Tag: News in English

Mogadishu March 25 2013 (SDN)— Rape cases in Somalia have reduced significantly.This great news was a result of a massive campaign throughout the city where majority of internally displaced people live. The campaign against rape and gender violation was spearheaded by celebrated nationalist and noble peace prize winner Lady Asho Haji.She is known for her…

Nairobi March 19 2013 (SDN)— The United States condemns today’s terrorist attack that has reportedly killed at least ten innocent Somali civilians in downtown Mogadishu. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, survivors and their families. There can be no excuse for murder. We stand firmly with the citizens and Government of Somalia who have…

19 March 2013 – The United Nations envoy in Somalia voiced shock and sadness at today’s car bombing in the capital, Mogadishu, which reportedly killed several people and wounded many more. The bombing occurred near Villa Somalia in the vicinity of the National Theatre in Mogadishu, according to a news release issued by the UN Political Office…

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2013 – Somalia and Mali represent different stages of the challenges for U.S. Africa Command, Army Gen. Carter F. Ham told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Ham, who will step down as Africom commander next month, said the five-year-old command has increased operational capabilities and capacities and has worked to build…

Nairobi  March 04 2013 (SDN)—Polls have opened in Kenya for the first presidential election since deadly ethnic violence that killed more than 1,200 people after a 2007 ballot. The two rivals for the presidency, prime minister Raila Odinga and his deputy Uhuru Kenyatta, have publicly vowed that there will be no repeat of the violence,…

New York/Paris/Nairobi, 28 February 2013 – Efforts underway at the United Nations to integrate humanitarian assistance into the international military campaign against opponents of Somalia’s government will further threaten the safe delivery of independent and impartial aid to Somalis struggling to survive ongoing war, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned today. The…

 (AFP) MOGADISHU — Somalia’s president has offered an amnesty to young pirates in a bid to end attacks off the Horn of Africa nation’s coast as he seeks to rebuild the war-torn country, he told AFP. “We have been negotiating with the pirates indirectly through the elders,” said President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. “Piracy has to…

Today, the EU Ambassadors of Germany, Margit Hellwig-Bötte, France, Etienne De Poncins, Spain, Javier Herrera García-Canturri , Belgium, Bart Ouvry, and Finland, Sofie From-Emmesberger , have presented jointly their credentials to the President of Somalia to become their countries’ first Ambassadors to the Federal Republic of Somalia for over 21 years. With the accreditation of…

On Monday 25 February Dutch EU Naval Force frigate HNLMS De Ruyter transferred nine suspected pirates to the Seychelles authorities for prosecution. The transfers happened after HNLMS De Ruyter, who was conducting counter piracy patrols, stopped two skiffs on 19 February 120 nautical miles off the Somali Coast and apprehended nine suspected pirates on board….

His Excellency the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma who appointed the first woman to be a Brigadier in the whole of West Africa, has vowed to do even more to bridge the gender gap in the various regiments of Sierra Leone’s Armed Forces (RSLAF). He made this statement while…

The Dutch and Spanish navies on Tuesday detained nine alleged pirates off the Somali coast, the Dutch defence ministry said in a statement. A helicopter took off from Dutch frigate De Ruyter early Tuesday after a Panamian-registered vessel said it had felt threatened. The helicopter intercepted one high-speed boat and detained “some” of the suspects,…

As part of Puntland State’s preparations for upcoming local council elections scheduled for May 2013 and the continuation of its overall democratization process, the Democratization Programme Steering Committee (DSC) – a group of seven donors (the European Union, Denmark, DFID, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and USAID) – organised a mission today to Garowe in order to…

Washington Feb 18 2013 (SDN)– United States President Barack Obama will be visiting Nigeria, Kenya and some other African countries before the end of July, this year if the information from the Presidential travel trends is anything to go by. It would be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan and other Africa’s leaders have been some…

Somalia has now denied opposing funding for Kenya’s navy to fight Al-Shabaab. Somalia Ambassador to Kenya Mr Mohamed Nur on Sunday clarified that his country only thought it would be more expensive to fund a navy and instead proposed for the building of its equivalent called the Somali Coast Guard. “We prefer to get help…

A high-ranking Somali official told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that her government does not want the African Union military mission in Somalia (Amisom) to be given a maritime component. Kenya, the only African country deploying naval forces in Somali waters, has long sought UN approval of about $10 million (Sh870m) in funding…

An Irish brigadier general leading an EU training mission in Somalia has warned the operation will not move to the capital, Mogadishu, until enough staff to protect instructors and medical facilities are in place. Ten Irish defence force personnel are in the core 87-strong mission. Most of the training of Somalia’s defence forces takes place…

(Reuters) – Iran has denied allegations that it has been supplying Islamist militants in Somalia with weapons, describing the charges as “absurd fabrications,” according to a letter obtained by Reuters on Thursday. As the United States pushes for an end to the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, U.N. monitors following Somalia sanctions are warning that Islamist militants…

Mogadishu, 09 February, 2013: A probe set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding an incident in which civilians were killed when the Al-Qaeda affiliated terror group, Alshabaab, attacked an AMISOM patrol , has found that AMISOM soldiers acted within internationally accepted rules of engagement when they responded to the ambush. Seven civilians, including 5 children, were…

The U.N. Security Council is preparing to consider a report on Somalia from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that includes options and recommendations for a future U.N. role in the country. U.N. special envoy to Somalia Augustine Philip Mahiga says a Security Council meeting on the recommendations will take place within the coming week. In a VOA…

GENEVA — The World Food Program (WFP) reports it plans to feed 1.6 million people in Somalia this year, including more than one million people who are in a state of crisis.  WFP says some of the most vulnerable people are in areas formerly controlled by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. The World Food Program reports the situation…