February 15, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

AU TROOPS ATTACK AL SHABAAB POSITIONS IN MOGADISHU

14 Feb- Source: AFP- 422 words

African Union-backed Somali government forces attacked Islamist Shebab rebel posts on the outskirts of the war-torn capital Mogadishu with tanks and artillery Tuesday, officials and witness said.

Burundian troops with the AU Mission in Somalia launched a pre-dawn attack against holdout positions of the Al-Qaeda allied Shebab, to secure a key road leading from Mogadishu to the rebel-held town of Afgoye.

Key Headlines

Somali PM arrives in Garowe Puntland (Radio Bar-Kulan)
National Security Committee warns threat of al Shabaab-Al-Qaeda merger (Radio Shabelle)
Mass displacement begins near Kenyan border towns (Radio Shabelle)
AU troops attack al Shabaab positions in Mogadishu (AFP)
Al Qaeda’s Merger (- Source: Foreign policy)
Russia to back KDF push to join AMISOM (Daily Nation)
Smuggling and trafficking of Somalis must stop UN human rights expert says (UN News Centre)
Galkayo IDPs suffer as aid agencies pull out (IRIN News)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali PM arrives in Garowe, Puntland

14 Feb – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Shabelle, Radio Mogadishu – 177 words

The Somali PM Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has just arrived in Puntland’s capital, Garowe, where he will attend a follow up conference of the first National Constitutional Conference in Garowe last December. The PM and his entourage were warmly received by Puntland’s Vice President Abdisamed Ali Shire and at Garowe airport. Also in Garowe are officials from UNPOS, the International Community and Galmudug President, Mohamed Ahmed Ali who has been pitching tent in Garowe since Monday.

National Security Committee warns threat of al Shabaab-Al-Qaeda merger

14 Feb – Source: Shabelle – 185 words

The National Security Committee of the TFG has on Tuesday warned against the threat of the merger of the militant group of al Shabaab with Al-Qaeda. After a meeting in Mogadishu, the members of the committee said the move of al Shabaab with Al-Qaeda would pose a major security threat to Somalia as well as the east African countries, urging to fight the militants.

1 dead, 3 injured in Mogadishu heavy fighting

14 Feb – Source: Radio Shabelle – 161 words

At least one person was confirmed killed and three others injured Tuesday in fighting between pro-Somali government soldiers backed by AMISOM and al Shabaab militants, a military official says. Ahmed Abdullah Yare, one of Somali government troop officials at Ex-control Afgoye checkpoint out of Mogadishu said that the combat flared up after the militants attacked a new AMISOM base which is just 3 km away from the checkpoint controlled by TFG troops. All casualties were civilians.

Kenya and TFG troops expose IED

14 Feb – Source: Garowe Online – 127 words

Kenyan and TFG troops detonated an IED that they uncovered in the district of Balad Hawo that shares a border with Kenya, Garowe reports. Officials from the TFG said that the troops were carrying out operations in the area and uncovered an IED which was planted near the border between Kenya and Somalia.

Mass displacement begins near Kenyan border towns

14 Feb – Source: Shabelle – 230 words

Hundreds of families living in Lower Jubba region of southwestern Somalia began Tuesday fleeing from their house after hitting frequent battle and heavy shells between Somalia government forces allied with Kenyan army and al Shabaab fighters, according to residents. Residents in villages on the outer edge of Afmadow district in Lower Jubba province say that locals have started fleeing from their houses

REGIONAL MEDIA

Russia to back KDF push to join AMISOM

14 Feb- Source: Daily Nation- 283 words

President Kibaki and visiting Russian Special Representative to Africa, Mr. Mikhail Margelov have called on the UN Security Council to fast-track the re-hatting of the Kenya Defence Force into AMISOM. The two made the remarks following a meeting where they discussed the need to stabilize Somalia. The re-hatting of the Kenya Defence Force follows recommendations by by IGAD and the African Union.

Modest gains for Kenya offensive in Somalia 4 months on

14 Feb – Source: Capital FM – 612 words

KDF Military officials claim air strikes and ground assaults have scuttled the Al-Qaeda-linked militants and disrupted their revenue sources since the incursion — Kenya’s first since independence in 1963 — began in October. Al Shabaab is considerably weakened,” said Kenyan army spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna. “In our own assessment, 75 percent of revenue collection of al Shabaab has been disrupted.”

