An Islamist group, Hizbul Islam, has rejoined the struggle against the Transitional Federal Government and the African Union peacekeepers in Somalia (Amisom).
HARGEISA (Reuters) - Somaliland's new leader, Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, was sworn in as president on Tuesday, furthering the breakaway Somali enclave's democratic credentials as it fights for international recognition.
Leaders from East Africa and from the Horn of Africa agreed on Monday that additional troops would be deployed to Mogadishu to beef up the 6,000-strong African Union force. Somalia's foreign minister says the African Union and the international community must stand up to the new threat of terrorism emanating from the war-ravaged country and step in militarily.
KAMPALA (Reuters) - The African Union will beef up peacekeeping troops in Somalia, but will not allow them to attack Islamists there despite the urging of several countries after the rebels killed 76 people in suicide attacks in Uganda.
The African Union (AU) commenced its 15th summit on Sunday in the Ugandan capital of Kampala with the issues of maternal, infant and child health and development and the Somali peacekeeping high on agenda.
The African Union has agreed to change the mandate of its peacekeeping mission, Amisom, in Somalia into a peace enforcement in an effort to engage the Al Shabaab militia.
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Britain on Friday threw its weight behind calls for more African troops to be sent to Somalia to battle Islamist rebels, whose suicide attacks in Uganda last week killed 73 people watching the World Cup final.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Somali refugees are being harassed and rounded up in Kenya and the semi-autonomous enclave of Puntland in the wake of deadly bombings by al Shabaab Islamist rebels in Uganda, the United Nations said on Friday.
Two African Union peacekeepers have been killed in fighting in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. A spokesman for the AMISOM peacekeeping force confirmed on Friday Somali Islamist insurgents killed their men and wounded others in violent attacks on Wednesday.
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Fighting between al Shabaab rebels and government forces in the north of Somalia's capital has killed at least 52 civilians and wounded scores over the past week, a local rights group said on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is prepared to step up assistance to African Union forces in Somalia and take more aggressive action against al Shabaab Islamist rebels who carried out deadly bombings in Uganda earlier this month, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
Addis Ababa — The African Union summit in Kampala, initially set to discuss ways to improve maternal and infant health in Africa, has been overridden by the issue of Somalia.
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States is studying ways to foment division among Somali rebels behind bombings in Uganda, without inflaming anti-foreigner feelings that could cause a closing of ranks, a U.S. official said on Monday.
The US vowed to boost support for a peacekeeping mission in Somalia following the pledge of another 2,000 Ugandan peacekeepers to Somalia. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Washington would increase aid for the AU Mission in Somalia (Amisom), a UN backed peacekeeping mission that seeks to help Somali government for restoring peace.
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is seeking urgent support from the international community to help his government combat Islamist insurgents. He told the emergency summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) his government cannot fight the rebels alone.
Following the new civil society law of Ethiopia introduced last year, the number non governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country reduced by more than half, civil society registering ministry's report reveals.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An East African regional bloc promised on Monday to send an additional 2,000 peacekeepers to Somalia, where an almost powerless government is hemmed into a few streets of its capital by Islamist militants.
Somalia is one of the several African nations marking 50th anniversary of independence this year. However, it remains a dangerous place to live while other countries thrive. A prominent peace activist said the troubled nation can feel peace when the locals realize the need to sit under the tree to iron issues out.
