Late on Sept. 3, explosions hit the Doolow residence of Mahad Abdirahman Aden, better known as Shub, a former commander of Somalia’s Custodial Corps, in an incident that has generated conflicting accounts over its cause and who was responsible. Local media reported a number of casualties among people at the residence, though accounts differed and no official death toll has been confirmed. The circumstances of the explosions and the number of casualties have not been independently verified. Opposition figures have described the incident as an air strike and accused Somalia’s federal government…
Renewed fighting in western Tigray has intensified fears of a return to large-scale conflict between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigrayan forces. The clashes began near Shererina, close to Sheraro and the Sudanese border, and represent one of the gravest challenges to the Pretoria peace agreement that ended the 2020–2022 war. Both sides have accused the other of initiating the confrontation. In a statement, the Tigray regional government accused federal forces of launching repeated ground attacks and using air power in the Shererina area. It further alleged that fighters belonging to…
African Union troop-contributing countries agreed on Friday to seek 18 to 24 months of uninterrupted international support for the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), saying the transition is necessary to strengthen Somalia's security forces and ensure an orderly transfer of security responsibilities. The leaders, meeting with the Somali government at an extraordinary summit in Kampala, also called for increased military financing, more air assets and intelligence capabilities, and renewed diplomatic efforts to secure predictable funding for the mission. The…
The Somali Future Council (SFC) has called on countries contributing troops to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) to prioritize a comprehensive political settlement, arguing that lasting security cannot be achieved without resolving the country's ongoing constitutional and political disputes. In an open letter dated July 27, the Council thanked African troop-contributing countries for their decades of sacrifice while urging them to support an inclusive national dialogue. The Council argued that Somalia is facing a legitimacy crisis, claiming the…
The Sudanese army has made one of its most significant advances in Kordofan this year, saying it has recaptured the towns of Bara, Umm Sayala and Jabra al-Sheikh following a large-scale offensive. The operation was carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces with support from the Joint Force of allied armed groups and other pro-army units. It followed weeks of intermittent fighting in northern North Kordofan, where the Rapid Support Forces had strengthened their positions north and west of El Obeid to protect supply routes linking central Sudan with Darfur. Military sources said government…
Somali piracy is resurging as regional wars, weakened maritime patrols, militant alliances, foreign maritime expansion, and local security gaps converge to threaten critical shipping lanes.…
The protests of dialysis patients in Hargeisa stirred a young poet to speak, carrying forth an old Somali tradition in which verse stands as the moral conscience of society and lays bare the failings of the political class.…
Somaliland has secured formal recognition from Israel, but this breakthrough carries political, moral, and security costs, drawing its statehood campaign into the conflicts shaping the Red Sea and the wider Middle East.…
The World Cup was meant to be the culmination of Omar Artan’s remarkable rise. His exclusion from it revealed something equally striking, the magnitude of the admiration he had earned at home and globally.…
For more than twenty hours, Somalia’s capital was gripped by artillery and heavy weapons exchanges between the federal government and opposition leaders, bringing the city to a complete standstill.…
Israel’s recognition gave Somaliland a historic diplomatic breakthrough, yet the aftermath damaged its soft power, revealing hostile geopolitical narratives and serious weaknesses in strategic communication.…
President Deni has accomplished what his predecessors could not by bringing Puntland’s powerful autonomous security force under his control. The triumph promises greater stability but also revives a familiar Somali fear, the return of one-man rule.…
Rising tensions in the Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb corridors are exposing Somaliland’s economic and security vulnerabilities, increasing food, fuel, and shipping costs, and underscoring the need for strategic reserves and a more resilient domestic economy.…
Puntland’s new warmth toward Somaliland signals a historic reversal, driven by presidential ambition, federal disillusionment, territorial pressures and an international order increasingly organized around decentralized security and regional power structures.…
Twenty-eight years after Puntland’s creation, its anniversary comes at a defining moment for Somalia, as constitutional disputes raise questions about the country’s unfinished federal project.…
Somaliland rebuilt from the ruins of war, but the recovery of its cultural memory has been slower, more fragile, and no less essential.…
