Mustafa Haji Abdinur

‘The sight of young women playing football is highly unusual in Somalia, owing to societal pressures as well as fear of al-Shabab’

Kenyan troops have pushed deep into Somalia to hunt al-Qaeda-linked fighters, in an unprecedented move that raises fears of a regional escalation.

Somali leaders launched a fresh bid on Sunday to chart a new future for the war-ravaged country and wind up a seven-year transition period.

Somali pro-government forces on Tuesday closed in on bastions of the insurgent al-Shabaab group, mounting their largest coordinated effort in years.

Fighting raged in Mogadishu on Tuesday after extremists launched an offensive that the government said was a declaration of war on the Somali people.

Somalia’s embattled government on Wednesday hailed the African Union’s decision to beef up its force in Mogadishu.

Somali insurgents displayed the bodies of what they said were AU troops on Friday following a day of fierce clashes with government troops.

Somalia’s al-Shabaab-led rebels vowed all-out war as the conflict-riven country braced for a huge government offensive to crush insurgents.

Somalia’s al-Shabaab rebels have sent in hundreds of reinforcements as Mogadishu braces for a government offensive against the insurgents.

Hundreds of Mogadishu residents were fleeing the war-ravaged city on Wednesday, ahead of a large offensive by the Somali government.

Islamist insurgents battled government forces in western Somalia during which at least 17 people were killed, elders said on Monday.

The African Union’s Somalia mission reeled on Friday from twin suicide attacks on its headquarters.

Hooded Somali Islamist militiamen on Thursday chopped off the right hand and left foot of four thieves in Mogadishu.

Somalia’s president on Monday declared a state of emergency in a bid to contain a deadly six-week-old insurgent offensive.

Somalia’s embattled President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, scrambled to salvage his six-month-old administration on Monday.