Somalia

The United Nations says “famine is at the door” in Somalia with “concrete indications” famine will occur later this year in the southern Bay region. This falls just short of a formal famine declaration as thousands are dying in a historic drought made worse by the effects of the war in Ukraine.

The move comes on the heels of evolving intelligence that suggests the extremist group al-Shabab could soon pose a larger threat to the region.

The Pentagon says President Donald Trump has ordered most of the approximately 700 troops in Somalia to leave the country

Somalia’s al-Shabab extremist group attacked a military base used by U.S. and Kenyan troops in coastal Kenya early Sunday, destroying U.S. aircraft and vehicles, Kenyan authorities said. Kenya’s military said the pre-dawn assault was repulsed and at least four attackers were killed....

It was the first known al-Shabab attack against U.S. forces inside Kenya, a key base for fighting one of...

A truck bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia’s capital Saturday morning, killing at least 76 people including many students, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu in recent memory, and witnesses said the force of the blast reminded them of the devastating 2017 bombing that killed hundreds.

Islamic extremists blew up the gate of a Somali hotel with a car bomb and took over the building for more than 14 hours, leaving 26 people dead before Somali forces who besieged the hotel overnight killed the attackers. The victims included a prominent Canadian-Somali journalist. Three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and a Briton also were among the dead,...

A U.S. citizen has been charged with kidnapping and other counts for his alleged role in the abduction of a freelance journalist who was held hostage in Somalia for nearly three years, according to federal charging documents unsealed Thursday in New York. According to a criminal complaint, Abdi Yusuf Hassan was part of a conspiracy to kidnap the journalist in...

Federal prosecutors say three Michigan residents have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group. They say FBI agents arrested Muse Abdikadir Muse, Mohamud Abdikadir Muse and Mohamed Salat Haji on Monday, and prosecutors charged the Lansing residents in a complaint filed Tuesday.

Extremists stormed a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital on Tuesday, setting off thunderous explosions and gunning down people at cafe tables in an attack claimed by Africa’s deadliest Islamic militant group. A police officer said at least 15 people had died. “It is terrible. What I have seen is terrible,” said Charles Njenga, who ran from a scene of blood,...

The U.S. military says it has carried out six airstrikes in the Gandarshe area of Somalia which killed a total of 62 al-Shabab extremist rebels. In a statement issued Monday, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said it carried out four strikes on Dec. 15 in which 34 people were killed and two more on Dec. 16 which killed 28. All...

The owner of a Dunkin’ franchise in Portland, Maine, has apologized to a woman who said she was banned from the store for speaking Somali with her family this week, NBC News reported. Hamdia Ahmed, a 20-year-old refugee from Somalia and local college student, said she and her family were speaking in Somali while waiting in the drive-thru at the...

The U.S. military on Tuesday announced its deadliest airstrike against the al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia in nearly a year, killing about 60 fighters. The U.S. Africa Command said Friday’s airstrike occurred near the al-Shabab-controlled community of Harardere in Mudug province in the central part of the country. According to its assessment no civilians were injured or killed, the statement...

A federal appeals court has found that President Donald Trump’s latest ban on travelers from six largely Muslim countries is unconstitutional. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that it examined statements made by Trump and other administration officials, as well as the ban itself, and concluded it is “unconstitutionally tainted with animus toward Islam.” The court upheld...

Five states in Mexico now have the sternest “do not travel” advisories under a revamped U.S. State Department system unveiled Wednesday, putting them on the same level as war-torn countries like Syria, Yemen and Somalia. The five states are Tamaulipas on the U.S. border and Sinaloa, Colima, Michoacan and Guerrero on the Pacific coast. All the states are hotspots of...

Add this to the list of things for which to be thankful: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay on Thursday welcomed a cute newborn giraffe!

George Clooney has donated $1 million to combat war crimes and corruption in Africa. The Clooney Foundation for Justice on Wednesday announced the gift to the Sentry, an investigative initiative that Clooney co-founded to uncover the financial networks behind conflicts in Africa.

Thousands of anguished Somalis gathered to pray Friday at the site of the country’s deadliest attack, while the toll rose to 358 and dozens remained missing. Somalia’s president will announce a “state of war” against the al-Shabab extremist group blamed for the bombing, the prime minister said. The United States is expected to play a supporting role in the new...

Hundreds have died in a bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, Sunday, Oct. 15, 217. It was the deadliest single attack ever in the Horn of Africa nation.

A huge explosion from a truck bomb killed 20 people in Somalia’s capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they’d heard in years. The explosion appeared to target a hotel on a busy road in Hodan district and at least 15 people were injured, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. Security forces had been trailing...

The Trump administration on Thursday offered the Supreme Court a way out of ruling on the travel ban controversy, over the objection of the policy’s opponents....
In a letter to the court, the administration’s chief Supreme Court lawyer told the justices they should dismiss the case, now that the version of the travel ban they had been planning to consider has...