By Mustafa HAJI ABDINUR MOGADISHU, March 14, 2024 (AFP) – Islamist militants from the Al-Shabaab group on Thursday attacked a popular hotel near the presidential palace in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, security sources and witnesses said. The assault, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, began at around 9:45 pm (1845 GMT) when gunmen stormed the SYL hotel in a hail of bullets. “Several gunmen forced their way into the building after destroying the perimeter wall with a […]
Tag: Somalia
Somalia drought could lead to 135 deaths a day: UN study
The record drought sweeping the Horn of Africa may lead to 135 deaths a day in Somalia between January and June this year, the health ministry, WHO and UNICEF said in a study released Monday. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that nearly 100,000 people in the fragile country were facing catastrophic levels of hunger due to the worst drought to hit the region in four decades. Monday’s study used a statistical […]
Horn of Africa drought drives 22 million to hunger
K’ELAFO, Ethiopia (AFP) – From southern Ethiopia to northern Kenya and Somalia, around 22 million people are at risk of hunger as the worst drought in four decades grips the Horn of Africa. In the afflicted areas, inhabitants — who eke out a living mainly from herding and subsistence farming — are experiencing their fifth consecutive poor rainy season since the end of 2020. The United Nations says 12 million people in Ethiopia, 5.6 million in […]
Aid staves off Somalia famine, for now: UN
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Humanitarian aid and support from local communities have helped avert a dreaded famine declaration in Somalia this year, but the situation remains “catastrophic,” the UN said on Tuesday. The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said the latest assessment found that, technically, Somalia was not yet in the grip of full-blown famine. The report “does not lead to a declaration of famine at this point, in large part thanks to the response […]
Death toll from Somalia twin bombings climbs to 100
by Mustafa HAJI ABDINUR Agence France-Presse MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP) — The death toll from twin car bombings in the Somali capital Mogadishu, claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists, has risen to 100, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the country’s international allies. “So far, the number of people who died has reached 100 and 300 are wounded, and the number for both the death and wounded continues to increase,” he said after visiting […]
Around 730 children dead in Somalia nutrition centres: UN
By Agence France Presse Around 730 children have died in nutrition centres across Somalia since January, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning the true figure could be much higher, with the country nearing famine. Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa, which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops. “Malnutrition has reached an unprecedented […]
Dying of hunger: What is a famine?
Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) by Simon VALMARY On Monday, the UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned that Somalia was on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade. Here is an exploration of a term that evokes the very worst of human suffering. – What is a famine? – “Famine” is a word freighted with dread of hunger and privation, dating back to the dawn of humanity. More recently, though, […]
UN warns famine ‘at the door’ in Somalia
Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) by Tanya WILLMER The UN’s humanitarian chief warned Monday that drought-ravaged Somalia was on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade, and time was running out to save lives. “Famine is at the door and we are receiving a final warning,” Martin Griffiths told a press conference in the Somali capital Mogadishu. A food and nutrition report due for release on Monday has “concrete indications” that […]
Biden reestablishes US troop presence inside Somalia
by Sebastian Smith Washington, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden has ordered the reestablishment of a US troop presence in Somalia to help local authorities combat the Al-Shabaab militant group, a senior American official told reporters Monday. The move reverses an order from Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, who in late 2020 pulled nearly all US forces from the East African nation as he sought to wind down US military engagements abroad during his final […]
At least five killed in Shabaab raid on Mogadishu hotel
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP) — At least five people were killed in an hours-long Al-Shabaab attack on a Mogadishu hotel which ended around midnight on Sunday, Somali police said. The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the Hotel Afrik at a busy junction near the airport before gunmen stormed the hotel, exchanging fire with security personnel. Somali police spokesman Sadik Dudishe told a press conference that four attackers had also died. “Among […]
Long ‘lost’ elephant shrew found in Horn of Africa
by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — For half a century scientists feared that the Somali elephant shrew had vanished from the face of the Earth. No one had seen so much as a whisker. But the tiny mammal with its probing trunk-like nose was quietly thriving in the arid, rocky landscape of the Horn of Africa, researchers said Tuesday. The elusive, insect-eating creature is neither an elephant nor a shrew. It is […]
Long ‘lost’ elephant shrew found in Horn of Africa
by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS PARIS, France (AFP) — For half a century scientists feared that the Somali elephant shrew had vanished from the face of the Earth. No one had seen so much as a whisker. But the tiny mammal with its probing trunk-like nose was quietly thriving in the arid, rocky landscape of the Horn of Africa, researchers said Tuesday. The elusive, insect-eating creature is neither an elephant nor a shrew. It is a sengi […]





