Somalia Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Somalia

Newest First | Oldest First

‹ Previous 1 2 Next ›

As NATO Ends Libyan Bombing Campaign, Is the U.S. Seeking Greater Military Control of Africa?

NATO ended its bombing campaign in Libya on Monday. Over the past seven months, NATO aircraft conducted more than 26,500 sorties, including 9,700 strike missions. NATO said it bombed 5,900 military targets inside the country. While NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hailed the campaign as a success, many analysts say NATO’s intensive bombing campaign violated its U.N. mandate. "The role that NATO played in Libya has been a...
Nov 01, 2011 | Story
Somalia Blowback: After Deadly Mogadishu Bombing, a Look at How U.S. Fueled Militant Islamist Threat

In Somalia, at least 70 people were killed yesterday in the capital of Mogadishu after a large truck bomb exploded near a government compound that housed the Somali cabinet and eight ministries, including the Ministry of Education. The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which maintains control of much of southern Somalia. Many in the country blame its refusal to accept Western aid for causing the deadly famine now...
Oct 05, 2011 | Story
Human Rights Watch: Abuses by All Sides Fueling Crisis in Somalia

A new report by Human Rights Watch accuses all sides in the Somali conflict of committing war crimes. The report, "'You Don't Know Who to Blame’: War Crimes in Somalia," calls on all sides to immediately end abuses against civilians, hold those responsible to account, and ensure access to aid and free movement of people fleeing conflict and drought. The report is highly critical of the Islamist group al-Shabab, as well...
Aug 17, 2011 | Story
Horn of Africa Famine: Millions at Risk in "Deadly Cocktail" of War, Climate Change, Neoliberalism

The United Nations has called an emergency meeting to discuss the Horn of Africa drought, which it says has already claimed tens of thousands of lives. Famine was declared in two regions of Somalia on Wednesday where 3.7 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Another eight million people need food assistance in neighboring countries including Kenya and Ethiopia. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls the situation...
Jul 22, 2011 | Story
Jeremy Scahill Reveals CIA Facility, Prison in Somalia as U.S. Expands Covert Ops in Stricken Nation

In a new investigative report published by The Nation magazine, independent journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill reveals the CIA is using a secret facility in Somalia for counterterrorism as well as an underground prison in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Scahill says the CIA is training a new Somali force to conduct operations in the areas controlled by the militant group, Al Shabab, and in Mogadishu. While a U.S. official...
Jul 13, 2011 | Story
Famine in Somalia, Horn of Africa Described as "Worst Humanitarian Disaster in the World"

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued an urgent appeal over the crisis in Somalia, where more than 11 million people are in need of life-saving assistance as they face the worst drought in decades. The United Nations describes the Somali drought as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, and a top U.N. official, Valerie Amos, urged the world to make the link between climate change and the drought. The extended drought is forcing...
Jul 13, 2011 | Story
Red Cross Provided with Location of Secret Somali Prison Used by CIA

Democracy Now! correspondent and The Nation investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill provides an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson with the location of the secret prison used by the CIA he uncovered in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, which the Red Cross says it didn’t know existed. "There are scores of people that have been held without charge in this basement, some of them, as far as we can document, for more than...
Jul 13, 2011 | Story
"Obama Has Kept the Machine Set on Kill" - Journalist and Activist Allan Nairn Reviews Obama's First Year in Office

In an extended interview, award-winning journalist and activist Allan Nairn looks back over the Obama administration’s foreign policy and national security decisions over the last twelve months. "I think Obama should be remembered as a great man because of the blow he struck against white racism," Nairn says. "But once he became president...Obama became a murderer and a terrorist, because the US has a machine that spans the...
Jan 06, 2010 | Story
Somalia Declares State of Emergency After Intense Fighting

In Somalia, thousands have fled the capital of Mogadishu as government forces continue to fight opposition Islamist fighters. Fierce street fighting over the past month has claimed hundreds of lives. Just last week, bombs killed two lawmakers, the country’s security minister, the police commander of Mogadishu and nearly two dozen civilians. We speak to Somali American writer and human rights activist Sadia Ali Aden. [includes rush transcript]
Jun 22, 2009 | Story