The Latest Breaking News from Somalia

Fighters from Somalia's al Shabaab insurgent group attacked a military base on the outskirts of a town in the centre of the country, leading to at least 17 deaths, a resident said.

Other lives: Legal officer at the Commission for Racial Equality who spent much of his spare time campaigning for international recognition of Somaliland

Somalia will start electing its president and other officials by direct vote next year, the government announced on Sunday, ending a system of indirect voting in the Horn of Africa country that has endured three decades of conflict and clan battles.

Somalia's government and federal member states said Sunday that direct universal suffrage would be introduced with local elections set for June 2024.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said late on Saturday there had been casualties during an attack by Somalia's Islamist group al Shabaab on a military base manned by Ugandan peacekeepers in the Horn of African country on Friday.

Russia has offered military support to Somalia’s army in the war against terrorism

The AU mission is yet to confirm the number of casualties although al-Shabab claims to have killed 137 soldiers.

Islamist al Shabaab militants attacked a military base housing Ugandan forces with the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia on Friday, and a Somali army captain said both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Mike Nithavrianakis has needed to use all of his diplomacy skills to get himself out of his daughter’s bad books after swapping the Italian fashion capital for his new post

The 2.4bn raised was less than the $7bn the UN says is needed to provide help to millions at risk in the region.

The United Nations received pledges of $2.4 billion on Wednesday to help fund aid operations for some 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, but the donations fell short of what the U.N. was seeking as it warned against a possible "catastrophe."