Somalia

The United Nations Security Council voted Thursday to maintain an arms embargo on Somalia over strong objections from its government, saying the al-Shabab “terrorist group” still seriously threatens peace and stability in the region and sanctions are needed to degrade its activities.

A steep rise in civilian casualties across Somalia, largely at the hands of Al-Shabaab militants, has exacerbated an already grim human rights and humanitarian situation there, said the UN human rights chief on Monday.

Somalia's military says it has liberated more territory from al-Shabab, including a strategic town that had been under the group’s control for 15 years.

U.N. experts say the Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab has widened its revenue stream beyond its traditional activities, like charging tolls at checkpoints, to illegally taxing properties and construction.

A suicide bomber struck a military training camp in Somalia on Saturday, causing casualties, a military official said, in an attack claimed by the Al-Shabaab jihadist group one week after twin blasts left 116 dead.

Following the Secretary-General’s strategic review of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), the Security Council today extended until 31 October 2023 the Mission’s mandate and tasks, as set out in resolutions 2158 (2014) and 2592 (2021), as Council members condemned the terrorist attack two days ago in Mogadishu.

(Somalia President Hassan Sheik Mohamud) said Somalia’s wait to join the community has been a delayed dream for the people and his government and urged the East African Community (EAC) Secretary-General Peter Mathuki, who is on a visit to Mogadishu, to expedite the process of admission so that his country can be the 8th member of the EAC.

Nine people were killed and 47 wounded Sunday in an attack on a hotel in Kismayo, southern Somalia, claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, the region’s security minister said. The port city is the latest to be hit following a recent resurgence of attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked group, which has mainly targeted the capital Mogadishu and central Somalia.

At least 21 people were killed in two separate bombings in the central Hirshabelle state of Somalia, officials said.

Somalia faces famine on a scale last seen half a century ago, the United Nations has said as it set a new target of more than $2bn in funding needs.