The Somali government announced the deaths of around forty al-Shabab fighters in the latest clashes with security forces in the Middle Shabelle region (Reuters)
This came after Somali defense officials said the country was making significant progress in building an effective security force capable of re-establishing governmental authority (VOA)
Last week, the Somali government announced another successful military operation in the Lower Shabelle region that killed forty-nine al-Shabab fighters (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Somali forces in the central Galgaduud region foiled an attack by al-Shabab on a military base in Qayib last Friday; al-Shabab disputed this claim (Reuters)
In a separate incident, a lone Al-Shabab fighter killed at least three Kenyan peacekeepers and wounded five others in an attack on the Sarira Forward Operating Base in southern Somalia (AP)
Al-Shabab Seizes Hotel in Somalia, Kills Nine
Six Al-Shabab fighters laid siege to the Villa Rose hotel in Mogadishu for twenty-two hours before Somali security forces were able to free sixty trapped civilians and kill the attackers; nine civilians were killed, including one police officer (NYT)
UN Extends Arms Embargo on Somalia
Despite objections from the Somali government and the African Union, the UN Security Council voted to extend the arms embargo over concerns about the al-Shabab extremist group (AP)
Offensive by Somali Army, Allied Militias Kills Twenty Al-Shabab Fighters
Somalia’s army, alongside allied clan militias, killed at least twenty al-Shabab fighters and captured the towns of El Gorof and Wabho after a clash in central Somalia, said a regional official and Information Minister (Reuters)
In addition, the U.S. Department of State announced a ten million dollar reward for information on top al-Shabab leaders and the group’s financing network (Al Jazeera)
Al-Shabab Attacks Military Base in Somalia, Killing Five
An al-Shabab suicide bomber pretending to be a recruit attacked the General Dhaga-Badan military training camp in Mogadishu, killing at least five and wounding eleven (AP)
Earlier in the week, at least two people were killed and five others wounded in a roadside explosion that hit a vehicle carrying students home from school in Mogadishu’s Daynille district; no group has claimed responsibility (AP)
Somali Army Launches Fresh Offensive Against al-Shabab
Somalia’s defense ministry claimed that at least one hundred al-Shabab fighters had been killed during heavy clashes in the central Hiran region (Reuters)
In addition, Somalia’s military has liberated several key villages in Somalia’s central Galgadud province (VOA)
The U.S. also announced a successful airstrike targeting al-Shabab fighters near the town of Cadale, over one hundred miles north of Mogadishu (AP)
These advances came after al-Shabab claimed responsibility for twin car bombings in Mogadishu that have now killed one hundred and twenty people and injured a further three hundred and twenty, with several still missing (AP)
Four Abductees in Kenya Released
The two paramedics, their driver, and a patient have been freed after being abducted by suspected al-Shabab members earlier in the week (Reuters)
Al-Shabab Abducts Four in Kenya
Suspected members of al-Shabab ambushed an ambulance in Mandera near Kenya’s border with Somalia, kidnapping two paramedics, a driver, and a patient (Reuters)
U.S. Treasury Targets ISIS Weapons Trafficking
For the first time, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on entities it said are linked to the self-declared Islamic State in Somalia; some also have ties to al-Shabaab, which claimed an attack that killed one hundred people in the capital, Mogadishu, over the weekend (CNN)
Al-Shabab Claims Responsibility for Twin Somalia Car Bombings
The blasts targeting the country’s education ministry killed at least one hundred people on Saturday (BBC)
Almost One Million Facing Drought in Areas Controlled By al-Shabab
Nine hundred thousand people in drought-stricken areas of the country live under control or influence of the militant group al-Shabab, which is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching its territory, the United Nations’ Somalia envoy said; he said talks are ongoing to provide aid to the areas amid threats of famine (AP)
Car Bomb, Shooting Kills Nine
Al-Shabab took responsibility for an attack on the Tawakal Hotel in the town of Kismayu, killing nine before security forces were able to neutralize the three attackers (Reuters)
Meanwhile, two al-Shabab fighters were killed by U.S. airstrikes north of Mogadishu (CNN)
However, the United Nations confirmed that one million drought-affected civilians remain under the control of the extremist group and called on its leaders to allow humanitarian access as food insecurity worsens (AP)
U.S. Energy Company Signs Agreement with Somali Government
The government signed an oil-production agreement with U.S. company Coastline Exploration; international energy firms have not worked in Somalia in over thirty years due to an ongoing civil war (Bloomberg)
U.S. Sanctions Fourteen Alleged Al-Shabab Supporters
The U.S. Treasury Department designated fourteen individuals under Executive Order 13224 believed to be a part of Al-Shabab’s network to disrupt the group’s weapons procurement, financial support, and recruitment, said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson (Reuters)
Areas in Central Somalia on Verge of Famine
UN agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), have confirmed a significant rise in hunger, particularly acute malnutrition among children, in camps for internally displaced people in central Somalia despite increases in food aid (Reuters)
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement with Somalia to release about $10 million as the country continued to implement economic reforms amid tumultuous circumstances (Reuters)
Al-Shabab Targets Government Headquarters in Hiran, Killing Twenty
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack on the government headquarters in the town of Beledweyne that killed twenty and wounded thirty-six after Somalia announced the death of a top al-Shabab leader, Abdullahi Nadir (AP)
U.S. Kills al-Shabab Leader
The U.S. military said it killed a leader of the militant group al-Shabab in an air strike over the weekend (Reuters)
U.S.-Backed Offensive Helps Somalia Regain Control of Militant-Held Areas
Somali Interior Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi reported that Somalia’s army, backed by militia members and the U.S. military, captured fifty settlements in central Somalia held by al-Shabab in the largest operation undertaken against the group in five years (Bloomberg)
Meanwhile, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed one soldier and injured six others outside a Somali military base west of Mogadishu (Reuters)
Somali President Appeals for Aid at UN General Assembly
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his commitment to combatting famine and terrorism in Somalia, urging for more support from UN Member States (UN News)
U.S. Airstrike Kills Twenty Seven Al-Shabab Militants
The U.S. military announced the death of twenty seven al-Shabab fighters after a successful airstrike in Somalia’s Hiran region (Reuters)
Meanwhile, a government militia killed an additional forty five people during a battle in the same region, with witnesses claiming several of the Islamist insurgents were beheaded (Reuters)
President Claims Somali National Army Making Progress Against al-Shabab
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told a diaspora community in Washington that his government was gaining ground against al-Shabab, following recent confrontations in central Somalia; later that day, the Somali National Army claimed its attack on an al-Shabab base in Aborey village killed forty-three militants (VOA)
United Nations Estimates 500,000 Children at Risk of Death in Somalia’s Worsening Famine
In a news briefing, UNICEF warned that more than 500,000 Somali children under the age of five are at risk of severe acute malnutrition and death as the country faces its fifth consecutive failed rainy season (Reuters)
Al-Shabab Seizes Hotel in Mogadishu, Kills Twenty-One
Islamist insurgents stormed the Hayat Hotel in Somalia’s capital, leading to a violent exchange with security forces lasting over thirty hours, and resulting in twenty one deaths and one hundred seventeen wounded (Associated Press)
Al-Shabab Kills Eighteen in Attack on Food Relief Transport
Al-Shabab launched an overnight attack in Hirshabelle, killing at least eighteen civilians and destroying trucks carrying relief food from Baladweyne to Mahas (Reuters)
Somali Parliament Endorses New Cabinet
Somali members of parliament overwhelmingly endorsed new cabinet ministers appointed by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre amid continued al-Shabab attacks (Voice of America)