On March 26, 2026, armed police arrested Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed, founder and director of the online outlet Dhulmar Media, in the capital of Somalia’s Northeastern State, Las-Anod, and took him to a police station, according to the local rights group, Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), and the journalist’s lawyer, Mohamed Adan Omar, who spoke to CPJ.
Abdiqani, who is also known as Dhulmar, was arrested following the publication of a video interview with former presidential adviser Abdirisak Mohamed Warsame who accused President Abdiqadir Ahmed Aw-Ali of the newly-formed Northeastern State of Somalia of being ineffective and failing to pay regional security forces.
The police said they also arrested Abdirisak on March 26 on suspicion of spreading fake news and libeling the security forces.
On March 27, Abdiqani was taken to a Las-Anod court and remanded for seven days pending further investigation, the journalist’s lawyer said.
In January 2026, the Somali government declared that Northeastern State was its sixth federal member state. Control of the territory has been disputed and the breakaway state of Somaliland continues to claim it.
As of April 2026, CPJ did not receive responses to requests for comment sent via messaging app to Mohamed Ahmed Ali, director of the Northeastern State presidency, and Khadar Mohamed Farah, police commander of Sool region, which includes Las-Anod.