Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

AFGOOYE, Somalia — Armed with machetes, the men push their way through the densely packed rows of trees, emerging every few minutes with large bundles of green bananas over their shoulders. A guard, his chest crossed with bullet belts, his hands cradling a Russian-made rifle, scans the tree line for intruders as the men throw […]

Legislation addressing rape and other sexual violence – often committed by armed forces – will be presented to cabinet by year end A trio of young Somali women at a camp for internally displaced people. Sexual and gender-based violence is rife in Somalia. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images The first bill to define and address sexual […]

 The United Nations Security Council announced today that it has taken note of a recent parliamentary vote of “no confidence” resulting in the political ouster of Somalia’s Prime Minister amid a surge of political instability and extremist violence in the East African country. The Somali Parliament dismissed Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed on 6 December […]

Kasmaal 10/12/2014 With the first Somali refugees crossing the border from Kenya to return home, new and significant steps are taken towards pioneering durable solutions to what for many has been years and even decades of displacement. This is a significant step to address the needs for lasting solutions to one of the world’s most […]

SEATTLE – Officers arrested a 26-year-old man early Sunday after he called a taxi driver a “terrorist” and beat him unconscious, causing the cab to drift out of control and strike several parked cars before slamming into an apartment building in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood, police said. Investigators labeled the attack a “hate crime.” Adam Gaal, […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TheBlaze/AP) — An SUV involved in the death of a teenager outside a Somali community center had an anti-Muslim message displayed in the rear window at the time of the crash, Kansas City police confirmed. Ahmed H. Aden, 34, deliberately ran the boy over, authorities said, adding that they’re charged him with murder. The FBI […]

MOGADISHU, 06 Dec.2014 – The Somalia parliament officially dismissed the Somalia Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed through a motion of no confidence against his government, which the Lawmakers approved Saturday. Speaker of the House, Mohamed Osman Jawari announced the result of the vote moments after the counting, and announced that the PM lost his post […]

At least nine people were killed Friday in a twin bomb attack in the central Somali town of Baidoa, police said, the latest in a string of attacks. Two of those killed were journalists and three others were among the scores wounded, colleagues said. “A suicide bomber detonated himself amongst a crowd of people drinking […]

Mandera Governor Ali Roba Thursday asked non-residents not to relocate from the county over the recent terrorist activities. (Photo:File/Standard) Mandera, Kenya: Mandera Governor Ali Roba Thursday organised a peace meeting meant to pacify hundreds of Kenyans seeking to be evacuated from the area following the killings in the area on Saturday. Tension has been high […]

They have made enemies across the globe and endured three months of US-led air strikes, but Islamic State fighters have surrendered little of their self-declared caliphate to the broad sweep of forces arrayed against them. Across thousands of square miles in Syria and Iraq, the radical Islamists face an unlikely mix of Iraqi and Syrian […]