06 Oct 2011 – Morning headlines
Key Headlines:
- Somali president Sharif visits victims in Mogadishu hospitals
- Somalia announces 3-day national mourning for suicide attack’s victims as death toll rises
- TFG Forces Demolish Checkpoints in Mogadishu
- Somalia PM urges aid workers to stay after blast
- ASWJ urges TFG not to Negotiate with Shabaab
PRESS RELEASE
Somalia announces 3-day national mourning for suicide attack’s victims, as death toll rises
05 Oct – Source: TFG – 248 words
Somalia President Sharif Sheik Ahmed announced a three-day national mourning for the victims of the bloody truck bomb that left dozens of people dead and injured many more on Tuesday. “The President announced three-day national mourning for the victims of the bloody terrorist attack that claimed the lives of innocent people, mostly students,” the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, H.E. Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed said. The Ministry of Health announced the casualty figures have risen to 72 while the injured are 103, of whom 38 are in serious condition. Hospital sources confirm that the majority of the victims are students and their parents, who were registering for scholarships and other civilians that were outside the compound on the busiest street in the capital. Visiting the terrorist scene and some of the hospitals, the President announced a ministerial committee that will coordinate the efforts to help the victims of this terrorist act and that the Government will soon start flying out of the country some of the injured whose cases cannot be dealt in the country.
“At this time, when the country is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis, the terrorists could not have attacked the Somali people at a worst time,” said the Minister of Information. This is the second attack in which Al-Shabaab particularly targeted students in just two years. In December 2009 a suicide bomber attacked a university graduation ceremony in Mogadishu, killing more than 20 people, including government ministers, medical students and doctors. Declaration by Somali PM Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Addis Ababa, Oct. 5th 2011 05 Oct – Source: TFG – 369 words Al-Qaeda associates al Shabaab carried out the worst heinous act in our soil in Mogadishu, killing students and innocent people indiscriminately. As Prime Minister of Somalia, I strongly condemn this vicious and cowardly act. This is a very sad day for Somalia. I ask all Somalis to unite and confront these extremists so that our people can live in peace and harmony.
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president, Sharif visits victims in Mogadishu hospitals
05 Oct – Source: Mareeg Online, Radio Mogadishu, Hiiraan Online and Somaliweyn – 102 words
Somali president, Sheikh Sharif Sh. Ahmed on Wednesday paid visits to the site where the suicide attack occurred as well as hospitals in Mogadishu, state media said. Sheikh Sharif visited Hargaha and Samaha compound where Tuesday’s deadly suicide attack took place. He said that patients with heavy wounds would be taken abroad for health care.
Al Shabaab extremists killed five innocent civilians
05 Oct – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 133 words
At least five persons, including children and civilians, were confirmed to have been killed after al Shabaab launched an attack on Dhusamareeb town on Tuesday morning, in Galgudud region in the South Central Somalia. The group also ransacked one of the privately-owned Electrical Power Supply centers located in the town.
ASWJ urges TFG not to negotiate with al Shabaab
05 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 105 words
Moderates Islamist group Ahlu sunaa wal-jama’a has urged the TFG not to negotiate with al Shabaab. The ASWJ official named as Mohamed Yusuf Hefow asked the TFG not to pardon al Shabaab militants for their evil activities but eliminate them by the gun. Mohamed condemned Tuesday’s attack by al Shabaab in Mogadishu.
12 foreign affairs staff depart for training in the UAE
05 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, SNTV- 192 words
The Somali Foreign ministry Tuesday awarded 12 youths with training in the United Arab Emirates as a part of the ongoing expansion of the Transitional Federal Institutions. In a ceremony that took place in the Mogadishu, the Somali deputy PM – who is also Somali Foreign Affairs Minister – H.E Mohamed Mohamuud Ibrahim called on the 12 youths to take advantage of the training and better their knowledge and understanding of the ministry’s duties.
TFG forces demolish checkpoints in Mogadishu
05 Oct- Source: Jowhar Online, Somalireport, Risaala- 61 words
TFG forces yesterday officially demolished checkpoints in Dharkenley district of Mogadishu. Militias and some pro-government forces used to collect money from vehicles and people at the checkpoints, which resulted in several clashes in the last several months.
Bay and Bakool elders condemn Mogadishu suicide attack
05 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 97 words
Council of elders and intellectuals from Bay and Bakool region have condemned Mogadishu suicide attack conducted by al Shabaab, which killed 70 and injured more than 100 persons. In a press conference summoned by the elders, they said the attack of the militia is a way of reducing the Somali population. The elders in conjunction with intellectuals from the two regions wished the wounded victims a quick recovery.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalia’s suffering
06 Oct – Source: – 541 words
A bomb goes off in Mogadishu, almost certainly planted by the extremist al Shabaab movement which in August was forced to pull its forces out of the Somali capital. Over 70 people have died. Meanwhile, in the south of the broken country, clashes between opposing armed groups have resulted in many dead and injured. The news from Somalia is unremittingly grim.
Kenyan Police Commissioner declares war on al Shabaab militias
05 Oct- Source: Nairobi Star- 161 words
The government has stepped efforts to stem al Shabaab menace in the country. The government will form a joint operating security team in Lamu borders and the entire Coastal line following attacks of tourists that led to one dead and two women abducted in a period of three weeks. Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said the Somali border will also remain closed and any vessel that shall venture into the Kenyan waters shall be attacked or searched thoroughly.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/local/coast/43155-iteere-declares-war-on-al-shabaab-militias
ICRC launches new food distributions in Somalia
05 Oct- Source: Kuwait News Agency- 317 words
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started to distribute food with the aim of assisting some 1.1 million drought-and war-affected people across the hardest-hit areas of southern and central Somalia, it was announced here Wednesday.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2194580&Language=e n
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia PM urges aid workers to stay after blast
05 Oct- Source: Reuters- 359 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali urged aid workers on Wednesday not to stay away from the famine-ravaged Horn of Africa nation after al Qaeda-linked militants killed 70 people in a Mogadishu suicide bomb attack and vowed to boost security.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/uk-somalia-blast-aid-idUKTRE79438520111005
Somali militants warn of more attacks after bombing
05 Oct – Source: USA Today / AP – 819 words
Al Qaeda-linked militants threatened more terror attacks that will “increase day by day” after a suicide bomber killed 72 people. Mourners transported coffins atop cars Wednesday to funerals for those who perished in al Shabaab’s deadliest bomb attack in Somalia.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-10-05/Somalia-terror-attacks/50666032/1
Fears grow over Somali pirates’ ‘new tactics’ after kidnaps, killing
06 Oct – Source: CNN – 647 words
Somalia’s pirates have long made the country’s coastline a no-go area for sailors, but two brutal attacks on resorts in neighboring Kenya have sparked fears that the militants may have dramatically altered their tactics.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/05/world/africa/kenya-somali-pirate-tactics/?hpt=wo_c2
Somalia famine and drought situation report, No. 16
05 Oct – Source: Relief Web – 128 words
This report is produced by OCHA Somalia in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It was issued by OCHA in New York. It covers the period from 28 September to 4 October 2011. The next report will be issued on 11 October.