Tuesday 18,Febr,2025{HMC} The Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of the Banadir, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Amir, welcomed a delegation led by the Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), Mr. James Swan, at his office.

The meeting, held at the Municipal Government House in Hamar, focused on several key issues, including strengthening cooperation between the two parties, accelerating development projects in the capital, supporting security efforts, and preparations for upcoming elections in Mogadishu. Additionally, discussions included initiatives for youth employment.

Mr. James Swan praised the proactive efforts of Mayor Amir and his commitment to restoring the city’s former beauty and dignity. He assured that the UN stands ready to support the programs aimed at the development of Mogadishu.

In response, Mayor Amir expressed gratitude to the United Nations for their ongoing support of the Somali government and people, as well as their contributions to various development projects within the Federal Government of Somalia.

Source SONNA

Tuesday 18,Febr,2025{HMC} Ma’awisley fighters launched a coordinated assault on an AS stronghold in El Buur, a district in central Somalia’s Galgaduud region, according to security sources and residents.

The attack, carried out late Monday night by the local militia aligned with the Somali government, specifically targeted the residence of an AS commander overseeing operations in the town. Local reports indicate that the militia inflicted casualties on the militant group, though the exact death toll remains unconfirmed.

Following the assault, Ma’awisley forces reportedly withdrew safely to their bases without sustaining losses. Meanwhile, AS militants have increased pressure on El Buur’s civilian population in the wake of the attack, according to sources inside the town.

The attack marks the second time Ma’awisley fighters have launched a direct offensive against AS positions in El Buur, one of the group’s key operational hubs in central Somalia. The district has remained under AS control despite ongoing counterterrorism efforts by Somali government forces and allied militias.

Ma’awisley, a loosely organized militia formed by local communities, has played a significant role in resisting AS influence in rural areas of central Somalia. The group has conducted several ambushes and hit-and-run attacks against the militants, often in coordination with Somali government forces.

AS , an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, has maintained a strong presence in Ceelbuur and other parts of central and southern Somalia for over a decade. The group frequently targets government officials, security forces, and local militias opposing its rule.

Tuesday 18,Febr,2025{HMC} U.S. airstrikes killed 16 militants affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group in northern Somalia, officials there said Monday.

A spokesperson for security operations in the Puntland region, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, disclosed the death toll in an interview VOA’s Somali Service.

“The strike carried out by our international security partners killed at least 16 militants including two senior members identified as the group’s bomb-makers, and a bomb factory was destroyed,” Ahmed said.

He said local officials are working to verify the names and nationalities of the bomb-makers.

Ahmed said that the United Arab Emirates played a role Sunday’s attack.

“The United States government and the United Arab Emirates, both our partners supporting us in the fight against terrorists, were involved [in] the strikes on Sunday night,” he added.

Ahmed said the strikes targeted Godka Kunle and Xankookin, two villages in the Cal Miskaad mountain range in Puntland’s Bari region.

Ahmed said during the airstrikes, the militants launched drone attacks on the bases of the Puntland security forces in the area.

“Trying to hit back the bases of our security forces, the militants used seven drones. Puntland forces shot down five of them and two others, apparently with explosives, went off,” Ahmed claimed.

Somali and U.S. authorities have been working to root out Islamic State groups that established hideouts in mountainous parts of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia.

The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement Monday that it conducted an airstrike against ISIS-Somalia in the country’s northeast Sunday, killing two terrorists, according to an initial assessment.

AFRICOM said no civilians were harmed in the operation and said it would continue to evaluate the results and provide updates as necessary.

Speaking in Mogadishu, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud commended the U.S. airstrikes.

“The latest U.S. precision strikes against terrorist elements in Puntland reaffirms the strong partnership between Somalia and the United States in the fight against terrorism,” Mohamud said in a statement posted by the Somali National News Agency (SONNA).

Sunday’s airstrike is the second the U.S. military carried out in Somalia this month.

A similar operation on Feb. 1, which targeted senior ISIS-Somalia leadership in a network of cave complexes in Puntland’s Golis Mountains, killed approximately 14 ISIS operatives, including Ahmed Maeleninine, who the U.S. identified as a key recruiter and financier responsible for coordinating jihadi movements into the U.S. and Europe.

Puntland authorities recently launched a military offensive against extremist groups in the region following months of preparations.

Puntland claims to have since killed more than 200 Islamic State fighters, dozens of them foreign fighters, and captured villages and bases in the mountainous area controlled by IS.

Tuesday 18,Febr,2025{HMC} A Swedish court on Monday sentenced four men to prison for participating in the Islamic State (IS) network, including recruitment, weapons training, and propaganda activities, while acquitting three of them of planning an attack inside Sweden.

The Nacka District Court handed down sentences ranging between three and six-and-a-half years to the four Swedish nationals, citing their direct involvement in IS operations in Somalia. However, it dismissed charges that three of them had been plotting a terrorist attack inside Sweden, ruling that the evidence did not establish a concrete plan for an imminent strike.