From Khartoum to Kampala, Walid Al-Alfi’s Girls’ Theatre project helps Sudanese women turn personal memories of war and Kampala into performances shaped in their own voices onstage today.…
At independence in 1960, Somaliland had produced only two university graduates, not a single qualified doctor or nurse, and just one secondary school for boys in the entire territory. It is with statistics as stark as these that Dr Abdullahi Deria builds his case in A Brief History of Formal Education in British Somaliland Protectorate (1884–1960), a book that is at once a history and an indictment. Deria does not merely narrate the colonial record; he interrogates it, and few Somali authors have done so with such precision or such evident authority. Published in 2025 by Maple Publishers in…
Contemporary anxieties over Somali “Arabisation” frequently reproduce colonial ideas of authenticity, misread Islamic influence as cultural displacement, and overlook the more consequential erosion of language and intergenerational memory.…
On a rough field inside Kiryandongo refugee settlement, displaced women are building a volleyball community that gives girls room to compete, form friendships and recover a sense of agency after war.…
Remembering Cali Shucaac, poet, veteran, and witness, whose life carried Somali oral memory through colonial partition, state violence, and the struggle for dignity, self-determination, and lasting collective justice.…
From unity anthems to love songs, Saalax Sanaag is building a musical world rooted in Somalinimo, reminding a divided people that belonging can still be sung into being together.…
The exclusion of Somali referee Omar Artan hardens the contradiction at the heart of the 2026 World Cup: a global tournament increasingly shaped by the politics of exclusion.…
Somaliland’s recognition
From Israel’s recognition to the diplomatic backlash and Somaliland’s wider recognition drive, this Geeska file traces the debates, alliances and regional consequences shaping a new political moment.
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conflicts in HoA
Wars and political conflicts have shaped the Horn of Africa for decades. Explore our articles, news, and in-depth coverage of the region’s crises.
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The War in Sudan
Since fighting erupted in 2023, we have reported from the ground with breaking news, cultural stories, and coverage centered on Sudanese voices.
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Trump and Africa
U.S. policy toward Africa shifted sharply under Donald Trump. Explore our reporting on foreign policy, drone strikes, and discussions on immigration.
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Photos from the public lecture “The Essentials of the Modern State: Sovereignty, Power, and Public Life,” delivered by Prof. Abdi Ali Jama. …
Kenyan runner Sebastian Sawe made history at the London Marathon by becoming the first person to run a marathon in under two hours in an official race, finishing in 1:59:30 and breaking the previous record set by Kelvin Kiptum. …
William Ruto and Giorgia Meloni have signed a 2026–2029 action plan to expand cooperation between Kenya and Italy after talks in Rome. The agreement sets out government-to-government consultations and coordination in forums such as the United Nations, covering issues including migration, technology, climate, and development. …
The Trump administration is exploring ways to improve relations with Eritrea, including potentially lifting some sanctions, as part of a broader effort to rebuild diplomatic ties after years of limited engagement. This initiative has been discussed by U.S. envoy Massad Boulos in meetings with Eritrean and Egyptian officials, including Isaias Afwerki and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The move is still under review but reflects growing U.S. interest in the region, particularly as security concerns rise in the Red Sea due to threats from the Iran-backed Houthi movement. …
Across the Horn of Africa, elections tell very different stories - decades-long grips on power in Djibouti and Uganda, uncertainty in Somalia, conflict and the dominance of the Prosperity Party shaping Ethiopia’s polls, and a closely watched 2027 race in Kenya. …
In this interview, Hammour Ziada speaks on war, censorship, symbolism, and the uneasy role of literature in times of violence and collapse.…
From plural universality to the philosophy of shared living, Fathi Triki reflects on modernity, dignity, and coexistence across Arab and African intellectual traditions.…
As crises multiply from Sudan to Yemen, Federico Donelli makes the case for seeing the Red Sea as a one interconnected region shaped by fluid alliances and the decline of old hierarchies.…
In Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State, Mahmood Mamdani draws on archival research and lived experience to reassess two pivotal regimes, challenging dominant narratives about Idi Amin and examining the long rule of Yoweri Museveni.…
Somalia’s parliament has passed controversial constitutional amendments, triggering a new political crisis at a time of rapid regional and global change. Somalia’s former Foreign Minister, Mohamed Abdirizak, reflects on what this moment reveals about the country’s institutions, politics, and future.…