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A child at the same school as a 12-year-old Somali refugee who drowned told an inquest on Tuesday that hours before her death the girl had been “pushed around” by one of the children who went with her to the river. The body of Shukri Abdi, who first came to the UK in January 2017, was found in the River Irwell in Bury, Lancashire in June 2019. A group of children were with her at the river in the period before she died. The children connected with the case can be referred to only as Child One, Child Two, Child Three, Child Four and Child Five. Video evidence from Child Five was played at an inquest into Shukri’s death in Heywood, Lancashire. They described witnessing Shukri at Broad Oak school in Bury, which Shukri, Child One and Child Two attended, at the end of the school day at 3.20pm. The child said that Shukri was approached in the locker room by Child One and Child Two. The witness said that the physical approach was from Child One who “started pushing her around” and...

Qatar continues to work to strengthen its Brotherhood arms, which are everywhere in the world, by providing support so that they can carry out their goals and plan for control. It is working to strengthen and support the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan. Organizations acting on Qatar’s orders are once more trying to destabilize Sudan, especially by offering backing the Muslim Brotherhood. There are many organizations and institutions affiliated with Qatar or Sudan funded by Doha, as tools to penetrate into the Sudanese decision, and to keep it at the center of the international organization of the Brotherhood. In the forefront of the Qatari organizations in Sudan, which constitute a support and a cover for financing Qatar for its arms in Sudan to spread chaos, Qatar Charity and RAF. Under the guise of humanitarian and charitable work, the RAF Foundation works to support extremist groups and support inter-tribal ethnic conflicts from Darfur in the west to Port Sudan in the east,...

At least 20 Somali government soldiers were killed and 18 others were wounded when al-Shabab raided a military base south of Mogadishu. The sources said militants detonated a suicide car bomb at the El-Salin military base followed by an infantry attack in the early hours of Sunday. The militants briefly took over the base, a regional official told VOA Somali. A spokesman for Somali special forces said the militants attacked the base “in large numbers.”  Mowlid Ahmed Hassan said the fighting lasted about 40 minutes, insisting the troops ‘defended” the base. He said reinforcements have been sent to the base. Hassan said the troops killed 13 militants, but declined to comment on the number of government soldiers killed in the attack. Somali troops seized the El-Salin base from al-Shabab on August 6. It was one of four bases in Lower Shabelle region recaptured following an offensive by the Somali military.

The former Somali embassy of West Germany went up in flames in the city of Bonn. Amateur footage circulating online shows the compound ablaze with smoke billowing. According to local media reports the fire was caused as a result of vehicle that caught fire, which than spread to the abandoned compound that once hosted the Somali embassy. Firefighters in the city of Bonn where able to quickly douse the blaze before it could spread. The Somali government maintained an embassy in the city of Bonn, Germany during the height of the Cold War when the city of Bonn was the capital of West Germany prior to German unification. As revealed in archive Somali government files, the Somali embassy in West Germany was the largest Somali diplomatic mission in Europe. The Somali embassador to West Germany was Mohamed Ibrahim Liqliiqaato. Somalia under the leadership of Mohamed Siad Barre maintained dozens of embassies and diplomatic missions throughout Europe before the fall of the governm...

Somalia, one of several African nations being hit hard by enormous swarms of locusts, is planning to control them with a fungus in what would be the largest use of biopesticides against these insects. “Large-scale use to control an invasion of desert locusts would be a first,” says Michel Lecoq, a retired entomologist who worked on locust control at the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development. “If successful, it will be a big step forward.” The moment is crucial, because the next generation of locusts is now maturing and could devastate crops planted at the end of March. “We have a short window of opportunity to act,” Dominique Burgeon, director of emergencies at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said at a briefing Monday in New York City. In recent months, the Horn of Africa has been invaded by desert locusts that have consumed food crops and pasture. For Kenya, it is the worst infestation in 70 years. One swarm there ...

The increasingly hostile environment in Somalia has left journalists living in fear of both the government and militant groups, according to Amnesty International. At least eight journalists have been killed since President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed came to power in 2017, while others have survived assassination attempts or been targeted for arrests and censorship, the rights group has said. “Somali journalists are under siege. From barely surviving explosive-wired cars to being shot, beaten up and arbitrarily arrested, journalists are working in horrifying conditions,” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty’s director for east Africa, said in an statement. The group claimed a “surge” in violence and intimidation under the current president, known as Farmajo. Amnesty accused the government of not investigating attacks on journalists and censoring critical reports. Five journalists had been killed in attacks by the militant group al-Shabaab, while two others died at the hands of unidentifie...