Convictions and Sentences

The court found that between 2023 and 2024, the men actively supported IS by recruiting new members, conducting arms training, and spreading propaganda for the militant group. The convicted individuals are:
Omar Yasser Ahmed Atia, 21, sentenced to six-and-a-half years.
Daniel Elias Johansson, 25, sentenced to six years.
Rasmus Erik Johansson, 23, sentenced to five-and-a-half years.
Elyas Mohamed Hakamali, 63, sentenced to three years.
Three of them had also been charged with preparing a terrorist crime in Sweden, but the court found insufficient evidence to prove they had a specific target or operational plan.

“The district court did not consider that there was a sufficiently clear plan for an intended terrorist offence,” the ruling stated.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority, which had accused the suspects of intending to kill or injure civilians in an IS-backed attack, expressed disappointment with the acquittals but said it respected the ruling.

One of the convicted men, Elyas Mohamed Hakamali, 63, a longtime imam in Tyresö, south of Stockholm, was a central figure in the case. He had been the leader of a local Islamic cultural association and its basement mosque for over two decades before his arrest.

Authorities detained him on April 17, 2024, during a pre-dawn raid, marking a significant moment in the Swedish Security Service’s (Säpo) counterterrorism efforts. Prosecutors accused him of actively recruiting members, including young converts, for IS activities in Somalia. His mosque, which had received nearly half a million kroner in state funding since 2016, is now under investigation for potential misuse of funds related to radicalization efforts.

Säpo believes that Hakamali played a key role in radicalizing and recruiting the younger men involved in the case. According to prosecutors, he taught extremist ideology to children and youth at the mosque, a claim that has deeply unsettled Sweden’s religious communities.

The investigation also revealed that two of the convicted individuals, brothers aged 23 and 25, had allegedly received direct instructions from IS in Somalia to “kill as many infidels as possible, with Jewish targets as the main targets.” Prosecutors say the brothers had discussed seeking minors under 18 who were “ready to die as martyrs” and could “kill many” in attacks.

Wiretapped conversations captured them speaking about potential targets, including government buildings, police, intelligence agencies, and synagogues in Sweden. Authorities say the group had links to an organized criminal gang in Tyresö, which supplied them with a firearm and an electric stun gun.

The defence lawyers for Atia and Johansson indicated that their clients would appeal the verdicts, while the attorneys for the other two did not immediately comment.

Swedish authorities arrested three of the suspects on March 7, 2024, in coordinated raids across Stockholm, including Tyresö. Hakamali was arrested separately on April 17, 2024, following a second phase of investigations.

Swedish Security Police (Säpo) had described the arrests as a preventative operation to avert a potential attack, but details on the suspected plot remained classified.

Hiiraan online

Tuesday 18,Febr,2025{HMC} Somali-Canadian actress Sabrina Dhowre Elba has been cast in Nuur, an upcoming feature film directed by Lula Ali Ismaïl, a Canadian-Djiboutian filmmaker known for her groundbreaking debut Dhalinyaro. The film, produced by Scythia Films and Good Question Media, is an adaptation of Somali-Canadian writer Hassan Ghedi Santur’s acclaimed novel The Youth of God.

Elba will portray Haawo, a Somali mother navigating single parenthood in Toronto’s tight-knit Somali community. She joins a cast that includes Omar Abdi (The Gravedigger’s Wife) and Hamza Fouad (Riverdale).

“Nuur” follows the story of a 17-year-old boy grappling with faith, academic aspirations, and the pressures of assimilation. He is caught between two opposing mentors—a radical imam and a compassionate teacher—forcing him to make a life-altering decision. When he disappears, his mother embarks on a desperate search for her son, confronting the weight of her past and the challenges of her new life in Canada.

“I’m honoured to play Haawo in Nuur,” Elba said in a statement. “This role holds deep significance for me, and working with Lula Ali Ismaïl has been an incredible experience. Her vision and storytelling bring this vital story to life.”
Director Ismaïl, who made history as Djibouti’s first female filmmaker, has long focused on stories of migration and identity. Her previous film, Dhalinyaro, explored class differences and youth aspirations in Djibouti. With Nuur, she seeks to depict the universal experience of displacement and belonging, particularly within the Somali diaspora.

“This story is deeply personal,” Ismaïl said. “As someone who has lived the migrant experience, I want to portray the internal and external battles of those searching for home in a new world.”

Hassan Ghedi Santur, the novel’s author and screenwriter, is a journalist and novelist whose works explore migration, radicalization, and belonging. His book The Youth of God was longlisted for Canada Reads 2020 and has been widely praised for its poignant depiction of the challenges faced by young Somali immigrants in the West. His work draws from extensive research on the radicalization of young Somali men in Canada and the alienation they often experience.