Author: Osman Omar

Mogadishu, Somalia — July 28, 2026: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud received U.S. Congressman Darin LaHood at the Presidential Palace during the lawmaker’s official working visit to Somalia. The discussions focused on strengthening the strategic partnership between Somalia and the United States, particularly in peace and security, counterterrorism, trade, and investment. Both sides also explored opportunities to deepen cooperation and support Somalia’s long-term stability and economic development. President Hassan Sheikh expressed appreciation to the U.S. government and people for their continued support for Somalia. He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to international cooperation and to creating a secure, stable environment capable of attracting…

GALKAYO, Somalia — Liibaan Ahmed Hassan, the Justice and Solidarity Party’s (JSP) candidate for the Galmudug presidency, is concluding an extensive two-week election campaign in Galkayo, the largest city in the Mudug region. The campaign began in Dhusamareb, Galmudug’s administrative capital, before extending across nearly 1,956 kilometres of the state. Liibaan and his delegation visited Ceeldheer, Harardhere, Hobyo, Cadaado, Balanbale and Abudwak, covering coastal communities in eastern Galmudug and districts throughout western Galgaduud. During the tour, Liibaan met residents, elders, young people, business leaders and local officials. His campaign focused on peace, community reconciliation, security, stronger local government, infrastructure and inclusive…

The Somali National Army launched a new military offensive against Al-Shabaab in the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions on Tuesday morning. According to initial reports, government forces secured the areas of Sumadaale, Qajacle and Buurta Sheekha after clearing Al-Shabaab fighters from the villages. Military operations are continuing as Somali forces push into additional areas where the armed group has maintained a presence. Further details regarding casualties or resistance encountered during the offensive have not yet been officially released.

For more than three decades, some security analysts based both inside and outside Somalia have consistently underestimated the resilience of the Somali people and the capabilities of the Somali Security Forces. Whether deliberately or unintentionally, they have adopted and amplified Al-Shabaab’s narrative, repeatedly predicting that Mogadishu, the nation’s capital, would fall into the group’s hands. One of the clearest examples can be found in the reports and media coverage published during Al-Shabaab’s major Ramadan offensive in 2010. On the morning of August 23, 2010—the twelfth day of Ramadan—the group launched a large-scale assault that it called “The End of the…

Following reports that the United States intends to end its support for UN assistance to the African Union mission in Somalia after 2026, concerns have grown that Al-Shabaab could exploit a security vacuum. Yet testimony from the front line offers a different assessment. Somalia’s National Army is no longer weaker than the insurgency in direct combat. Its real disadvantage is insufficient manpower, mobility and logistical capacity to control the country’s vast rural terrain. Rather than maintaining foreign forces indefinitely, international partners should begin transferring more resources toward building a larger and self-sustaining Somali military. One soldier making that argument is…

Falanqayn uu qoray Somali Insider Warqad furan oo uu Golaha Mustaqbalka Soomaaliyeed 27-kii Luulyo 2026 u diray dalalka ciidamada iyo booliska ku biiriya Hawlgalka Midowga Afrika ee Soomaaliya—AUSSOM. Waxay daaha ka rogtay weji cusub oo uu galay khilaafka siyaasadeed ee Soomaaliya. Goluhu warqadda kuma uusan koobin madaxda Uganda, Kenya, Itoobiya, Jabuuti, Burundi iyo Masar. Nuqullo ayuu sidoo kale u diray Midowga Afrika, IGAD, waddamada Afrika ku metela Golaha Ammaanka, Maraykanka, Ingiriiska, Midowga Yurub, Turkiga iyo hay’adaha Qaramada Midoobay. Dusha sare, farriintu waa mid macquul u muuqata: in heshiis siyaasadeed oo Soomaali leedahay uu saldhig u noqdo kala-guurka amniga. Hase yeeshee,…

Analysis by a Somali Insider An open letter sent by the Somali Future Council to countries contributing troops and police to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia AUSSOM, has opened a new chapter in Somalia’s political confrontation. The letter, dated July 27, 2026, was addressed to the leaders, defence ministers and military chiefs of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Burundi and Egypt. Copies were also sent to the African Union, IGAD, African members of the UN Security Council, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Türkiye and United Nations missions. On the surface, the Council’s message…

There’s a difference between fighting a war and appearing to fight one. A closer look at Somalia’s recent security leadership reveals two distinct patterns: territorial loss under previous command structures and territorial consolidation under current leadership. When examined in terms of operational outcomes rather than rhetoric, the contrast becomes difficult to ignore. During the tenure of Abdullahi Sanbaloolshe and other dismissed commanders, such as former Somali national army commander General Odawaa, multiple strategically significant areas fell out of government control. Some of these locations were neither remote nor indefensible; they were populated, well-known, and, in some cases, deeply connected to…

There are moments in a nation’s life when change does not announce itself with spectacle, but instead unfolds with a quiet, deliberate persistence. Somalia today appears to be entering such a moment. For much of the past three decades, the country has been defined not by coherence, but by fragmentation—its political authority diffused, its national identity diluted, and its institutional capacity severely attenuated. Sovereignty, in many respects, became a negotiated concept, mediated through clan structures and regional power centers rather than anchored in a unified state. It is within this historical context that the leadership of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — In the late afternoon, when the heat softens and the city exhales, children gather along the beach in Mogadishu. They kick a worn ball across the sand, drift toward the water, and, every so often, glance up at the horizon. There, barely breaking the line between sea and sky, sits a ship. It is not large from this distance. It does not announce itself. But it has altered the way people talk—quietly, cautiously—about what might come next. For years, Somalia’s offshore oil and gas reserves existed as a kind of national rumor: mapped in studies, discussed in…

Officers from the Somali National Army, working alongside Turkish military electrical engineers, have developed a new system aimed at neutralizing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by Al-Shabaab. These roadside bombs, often buried along key routes, have caused significant casualties and operational challenges for Somali forces. The new system is based on intelligence gathered from captured bomb-makers and technical analysis of their devices. How Al-Shabaab IEDs Operate According to field intelligence and engineering analysis: The Counter-IED System The newly developed system targets the electrical mechanism of these explosives. This system can disable or neutralize IEDs from a distance of up to…