According to aPuntland officer, Somali forces allied with regional militias also took the town ofEl Dhere.[5]
17 January – Seven soldiers, including a commander, are killed whenal-Shabaab terrorists attack a base in Hawadley with asuicide car bomb and gunmen.[6]
22 January – Five civilians and six al-Shabaab terrorists were killed during a siege of a compound housing the Mogadishu's mayor's office and other local government facilities.[7]
28 May – Somalia announces that beginning next year, the country will change to apresidential system and elect officials bydirect vote, ending more than three decades ofindirect voting where lawmakers elected the country's leaders with the approval of clan and elderly leaders.[13]
At least 27 people died, most children, and 53 were injured after remnants of an old bomb exploded in the Murale village in the Janaale area of the eastern Lower Shabelle region.[15]
20 June
Brig-Gen Mohydin is appointed as the Chief of the defense force Somali National Army (SNA), replacing Maj- Gen Odowa Yusuf Rage.[16]
At least 26 people died, 16 of them soldiers, and 30 others wounded after heavy fighting broke out in Puntland. This is after the Puntland parliament voted for a one-man-one vote election with multiple political parties.[17]
13 July – Four people are killed inJubaland,Somalia, asal-Shabaab is confirmed as having captured a military base in the area which had been handed to Somalia bythe Kenyan military on June 29.[18]
1 August –Nasra Ali Abukar, 18, a Somali female university student known for her participation in the 100-meter race at theXXXI FISU World University Games inChengdu, China, where she came last. Her remarkably poor result and perceived lack of athleticism caused international outrage and accusations of nepotism when she was found out to have family ties with the chair of theSomali Athletics Committee.[19]
11 August – Twenty soldiers including the leader of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) were killed and several others injured after a war broke out betweenSomaliland forces and the Gacan Libah paramilitary forces in thenorthwestern region.[20]
6 November – At least 53 people inSomalia are killed duringfloods caused by significant rainfall. Thousands of homes, bridges and roads are destroyed and over half a million are displaced.[22][23]
27 December – Severalartillery shells struck neighborhoods inMogadishu, notably impacting theBondhere District, resulting in casualties, an elderly woman lost her life as one of the mortars hit her residence while she was in prayer after theFajr morning prayer.[27]