Aisha Ilyaas Aden was abducted at a market, raped and strangled to death near her home in Galkayo, Puntland region, in February last year. Abdifatah Abdirahman Warsame and Abdishakur Mohamed Dige were both shot in Bossasso town square, on Somalia's north coast, after they were found guilty of the shocking attack. Aisha's father Ilyaas Aden said he appointed their executioners and asked them for forgiveness by phone before they were killed today. He even said he walked over to make sure they were dead after viewing the execution. He is also alleged to have delayed the execution of Warsame's brother, Abdisalam Abdirahman, who had also been found guilty of the crimes, by at least ten days so that his case can be re-evaluated. The case sparked uproar and demonstrations across the country, and an online protest using #JusticeForAisha. He attended the execution today with officials and members of the public, reports Mustaqbal radio. 'Sexual violence is sadly...

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) military commanders have resolved to cut another 1,000 troops from the regional peacekeeping force despite increased attacks from Al-Shabaab militants. According to AMISOM, the drawdown of an additional 1,000 uniformed personnel take place by February 28. "The meeting agreed to implement the drawdown as per the timelines and to further study the implications to ensure mitigation of potential risks of reversing the security gains so far achieved," said the AU mission this week. Participants who attended the 29th meeting of the AMIS0M MOCC expressed regrets on the additional drawdown and emphasized the need to take note of the conditions on the ground as well as the pace of development of Somali security forces to take over security responsibility from AMIS0M. Under a transition plan agreed in 2017, AMISOM is also required to conduct gradual handover to Somali security forces, secure main supply routes, reduce the threat p...

President Trump and his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, announced their intention Thursday to work toward a free-trade agreement between the two countries in what would be a first for U.S. trade relations in sub-Saharan ­Africa. “There is enormous potential for us to deepen our economic and commercial ties,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer, who added that both countries sought a “comprehensive, high-standard agreement.” Trump was more circumspect,  telling reporters at the White House that a deal “probably” would happen. Kenya and the United States share around $1 billion in trade annually, and Washington sees Kenya as a key ally in a joint military campaign against militant al-Shabab fighters in neighboring Somalia. Kenya is also East Africa’s economic engine, and it is home to a growing number of industries — as well as billions of dollars in strategic Chinese investments that Washington is trying to counter. A free-trade deal between the...

Somalia has joined many other countries in expressing solidarity with China in the fight against the novel coronavirus. As of Wednesday 5 January, there were 491 deaths from the coronavirus in China and 1 abroad, and 24,363 confirmed coronavirus cases in China and 197 abroad. Some 892 people have recovered. The Chinese government has activated a level 1 emergency response in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland. Earlier this week, Somalia's foreign minister Ahmed Isse Awad hosted the Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Qin Jian at his residence. Awad assured the ambassador of his country's solidarity with China as it confronts coronavirus. Health officials in the Horn of African country have heightened surveillance at all ports of entry to contain the spread of the virus. The Somali government says its focus is international airlines coming in from several Middle Eastern and African countries - airports under regional administration...

U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike against al-Shabab militants in Somalia on Tuesday — a strike that comes on the heels of several operations and airstrikes in Somalia last month that resulted in the destruction of two al-Shabab compounds. "Armed over-watch and precision engagement capabilities will continue to create big-time challenges for al-Shabaab,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Miguel Castellanos, AFRICOM’s deputy director of operations, said in a news release Feb. 4. Multiple strikes also occurred between Jan. 23 and Jan. 29, but the command said it did not disclose they had happened immediately due to operational security and force protection considerations. During those operations, two al-Shabab compounds in southern Somalia — one in Jamaame and another in Jilib — were demolished. “We assess these compounds were used by al-Shabaab militants to organize and plan violent terrorist actions against innocent Somali citizens,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Hadfield, AFRICOM’...

Somalia has declared a national emergency as large swarms of locusts spread across east Africa. The country's Ministry of Agriculture said the insects, which consume large amounts of vegetation, posed "a major threat to Somalia's fragile food security situation". There are fears that the situation may not be brought under control before the harvest begins in April. The UN says the swarms are the largest in Somalia and Ethiopia in 25 years. Meanwhile, neighbouring Kenya has not seen a locust threat as severe in 70 years, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). However, Somalia is the first country in the region to declare an emergency over the infestation. Somalia's unstable security situation means that planes cannot be used to spray insecticide from the air. In January,  the FAO called for international help in fighting the swarms in the Horn of Africa, warning that locust numbers across the region could grow 500 times by Jun...

Court dismisses petition that noted the consequences of a ruling in Somalia's favour. A three-judge bench has dismissed a petition to bar Kenyan officials from participating before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a maritime dispute with Somalia. Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Robert Limo and Anthony Mrima noted on Friday that issues raised in the petition by 20 Kenyans would be more effectively resolved through diplomatic, legislative, policy and other executive interventions, rather than by a constitutional decision. The petitioners had argued that the Attorney-General's participation in the case would amount to ceding Kenya’s sovereignty. Through lawyer Kibe Mungai, they said Kenya risked forfeiting part of its territory if the ICJ ruled in Somalia's favour. The lawyer said the government should put its national interests first, and that the only way to do so would be by not seeking to compromise Kenya's territorial integrity. The ruling stated, ho...