Somali kidnappers have freed a British woman abducted from a Kenyan beach resort more than six months ago. Witnesses say Judith Tebbutt was released in Somalia’s Addado region Wednesday and put on a plane to Nairobi. British and Somali officials confirmed her release. British media reports say Tebbutt’s family paid a ransom to secure her […]
British Woman Freed in Somalia
Posted March 21st, 2012 at 5:15 am (UTC-5)
Somali officials say they have released a British woman who had been held hostage since her kidnapping last year from an exclusive island resort near the Kenya-Somalia border. Judith Tebbutt was to be flown to Nairobi, Wednesday, after her release. She was kidnapped — and her husband, David, was killed — in September 2011, just […]
Somalia Theater Re-Opens in Mogadishu After 20 years
Posted March 20th, 2012 at 9:10 am (UTC-5)
Somali officials have re-opened the country’s national theater after more than 20 years, despite continuing attacks by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. The venue in the capital, Mogadishu, formally opened on Monday, with hundreds gathering under an open roof destroyed during the country’s civil war. Colorfully dressed artists performed during a televised concert, which was […]
Attack Near Somali Presidential Palace Kills 5
Posted March 19th, 2012 at 7:40 am (UTC-5)
At least five people were killed in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, when insurgents fired mortars at the presidential palace but hit a displaced persons’ camp instead. Another seven people were injured in the overnight attack, for which militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility. A colonel for the Somali army told VOA that the attack caused no damage […]
US-born Jihadist Says He Fears for Life
Posted March 17th, 2012 at 10:15 am (UTC-5)
An American-born jihadist in Somalia has said in an online video that he fears his fellow al-Shabab militants may kill him over a difference of opinion. Omar Hammami, who grew up in the southern U.S. state of Alabama and now is known as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, is shown in a black robe and white head […]
3 Killed in Blast Outside Somali Presidential Palace, Al-Shabab Claims Attack
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 10:45 am (UTC-5)
The Somali government says a former government worker carried out the suicide attack outside the presidential palace in Mogadishu that killed the bomber and two others. Government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman told VOA Wednesday the attacker once worked at the presidential palace. Former colleagues say the bomber, identified as Omar Mohamed Dhiblawe, had worked as […]
Al-Shabab Says It Carried Out Mogadishu Attack, 3 Dead
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 6:45 am (UTC-5)
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out a deadly attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday. The African Union mission in Somalia says the bombing outside a government compound killed at least three people. An A.U. mission spokesman says the blast occurred outside a building used by the parliament speaker, Sharif Hassan […]
Mogadishu Blast Kills 3
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 5:40 am (UTC-5)
The African Union mission in Somalia says an explosion at a government compound in the capital, Mogadishu, has killed at least three people. The AMISOM spokesman said the blast Wednesday occurred near the home of the parliament speaker. Details are still emerging about the method of attack. Somalia has not had a stable central government […]
Turkish Airlines Begins Flights to Somalia
Posted March 6th, 2012 at 10:55 am (UTC-5)
Turkish Airlines has started flights to Somalia’s capital, making it the first commercial carrier outside East Africa to fly there in more than two decades. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bosdag took the maiden flight from Turkey’s Ataturk airport into Mogadishu on Tuesday. After arriving in the conflict-ridden capital, Bosdag said Turkish Airlines has provided […]
Militants Losing Ground, Fighting Back in Somalia
Posted March 3rd, 2012 at 2:40 pm (UTC-5)
Forces loyal to the militant group al-Shabaab have attacked a Somali army checkpoint, killing at least nine people. Somali and al-Shabaab officials said the fighting took place late Friday and early Saturday near Bosasso, in the Puntland region. A military spokesman for al-Shabaab, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told media organizations the militant group attack killed […]
