Terror Watch

Somalia: Xawaadle Elders and Al-Shabaab Reportedly Reach Truce in Hiiraan

Mogadishu, Somalia (Horn Observer) Al-Shabaab officials and several traditional elders from Somalia's Hawadle clan have reportedly reached an agreement to end hostilities in parts of Hiiraan region.

Somalia: NISA Says Key Al-Shabaab Security Chief Killed in Jilib Operation

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Horn Observer) Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said a planned operation conducted in Jilib on the night of Thursday, October 1, 2026, killed Bashir Ahmed Haji Nunow, whom the agency described as a senior commander of the Al-Shabaab militant group.

Somalia: Baidoa fighting kills three, leaves 69 wounded, MSF says

BAIDOA, Somalia - Renewed fighting in and around Baidoa has killed three people and injured 69 others, including five children, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said, warning that blocked roads are preventing many wounded people from reaching hospitals.

Somalia: Heavy Fighting Erupts in Baidoa as Rival Forces Trade Claims

BAIDOA, Somalia (Horn Observer) - Heavy fighting broke out in Baidoa on Monday after forces aligned with former Southwest State President Abdiaziz Mohamed Laftagareen launched an assault inside the city, according to local sources and statements from the opposing sides.

Renewed Yemen Violence Forces More Than 100,000 People From Their Homes, UNICEF Says

ADEN, Yemen — Renewed fighting in several parts of Yemen has displaced more than 104,000 people in the past two weeks, including more than 57,000 children, as violence continues to disrupt access to schools, health services and other essential assistance, UNICEF said.

Somalia: NISA Arrests 11 Al-Shabaab Operatives in Security Operations Around Mogadishu

Mogadishu, Somalia (Horn Observer) The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) says it has dismantled multiple Al-Shabaab networks that the group was attempting to secretly infiltrate into parts of Mogadishu and surrounding areas, according to a statement released by NISA on Tuesday evening.

The Signature That Never Comes: Why Somalia's Clan Killers Walk Free

Mogadishu, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) — Somalia's Military Court has proven, again and again, that it can investigate, convict, sentence, and execute quickly when it chooses to. In 2023 alone, the country carried out at least 55 executions — at least 23 of them by military courts, including seven…

Somalia: Blood, Blades, and Broken Streets: Inside the Terror Colonizing Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) — On 12 September 2026, in the central Waberi district, a Ciyaal Weero gang cornered Cabdiqani Maxamed Cumar Baakaay and struck him with machetes, wounding his eye and skull, relatives said. He died of his injuries at Hodan Hospital. He was a student at City University…

The Anatomy of a Blood Debt: How Clan Revenge Killings are Fracturing Somalia's Frontlines

MOGADISHU, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) — On September 8, 2026, on the dusty, volatile outskirts of El Baraf in the Middle Shabelle region, an active-duty Somali National Army soldier named Ahmed Shire Hussein was pulled from a transit vehicle. He was not intercepted by Al-Shabaab, the terrorist group…

AFRICOM Conducts Airstrike Against al-Shabaab in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Horn Observer) U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab on September 4, 2026.