Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

December 19, 2014 Somali politicians and pundits have welcomed the appointment of Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as the nation’s next prime minister, calling him a leader with the temperament and experience to move the country forward. Somalia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke (right) listens as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announces his appointment […]

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has named a new prime minister, amid international pressure to end chronic political infighting. The president appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke to the post Wednesday in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Mogadishu. Sharmarke, who must be approved by the Somali parliament, would be Mohamud’s third prime minister in […]

Life is steadily improving in Galgadud region’s El Bur since Somali and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops removed al-Shabaab’s blockade of the town two months ago. A truck passes a roadblock set up by residents protesting al-Shabaab in Tobanka Buundo in Lower Shabelle on March 6, 2014. Allied forces removed al-Shabaab’s blockade of […]

Syracuse Somali-Bantu community’s desire to be self-sufficient drives federal grant Haji Adan, executive director of the Somali Bantu Community Association of Onondaga County Inc., speaks to the Syracuse Media Group editorial board Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. The association has recently received an up to $450,000 grant from the federal government to provide refugee services. (Marie […]

A TEENAGER and her 20-year-old friend have become the first Australian women to “go it alone” to join terrorists in Syria and offer themselves as potential jihadi brides, intelligence agencies believe. The girls, Hodan, 18 and Hafsa, 20, who are believed to have links with the Somali community, flew out of Sydney in the past […]

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 […]