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Somalia is experiencing its worst locust invasion in more than 25 years, but residents of a small town are getting their revenge on the crop pests — by serving them up with rice and onions. Parts of the east African country have been plagued by locusts after unprecedented torrential rains in south and central Somalia over the last month. The locusts are destroying crops and threatening vast parts of the country with food insecurity. But residents of the Adado have begun frying the insect. "They taste delicious and there are so many of them," said Sadaq Ahmed, as he tucked into some for breakfast.

The World Bank today approved a $112 million grant to deliver prioritized infrastructure in Somalia’s cities and strengthen municipal government capacity.    The Somalia Urban Resilience Project (SURP) II will support infrastructure investments in strategic cities such as Mogadishu, Garowe, Kismayo and Baidoa while also laying the groundwork for expansion to cities in the States of Galmudug and Hirshabelle to achieve national coverage. “This project is building on the gains of the existing Somalia Urban Resilience Project (SURP) and helping to show that using country Public Financial Management systems and allowing local governments to take the lead in delivering services to their citizens can be extremely effective ,” said  World Bank Country Manager for Somalia, Hugh Riddell . “ This project empowers municipal and district governments to deliver tangible benefits to their citizens . The financing for the Somalia Urban Resilience Project (SURP) II includes a $50 million IDA and

The Somali government conducted an air strike on a suspected al-Shabaab militant in the country’s south in cooperation with the United States military, Somalia’s federal government said on Monday. “On the evening of 16 December 2019, the Federal Government of Somalia in coordination with U.S. Africa Command, conducted an air strike against an al-Shabaab operative near Dujumma, Somalia,” a Somali government source said in a statement to The Defense Post. “It is assessed that one al-Shabaab operative was killed in the airstrike. Also at this time, it has been assessed that no civilians have been killed or injured.” AFRICOM  carried out  a drone strike against a suspected senior Shabaab leader in the same area last week. The U.S. has about 500 troops in Somalia. U.S. forces use the Baledogle (or Ballidoogle) airfield, in the Wanlawayn district roughly 95 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu, to launch drone strikes on al-Shabaab militants and to train Somali comma

Security forces ended a deadly attack at a hotel in  Somalia's capital Mogadishu  on Tuesday after a seven-hour battle that left at least three civilians and two soldiers dead. The attack began when five heavily armed gunmen overpowered security guards and stormed the upscale SYL hotel, according to police and government officials. Eleven people were injured, including two members of the country's security forces, police said. The attackers, claimed by terrorist group Al-Shabaab, began shooting at responding Somali security forces, said police officer Ali Abdi. All five attackers were killed in the firefight, officials said "The security forces have finally accomplished the operation they have been conducting in SYL hotel, the entire of the 5 attackers have been killed, (and) 5 people have been killed in the attack,"  government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar  tweeted early Wednesday. Dozens of people were evacuated from the hotel, he also said. The SYL is cl

Somalia — Intelligence officials in Somalia say an airstrike conducted by the U.S. military in the country’s south killed a senior extremist of the al-Shabab rebel group. The airstrike on Monday by an unmanned U.S. drone targeted a vehicle outside Sakow, a town in Somalia’s Middle Jubba region, killing the rebel and wounding another, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The strike was conducted in coordination with Somali intelligence which assisted in tracking the slain militant before the U.S. airstrike. The U.S. Africa Command confirmed the strike. “We continue to work closely with our Somali partners to take decisive action to weed out terrorists who wish to do harm to the Somali people,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Miguel A. Castellanos, deputy director of operations, U.S. Africa Command, in a statement which said that no Somali no civilians were injured or killed as a result of the airstrik

Al-Shabab  gunmen have attacked a hotel near the presidential palace in  Somalia 's capital, according to police and the armed group. Fighting was still continuing following Tuesday's attack on SYL hotel in Mogadishu.  "We thought they were police but they started hurling grenades and firing us when they neared and so we exchanged fire at the gate of the hotel," a police officer who gave his name as Ahmed told Reuters news agency. Zakia Hussen, Somalia's deputy police commissioner, said security forces killed two of the attackers outside the hotel and were fighting two others on the premises. "So far, security forces have rescued 82 people, both civilians and officials," Zakia said on her Twitter account. Abdi-Aziz Abu Mus'ab, al-Shabab's military spokesman, confirmed the group was behind the attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel compound, which is popular with government officials and politicians. Al-Shabab was ejecte

Hargeisa - Four people from a single family have been killed in the collapse of a British-built house in the 1940s in Ahmed Stone.

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been arrested in Voi by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) while trying to escape arrest. According to EACC, Sonko was attempting to escape at a road block in Voi when the detectives waylaid him. “EACC confirms that Nairobi City County Governor Mike Sonko Mbuvi has been arrested while escaping arrest at a road block in Voi and is being transferred to Nairobi to face charges of corruption and economic crime,” read the tweet from EACC. He is expected to arrive in Nairobi afterwhich he will be taken into police custody awaiting arraignment. Sonko is alleged to have benefited from irregular procurement and payments amounting to Kshs.357, 390,299 million. This comes barely th ree hours after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DPP) head Noordin Haji ordered for his arrest and prosecution over corruption allegations.

At least eight people are feared dead after suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked a Mandera-bound bus between Kutulo and Wargadud area in Wajir County on Friday. Wajir County Police Commander Stephen Ng'etich, who confirmed the incident, said they were waiting for a detailed report from a team of officers that had been dispatched to the scene. “A group of armed men ambushed a bus that was travelling to Mandera on Friday evening but we are yet to get information on the casualties,” he said. The militants were said to have stopped the bus before separating the locals from non-local passengers before releasing the bus and executing the victims. However, the driver returned to Kutulo Police Station with the other passengers after the attack. Mr Ng'etich said most of the victims were police officers who were returning to their stations in Elram, Mandera County. He said the officers, who arrived in Wajir on Friday from Nairobi, boarded the bus in Wajir on

The UN has said that if an Ethiopian locust infestation is not brought under control then the crop-devouring insect could "invade" neighbouring countries. The Ethiopian government has called for "immediate action" to deal with the problem affecting four of the country's nine states, a UN statement said. In northern Amhara state  some farmers have lost "nearly 100%" of their crop of the staple grain, teff , it added. Efforts to control the infestation have so far not been effective. The authorities' work has also been affected by "ongoing insecurity" in some areas of the country, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). "We need to act fast and mobilise the required resources urgently to scale up control and preventive measures," FAO Ethiopia representative Fatouma Seid said. Last week, the government said it had sent planes to the affected areas to try to deal with the problem from the a

The head of the UN's population fund, UNFPA, in Somalia has condemned the rape of an 11-year-old girl in the capital, Mogadishu, earlier this week. Anders Thomsen described it as a "horrendous act". The girl was reportedly attacked as she was returning home from a visit to the market,  the UNFPA said in a statement . "It is with great dismay and shock that we continue to see such acts happening frequently," Mr Thomsen said. "We stand with the family of the girl and call for justice not only to this incident, but to the many cases of sexual violence that continue to threaten the well-being and safety of girls and women in Somalia," he added. Earlier this year there was a demonstration in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland amid outrage over the death of a 13-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and murdered.

Horndiplomat-Hargeisa hosted the first Horse Racing in the entire Horn of Africa. The event was graced by the minister for youth and sports Boos Mire Mohamed and other senior government officials. The first Horse Racing competition held in Hargeisa yesterday with the participation of contestants from Marodi Jeh, Awdal, Sahil, Togder, Sanaag and Sool regions. The contestant from Marodi Jeh region won the race.