MOGADISHU, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers attacked a
restaurant in the Somali capital on Saturday, killing a security
guard who stopped them entering the building, locals said.

It was not clear who was behind the bombings but Al
Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents have conducted similar
previous attacks and remain a serious security challenge even
after being forced out of their strongholds.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s al Shabaab militants said on Monday they had banned Muslim aid agency Islamic Relief from areas under their control, a move that would deprive 1.3 million people of food, clean water and health care.

Islamic Relief, one of few international aid agencies able to work in al Shabaab-run areas, said it had not been notified by the rebels that its permit had been revoked and that a ban would also threaten access to areas under government control.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday named political newcomer Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid as the country’s new prime minister, a man diplomats say is untainted by the clan rivalry and feuding that has plagued Somalia for decades.

Though both the president and prime minister are new in their jobs, they will be confronted by old problems: acrimonious clan politics, rampant corruption, maritime piracy and a stubborn Islamist insurgency.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday named political newcomer Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid as the country’s new prime minister, a man diplomats say is untainted by the clan rivalry and feuding that has plagued Somalia for decades.

Though both the president and prime minister are new in their jobs, they will be confronted by old problems: acrimonious clan politics, rampant corruption, maritime piracy and a stubborn Islamist insurgency.

MOGADISHU, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Kenyan warships shelled the
southern Somali port of Kismayu overnight after al Qaeda-linked
rebels said they had abandoned the city, residents said on
Sunday.

Stunned by an assault by sea, air and ground forces late on
Friday night, al Shabaab rebels fled the city that had been
their key source of revenue, retreating to surrounding forests
and towns.

MOGADISHU, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Kenyan warships shelled the
southern Somali port of Kismayu overnight after al Qaeda-linked
rebels said they had abandoned the city, residents said on
Sunday.

Stunned by an assault by sea, air and ground forces late on
Friday night, al Shabaab rebels fled the city that had been
their key source of revenue, retreating to surrounding forests
and towns.

MOGADISHU, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Somalia’s al Shabaab rebels
withdrew from the southern Somali city of Kismayu overnight, the
group and residents said, a day after Kenyan and Somali
government forces attacked the militants’ last bastion.

The loss of Kismayu will deal a major blow to the al
Qaeda-linked movement, depriving it of revenue and weakening
morale, but is unlikely to mark its demise.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Two suicide bombers attacked a conference in Somalia on Wednesday but failed to stop delegates agreeing a new draft constitution that is meant to help the violence-torn East African country return to stability.

One bomber killed six security officers, while the other was shot and killed before he could detonate his bomb, police said.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Kenya’s military said it captured the Somali rebel redoubt of Afmadow on Wednesday, but the al Shabaab militant group said it had repulsed a Kenyan attack and still controlled the strategic town in southern Somalia.

A spokesman for Somali government forces fighting alongside the Kenyans said they had advanced to the outskirts of Afmadow but had not captured the town, as Kenya’s military spokesman, Major Emmanuel Chirchir, had stated earlier.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s al Shabaab rebels ambushed an armored convoy carrying the country’s president during a rare overland trip outside the capital on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said.

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was unharmed in the attack which occurred on the outskirts of Elasha town, located between Mogadishu and the former rebel stronghold of Afgoye, about 30 km (18 miles) northwest of the city.