Cracking down on Nairobi’s Somali Al Jazeera investigation uncovers allegations of beatings and rape in Kenya’s ongoing anti-terrorism operation.   Nairobi, Kenya – In Eastleigh, a mostly Somali area of Nairobi, residents say they constantly look over their shoulders when entering grocery stores, to make sure no security agents are following them. Some families have locked themselves up in their homes, and children rush to alert their parents whenever they see a policeman passing by. Some say they would like to […]

Four killed in matatu blast In Summary Incident comes two days after failed grenade attack on tourists in Likoni, Mombasa and Friday’s explosion in Wajir More than 30 others injured in suspected terror attack outside Pangani Girls School, Nairobi. Powerful explosion heard 10 kilometres away At least four people were killed and over 30 injured when an explosive device placed in a matatu went off near Pangani Girls School in Nairobi. The Number 6 matatu that plies the Eastleigh route […]

Britain fired up over khat popularity British government looking to ban the stimulant, but many migrants say khat is part of their culture. Southall, London – On a rainy night in West London, home to one of the capital’s largest Somali communities, inquiries into the whereabouts of the nearest mafrish or “khat house” illicit chuckles from the locals. The usual customers purchasing the green herbal stimulant – popular with the diaspora from the Arabian peninsula and Horn of Africa from […]

Milk processing plant to open in Garissa The Garissa county government will soon unveil a multi-million shilling milk processing plant that will process, package and brand the product for market. County Executive member in charge of Industries, Commerce and co-operatives Hajir Mohamed Dahiye said the Sh40 million plant is at its final stage. The county will soon have its own brand of milk. Garissa livestock officer Benson Munyao said the plant will produce 1,500 litres of camel milk a day […]

Kenya-Somali Ties   Are there growing hostilities between Kenya and its neighbour Somalia? That has been the vexing question in diplomatic circles following claims by a section of Somali leaders that Kenyan forces in Kismayo are engaging in illegal activities and taking sides in factional fighting. In an exclusive interview with Citizen TV’s Alex Chamwada in Mogadishu, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud admits that there have been differences and concerns over modalities of tackling terror along the Kenya Somalia border, […]

Former TFG fighters behind fresh wave of attacks, says official IN SUMMARY County boss says Garissa is one of several terrorist cells in Kenya and there are more in the refugee camps where police find it difficult to get crucial information on militants The Garissa County Commissioner Mohammed Maalim has attributed the series of terror attacks in the northeastern town to Kenyan- Somalis who deserted the Somali Transitional Federal Government forces in Somalia. Mr Maalim told the Nation in Garissa […]

KDF breathe new life into Kismayu IN SUMMARY A port city that was for years deserted due to al-Shabaab terror is now teeming with smiling residents Incredibly, this small port city, a study in ruin in a country that is a parable of ruin, boasts two airports. There is the new airport, as it is known, laughably to all who touch down there, which lies 10 miles inland and consists of a couple of mostly tarmacked runways and the carcass […]

Kenya to send Somali refugees back home Kenya is set to work with Somalia in ensuring that refugees from the neighbouring country return to their homes. President Kibaki told reporters on Friday that “there is no dignity in living in refugee camps”, adding that he would like to see the thousands of Somalis hosted at Dadaab go back home. He spoke after hosting his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. “Our two governments will work together to enable the hundreds of […]

Writers from the Horn can no longer bear to be passive witnesses to conflict IN SUMMARY For decades, writers from the Horn of Africa have been seen as passive witnesses, who, despite experiencing the horrors of conflict, remain silent and immune to the destruction around them However, conflict and violence can became the fodder that feeds writers’ creativity A character in Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah’s novel, Links, remarks that “in civil wars, both those violated and the violators suffer from a […]

Call to extend Amisom mandat IN SUMMARY Kenya and Somalia want troops to remain in the country longer to sustain the fragile government Kenya and Somalia have asked the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of African Union troops in the war-torn Horn of Africa country. The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) should also be given more authority to sustain the fragile Mogadishu government in the road to stability, President Kibaki and his Somalia counterpart Hassan Mohamoud said […]