By Mutinda Mwanzia
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson has said the US Government would not send its military to Somalia but would offer material and financial support to the Transitional Federal Government.
Carson said instability in Somalia is a threat to neighbouring countries and the world at large.
He said the US would continue [...]
Twelve civilians have died in the Somali capital as government soldiers retaliated to mortars fired at the presidential palace by insurgents.
“Most of the shells landed on deserted houses but three hit places where people stay,” a witness told the BBC.
Since May more than 165,000 people have fled Mogadishu as militant Islamists hardliners battle government forces.
Meanwhile, [...]
IF pre-military operation Swat has a global counterpart, it’s Somalia. Exchange the Taliban for Al-Shabab, a radical Islamic group, and events in the unstable African country will seem eerily familiar to Pakistanis.
In recent months, Shabab militants have killed government ministers, beheaded innocents, attacked Sufi imams, arrested shrine caretakers and destroyed Sufi shrines across southern Somalia. [...]
The interim government in Honduras says it will block any attempt by ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return.
Mr Zelaya, who was removed by troops a week ago, had promised to fly home to the Central American nation later on Sunday.
But Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez said that any plane carrying Mr Zelaya would not be allowed [...]
Nairobi – A Somali radio journalist was shot dead in the country’s war-wracked capital, the sixth to be killed in the lawless country since January, Reporters Without Borders said on Sunday.
Unidentified gunmen shot Yusuf Mohamed, 22, who works for private Radio Holy Quran, and left to die by the roadside.
“The chaos reigning in Mogadishu and [...]
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Witnesses said heavy shelling between Somali rebels and government forces near the presidential palace killed at least 12 people on Sunday.
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said more African Union peacekeepers were expected soon but gave no details.
The government and rebels who want to install an Islamic state in the [...]
NAIROBI, July 4 (Reuters) – The United States will encourage Ethiopia not to return to Somalia as it would be against the interests of both Horn of African nations, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said on Saturday.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia in late 2006 to topple an Islamist movement in the capital Mogadishu. [...]
By Juma Kwayera
Having ruled out military intervention to end civilian carnage in Somalia, Kenya is bracing for confrontation with Islamist insurgents in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation that has not known peace for two decades.
Even as Al-Shabaab warned of felling Nairobi’s skyscrapers in retaliation if Kenya heeds calls by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed [...]
Russia, China and the US have all called for calm after North Korea test-fired a series of missiles.
Seven Scud-type ballistic missiles with a range of about 500km (312 miles) were fired in an apparent act of defiance against the US, on 4 July.
Russia and China called on Pyongyang to return to talks, while a US [...]
By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon
Serena Williams ended her sister’s recent dominance at Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Venus that gave her a third Wimbledon title.
The 27-year-old won 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to regain the title she won in 2002 and 2003, and end five-time champion Venus’s hopes of a [...]