Somalia rejected Israel’s accreditation of an ambassador to Somaliland and the laying of a cornerstone for an embassy in Hargeisa, calling the moves violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Somalia’s Foreign Ministry said the steps had been taken without the consent of the federal government and declared them “null and void and without legal effect.” Israel’s first ambassador to Somaliland, Michael Lotem, presented his credentials to Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro in Hargeisa last week, and a cornerstone ceremony for a future Israeli embassy followed. Israel formally recognized Somaliland on December 26, 2025, becoming the first United Nations (UN) member state to do so since Somaliland’s 1991 declaration of independence, and no other has followed. The Somali government called on Israel to reverse the measures and urged countries and international organizations not to take any steps that could legitimize them.
Theme: Somalia
Articles and notes about Somalia.
The Indian Navy freed the fishing vessel Azini from armed pirates and rescued all 20 crew members without casualties or injuries, in an operation spanning more than 48 hours. The vessel had been hijacked last month off the northeast coast of Somalia and there was a risk it would be used as a “mother ship” for further attacks on merchant shipping in the region. Marine commandos were dropped by precision airdrop from an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft, after the vessel was located and contained by non-kinetic measures. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the operation was completed on November 2, more than 3,000 km from Mumbai. The 20 crew members were Iranian, according to the Mehr News agency.
The first contingent of 109 troops of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) left Mogadishu on Friday, following an announcement by Uganda's army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The withdrawal is being carried out in phases and is expected to be completed in August 2027. Around 4,500 Ugandan troops are stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union mission (AUSSOM), as well as about 2,000 deployed under bilateral agreements. Uganda was the first African country to deploy troops to Somalia, under the African Union mission established in 2007 to help protect the country's transitional government from attacks by Islamist militants. Uganda's army said the withdrawal will mark the end of its 20-year peace and stabilization operations and permit the Somali Armed Forces to assume full responsibility for security in the country.
Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia, and the first contingent has already returned home. The withdrawal of all its forces, including those deployed under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), is due to be completed by the close of 2027, days after the UN ended its political mission in Somalia.
All forces, including those under the African Union mission, will exit Somalia by the end of 2027 in the phased withdrawal Uganda has begun after nearly two decades of military involvement in the country.
The United Nations political mission in Somalia (UNSOM) ended after a two-year transition, closing a chapter of more than three decades of UN peace operations in the Horn of Africa country. UNSOM was established by the Security Council in 2013 to support Somalia’s transition to democracy and the rule of law after more than two decades of conflict involving militias, Islamist groups and criminal gangs.
Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia after nearly two decades of military involvement in the country, according to the BBC. The withdrawal is being carried out in phases and is expected to be completed in August 2027.
Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini, carrying 23 people, and the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean warned the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks. The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a Maritime Police Force officer from Puntland said on Sunday. According to the officer, 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali guards.
Pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini on October 29 between the coastal towns of Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, according to a maritime security officer with the Puntland Maritime Police Force, cited by The Hindu. Twelve pirates took the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards, according to the Associated Press. The vessel was carrying 23 people, according to the South China Morning Post.
The UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS) completes its two-year mandate on October 31, after more than three decades of UN political missions in the country, UN News reported. The closure ends three decades of political engagement, Al Jazeera reported.
Somalia’s government and Al-Shabaab issued sharply conflicting accounts of fighting near the southern city of Leego, with both sides claiming to have inflicted heavy losses, according to AllAfrica. The Somali defense ministry said federal troops killed 75 militants and wounded 56 others. The Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group claimed it killed 321 government soldiers in an attack on Turkish-trained troops and an allied militia.
Somalia added 10 individuals to its national financial sanctions list over alleged involvement in financing and supporting Al-Shabaab, by decision of the national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing committee on Tuesday, according to the Shabelle Media Network, in text republished by AllAfrica. Financial entities and people in the country are barred from transacting with those listed and must freeze assets and report operations to the Financial Reporting Center, the committee said.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he recognizes the breakaway republic of Somaliland as “a totally different country”, according to Middle East Eye.
Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan called for political and peaceful solutions amid escalating conflicts across the region, according to Al Jazeera, in a joint declaration on Sunday following a meeting in New Alamein City in Egypt; the declaration also said control of the Red Sea should remain with the coastal states.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the country will not accept an Israeli presence “under any circumstances” and will resist any attempts to be pulled into the Middle East’s crises, according to Al Jazeera. Israel plans to establish a naval base in Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, and is seeking access to the city’s airport, according to Ahram Online. Berbera is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast in Somaliland, the self-declared republic in northwestern Somalia that Israel recognised last year and that Mogadishu claims, according to Al Jazeera.
Five crew members of the Palau-flagged oil tanker MT Honour 25 were killed by pirates off the coast of Somalia, before security forces rescued the ship, according to Somali authorities. Among the dead were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India. The ship, which was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil and had been seized on April 21, was freed in the rescue operation.