track and field federation be suspended after a seemingly untrained female sprinter represented the African country at the World University Games in China and took more than 20 seconds to finish a 100-meter race, the...

Somalia Asks for Doctors After Bombings

At least 100 were killed, president says, in extremist group's attack

(Newser) - Somalia’s president says that at least 100 people were killed in two car bombings Saturday at a busy junction in the capital in the country's deadliest attack since a truck bombing at the same spot five years ago killed more than 500. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, at the...

It's Probably Too Late to Avoid Famine in Somalia

'We are facing the death of children on a scale not seen in half a century,' says UNICEF

(Newser) - The last time famine was declared in Somalia, 260,000 people died—half of them children—and “the world vowed never to let it happen again,” according to CBS News. That was in 2011, but it is happening again, and this time it could be much worse, according...

Brazen Hotel Attack May Signal Dangerous New Phase

Al-Shabab stormed Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu after new president warns of crackdown

(Newser) - Somali authorities on Sunday ended a deadly attack in which 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded when gunmen stormed a hotel in the capital, per the AP . It took Somali forces more than 30 hours to contain the fighters who had stormed Mogadishu's Hayat Hotel on Friday...

Troops Fight al-Shabab at Hotel
Militant Attack on Hotel Kills 20
Aug 20, 2022 1:10 PM CDT

Militant Attack on Hotel Kills 20

Troops fight al-Shabab militants in Mogadishu gunbattle

(Newser) - Islamic militants have stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital, engaging in an hours-long exchange of fire with the security forces that left at least 20 people dead, according to police and witnesses. In addition, at least 40 people were wounded in the late Friday night attack, and security forces...

Biden Is Redeploying Troops to Somalia

Move to station forces in country reverses Trump order

(Newser) - President Biden signed an order Monday to redeploy hundreds of US troops to Somalia to counter the Islamic extremist rebel group al-Shabab, an effort that American military leaders said had been hampered by Donald Trump's late-term decision to withdraw forces from the country. US troops will be repositioned from...

UN Warns 350K Children Could Die in Drought by June

In Somalia, some 1.4M under age 5 are malnourished

(Newser) - "The situation cannot be more dire," said Adam Abdelmoula , a UN humanitarian official. Unless something is done quickly about the drought in Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula said, "350,000 of the 1.4 million severely malnourished children in the country will perish." The drought is Somalia's...

At Least 20 Dead After Car Bombing in Somali Capital

Vehicle with explosives crashed into popular restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia

(Newser) - The death toll has risen to at least 20 after a vehicle packed with explosives rammed into a popular restaurant in Somalia's capital on Friday night, with 30 wounded. The Somali National News Agency cited the Aamin ambulance service for the death toll. The Luul Yamani restaurant also was...

In This Nation, Few Take COVID Seriously

Mitigation efforts are missing in Somalia, which will be among the last to receive vaccines

(Newser) - As richer countries race to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, Somalia remains the rare place where much of the population hasn't taken the coronavirus seriously. Some fear that's proven to be deadlier than anyone knows. "Certainly our people don’t use any form of protective measures, neither masks nor...

Trump: Pull US Troops Out of This Nation by January

Somalia joins Afghanistan and Iraq in Trump's end-of-term troop drawdowns

(Newser) - Last month, US officials announced President Trump would be pulling a significant number of US troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq by January. Now, another country joins the list, in a different part of the world. The Pentagon said Friday that nearly all of the 700 American troops in Somalia...

NATO Chief Responds to Trump's Troop Cuts

ISIS could take advantage of the vacuum in Afghanistan, secretary-general says

(Newser) - President Trump's plan to reduce US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq in the next two months drew a warning Tuesday from NATO. "The price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high," said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, per the BBC . He said Afghanistan...

Outrage in Somalia Over Possible Child Marriage Move

Parliament considering a bill that would allow it

(Newser) - An outcry is rising in Somalia as parliament considers a bill that would allow child marriage once a girl’s sexual organs mature and would allow forced marriage as long as the family gives their consent. Somalia in 2013 agreed with the UN to improve its sexual violence laws, and...

UN Pleads for Help Amid 'Devastating' Locust Invasion

Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya all overtaken; UN says locust numbers could grow 500 times by June

(Newser) - Last month, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization reported on the plague of locusts that had overtaken Somalia and Ethiopia, and now a new East African nation is being beleaguered by the bugs. The FAO says Kenya is also dealing with an "unprecedented" and "devastating" number of...

3 More Americans Killed in Base Attack

Al-Shabab strikes again, this time at Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Kenya

(Newser) - With Iran on everyone's mind, Americans killed in Africa don't get much attention—but three were indeed killed Sunday at a military base in Kenya, NBC News reports. According to US Africa Command, al-Shabab forces attacked a base used by US troops before dawn, killing a US service...

Horrific Truck Bomb Kills 78
Horrific Truck Bomb Kills 78
Dec 28, 2019 11:00 AM CST

Horrific Truck Bomb Kills 78

At least 125 are wounded in Mogadishu

(Newser) - A truck bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia's capital Saturday morning, killing at least 78 people including many students, authorities said. It was the worst attack in Mogadishu in more than two years, and witnesses said the force of the blast reminded them of the city'...

Locust Plague Swoops Down Upon 2 Nations

Somalia, Ethiopia seeing worst invasion of desert locusts in 25 years: UN food agency

(Newser) - Crops on nearly 173,000 acres of land have been destroyed in Somalia and parts of eastern Ethiopia in what the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization is deeming the region's worst desert locust invasion in a quarter century. The FAO notes the insect plague is imperiling farmers' livelihoods...

Rand Paul Floats Controversial Idea for Ilhan Omar

Says he'll help buy a plane ticket for her to visit Somalia so she can better appreciate US

(Newser) - Rand Paul has been staunchly on the side of President Trump during Trump's public feud with Rep. Ilhan Omar and others progressive members of "the Squad." Now, the Kentucky senator has ramped up his defense with a provocative statement about the Somalia-born Omar, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal ...

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