Russia backs efforts to stabilise Somalia

14 Feb – Source: Capital FM – 304 words

President Mwai Kibaki on Tuesday held talks with visiting Russian Special Representative to Africa, Mikhail Margelov, who paid him a courtesy call at his Harambee House office. During the meeting, President Kibaki and Margelov discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest to Kenya and Russia. The President briefed the Russian special representative on the progress of Kenya’s military engagement in Somalia under operation “Linda Nchi”.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

AU troops attack al Shabaab positions in Mogadishu

14 Feb- Source: AFP- 422 words

African Union-backed Somali government forces attacked Islamist Shebab rebel posts on the outskirts of the war-torn capital Mogadishu with tanks and artillery Tuesday, officials and witness said.

Al Qaeda’s Merger

14 Feb – Source: Foreign policy – 624 words

Hundreds of Somalis gathered on the outskirts of Mogadishu on Feb. 13 to celebrate the union of al Qaeda with its Somali cousin, the insurgent-terrorist group al-Shabab. But the mainstream media hasn’t quite figured out what to make of the news, first announced last week, that the two groups had officially merged.

Galkayo IDPs suffer as aid agencies pull out

14 Feb- Source: IRIN News- 586 words

More and more aid agencies are withdrawing from South Galkayo in central Somalia’s self-declared autonomous state of Galmudug, due to increased insecurity: Five months after a militia kidnapped two aid workers, living conditions for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) there have deteriorated, with food and shelter in short supply.

Smuggling and trafficking of Somalis must stop, UN human rights expert says

14 Feb- Source: UN News Centre- 435 words

The smuggling and trafficking in innocent Somalis must end, an independent United Nations human rights expert said today, expressing deep shock over the recent boat disaster in the Gulf of Aden that resulted in the death of 11 people, while another 34 are still missing.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

Talk point: we want to hear your views on the future of Somalia

14 Feb- Source: The Guardian

Next week, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will be among the high-profile delegates descending on London for the next international conference on Somalia. Officials from 50 countries and international organisations are expected to attend, along with representatives from Somalia’s transitional institutions. Last week, the UK’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said: “The time is right for a determined new effort to help the country get on its feet.”

The one-day high-level international conference has an ambitious agenda, hoping to tackle everything from security and local stability to humanitarian needs and international co-ordination. But, much like many other previous high-level international conferences, there is no space at the table for civil society or diaspora groups.
On Friday we’re holding a discussion with Somali representatives of organisations in the UK to get their perspectives on the issues ahead of the conference. Among those we will be talking to are Mohamed Elmi, chairman of Somali Diaspora UK, Rahma Ahmed, co-ordinator of the Somali Relief and Development Forum, and Abdirashid Duale, CEO of Dahabshiil, one of the largest providers of international remittances in the Somali region. We will be interviewing them for the Global development website and we’d like to hear from you the questions you’d like us to put to them.

Why latest foreign ‘re-colonisation’ project of Somalia will fail

14 Feb – Source: The Citizen – Editorial-Analysis (Rasna Warah is an analyst and commentator based in Nairobi) – 680 words

Rasna Warah
In the first two decades of the 20th century, Somali warrior-poet Seyyid Mohammed Abdulle Hassan (nicknamed the “Mad Mullah” by the British) fought against European forces trying to assert their influence in Somalia. His attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, but Hassan remains a source of inspiration among Somalis. Foreign intervention and occupation have always been violently resisted in Somalia, as demonstrated right from the “Black Hawk Down” incident that led to the evacuation of US forces from Somalia in the early 1990s to the recent retreat of Ethiopian forces when they tried to assert their authority in Mogadishu after the fall of the Islamic Courts Union.

Some argue that the quagmire in Somalia is the result of too much — not too little — foreign interference, be it in the form of military invasions, humanitarian aid, and even the extreme form of Islam (Salafism) imported from Saudi Arabia by Al-Shabaab.

Even when the intervention appears to be for the good of Somalia — such as providing aid during a famine — failure by outsiders to understand the fiercely independent character of Somalis contributes to more conflict and misunderstanding, as pointed out by BBC journalist Mary Harper in her new book Getting Somalia Wrong?

That is why a conference set to take place in London next week is viewed with suspicion by many Somalis.
Hosted by the British Government, the conference aims to “deliver a new international approach to Somalia” by bringing together more than 40 countries and multilateral organisations that will decide how Somalia is to be governed once the term of the Transitional Federal Government expires in August this year.