Security challenges, internal division, mar Somalia's 64th birthday

Mogadishu and Washington — Somalia, an impoverished nation in the horn of Africa, has begun celebrating 65 years of independence, though it comes amid a backdrop of division and a pivotal security transition. Independence Week is celebrated annually from June 26 to July 1 to honor the 1960 union of British Somaliland and Italian Somalia. It paved the way for a united Somalia with hopes of progress and prosperity, although they remain a dream, according to Sokor Jama, former director of Somalia’s Defense Ministry.