Thursday 5,June 2025 {HMC} At least 20 Al-Shabaab militants were killed on Wednesday during heavy fighting between Ma’awisley local militia forces from the Hawadle clan and the militant group in the El-Hareri area of the Hiiraan region.

The battle erupted after Al-Shabaab launched an explosive attack targeting Ma’awisley positions in the area, followed by intense close-range combat that lasted nearly two hours.

A Ma’awisley militia officer told reporters that their forces repelled the attack, dealing a significant blow to the militants.

“Today, the Khawarij attacked us with two explosive-laden vehicles. The first was aimed at destroying the local water well, but we stopped it. The second is still in the area,” the officer said.

Al-Shabaab briefly seized control of El-Hareri, which falls under Moqokori district, but Ma’awisley forces reportedly regained control of the area following a fierce counteroffensive.

The latest confrontation underscores the ongoing efforts by community-based militias in central Somalia to push back against Al-Shabaab’s presence, particularly in the Hiiraan region where local resistance forces have increasingly collaborated with government troops in counterterrorism operations.

Thursday 5,June 2025 {HMC} Somalia’s Independent National Electoral Commission has strongly denied recent allegations circulating on social media that residents in Mogadishu are being forced to collect their voting cards under threat of arrest.

Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission, dismissed the reports as false and misleading, emphasizing that voter registration is entirely voluntary.

“These are baseless and misleading reports circulating on social media,” said Chairman Abdikarim. “Voting is a constitutional right and a personal choice, and no one can be forced to collect their voting cards.”

He urged the public to rely on official sources for accurate information and encouraged citizens to misreport any irregularities or impersonators claiming affiliation with the Commission.

The clarification comes amid accusations from opposition groups that the federal government is forcibly registering voters. Voter registration has been underway in the Somali capital since early last month, with thousands of residents registering for the upcoming local elections in Mogadishu.

The Electoral Commission reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring a transparent, inclusive, and credible electoral process.

Source Hiiraan online

Thursday 5,June 2025 {HMC}  Nearly two million Muslim pilgrims gathered on Mount Arafat in western Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking the spiritual climax of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The pilgrims, wearing white clothing, began to gather at Arafat at sunrise after spending a night of meditation and introspection in the tent city of Mina, which marked the first leg of their five-day-long Hajj.

Throughout the day, pilgrims remained on the vast Arafat plain, engaging in prayers and supplications, seeking forgiveness and spiritual renewal. As the sun set, they began their descent to Muzdalifah, a sacred site situated between Arafat and Mina, where they would collect pebbles for the next day’s rite.

The pilgrimage continues in Mina, where pilgrims perform the symbolic stoning of the devil, a ritual that represents the rejection of evil. This act coincides with the start of Eid al-Adha on Friday, during which pilgrims will also sacrifice animals in remembrance of the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God.

Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims who are physically and financially able to undertake the journey at least once in their lifetime.

Thursday 5,June 2025 {HMC} U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.

The directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has also included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, as well as efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students and deport others.

The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, will be partially restricted.

“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised and new countries could be added.

The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025 at 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT). Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said.

During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban on nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience.”

Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security and have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.

“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump said.

He cited Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado in which a man tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new restrictions are needed.

An Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged in the attack. Federal officials said Soliman had overstayed his tourist visa and had an expired work permit – although Egypt is not on the list of countries facing travel limits.

BEING IN THE U.S. A ‘BIG RISK’

Somalia immediately pledged to work with the U.S. to address security issues.

“Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,” Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, responded on Wednesday evening by describing the U.S. government as fascist and warning Venezuelans of being in the U.S.

“The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans … They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason.”

A spokesperson for the Taliban-led Afghan foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on how it would handle the thousands of Afghans waiting in Islamabad who had been in the pipeline for U.S. resettlement.

Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson of Myanmar’s military government were not answered.
The travel ban threatens to upend a 31-year-old Myanmar teacher’s plan to join a U.S. State Department exchange program, which was slated to start in September.

“It is not easy to apply nor get accepted as we needed several recommendation letters,” said the teacher, who currently lives in Thailand and asked not to be named because her visa application is still outstanding.

“In my case, I would get to work at universities that provide digital education,” she said, adding that she had not been updated by the program after Trump’s announcement.

Trump’s presidential campaign focused on a tough border strategy and he previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”

Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the U.S. to detect national security threats.

The latest travel restrictions were first reported by CBS News.

In March, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was considering travel restrictions on dozens of countries.

Reporting by Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose, Additional reporting by Martin Petty, Daphne Psaledakis, Charlotte Greenfield, Shoon Naing and Jasper Ward; writing by James Oliphant and Lincoln Feast; editing by Costas Pitas, Sandra Maler, Michelle Nichols, Diane Craft, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Stephen Coates

Source REUTERS