Local militia fighters known as Macawiisley have launched a major offensive against Al-Shabaab militants in areas surrounding Nuur Dugle in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, according to local sources.

The long-standing relationship between Mogadishu and Washington faced a diplomatic chill this week after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned remarks attributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump, in which Somalis were reportedly described as “trash.” Mohamud called the comments deeply offensive, stressing that they undermine the dignity of an entire nation.

The Presidents of Somalia and Turkey, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced on Tuesday that offshore oil drilling in Somalia’s coastal waters is set to begin next year, following successful geological surveys.

The head of Libya’s Presidency Council, Mohamed Menfi, mourned on Tuesday evening Army Chief of Staff Mohammed al-Haddad and four senior military officials, who were killed in a plane crash near the Turkish capital Ankara.

This line, widely shared among Somali youth at home and across the diaspora, should be read not as cultural expression but as a political signal. It reflects an emerging generational identity shaped by decades of state fragility and social fragmentation—and an increasing refusal to be governed by political arrangements that no longer reflect social realities.