Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

Exclusive: U.N. experts wary of Somaliland plan for armed oil protection unit   Somaliland troops march past during a parade to mark the 22nd anniversary of Somaliland’s self-declared independence from the larger Somalia, in Hargeisa May 18, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Feisal Omar  The experts, who monitor sanctions violations, said in July that Western commercial oil exploration […]

  24 May 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special representative in Somalia, Nicholas Kay, as well as the Security Council, today condemned an attack by suicide bombers and gunmen on the Federal Parliament, in the capital Mogadishu, where legislators were in session. “There can be no justification for such attacks,” Mr. […]

Making a rare threat against the United States, a senior member of Somalia’s Islamic insurgent group that has carried out terrorist attacks abroad said Thursday that holy war will come to America and that Islam’s flag will one day fly over Washington. The al-Shabab fighter, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, […]

  BANGKOK — Thailand’s military coup leaders suspended the nation’s constitution and ordered the country’s acting prime minister and cabinet to report to the army on Thursday, two days after the army chief imposed martial law. Thailand’s army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-Ocha, flanked by the heads of the armed forces, appeared on all major television […]

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan officials say Somali militants have killed 12 people, including three police reservists, in a border ambush. A spokesman for the militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack in northeast Kenya near its border with Somalia. David Kimaiyo, Kenya’s top police chief, said the attack began when bandits shot at four […]

The 32 migrants who survived their boat capsizing off Samos last week, an incident in which 22 people lost their lives and another seven have yet to be found, have arrived in Athens. The migrants, 24 Somalis, seven Syrians and one Eritrean, were transferred to the Greek capital on the passenger ferry European Express. The […]

Iman can brag to being more than just a pretty face. The former super model from Somalia is the founder and CEO of IMAN Cosmetics which she launched in 1994. She promotes the IMAN brand among women of color, and now sells skincare and cosmetics around the world. Ten years after she started the company, […]

Deputy President William Ruto Monday described the weekend terrorist attacks as acts of desperation by Al-Shaabab fighters who are on the run as the noose tightens around their necks. Mr Ruto said Kenya would not withdraw its forces from Somalia until order is restored. He insisted that despite the terror attacks in Mombasa on Saturday […]

Minneapolis is home to a large Somalian Muslim community. During the 2013 Mayoral race, most Somalian supported and voted for Elizabeth Betsy Hodges (born 1969), the DFL candidate who won the election and took Mayoral office in January 2014. Minneapolis Mayor Elizabeth Betsy Hodges wears a Hijab in show of religious respect to local Muslims […]

Speaking to VOA’s Somali service from “Sheed Dheer” a refugee camp in eastern Ethiopia, Ubah Mohamed Abdulle, expressed shock and said she burst into tears when she heard the news of her son’s miraculous trip. “I felt bad that he risked his life,” she told VOA. “ I was told that he did this because […]