August 15, 2012 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Spokesman: more peacekeepers to be deployed in Baidoa, Beledweyne

14 Aug- Source: Radio Risaala- 114 words

African Union mission in Somalia spokesman, Col. Ali Aden Haamud said, in an exclusive interview with Risaala radio, that there is a plan to increase the numbers of AMISOM troops deployed across the country. Djiboutian peacekeepers are expected to take over positions held by Ethiopian forces in Beledweyne town. Ali Aden confirmed that though the Djiboutian contingent is ready, certain technicalities are still remaining to be sorted out. He noted that the commanders and the contingent’s leadership are already stationed in the town.However the spokesman declined to give the exact number of troops involved. AMISOM troops have already been deployed in Baidoa, taking over from the Ethiopians and Mr. Aden revealed that their number will be increased if need be.

Key Headlines

Spokesman: More Peacekeepers to Be Deployed in Baydoa Belaeweyne (Radio Risaala)
Over 600 Somali soldiers finish training (Source: Radio Risaala/Radio Mogadishu)
Al Shabaab hijacks relief trucks in Hiiraan region (Radio Bar-kulan)
Gunmen kill Mogadishu market chairman (Jowhar Online)
Eight survive army helicopter crash; two dead (New Vision)
US UN concerned over corrupt Somali transition (AP)
Garissa blasts linked to Somali ex-soldiers (Star)
Al Shabaab in Somalia still a threat to peace in spite of decline – UN (Defenceweb)

SOMALI MEDIA

Spokesman: more peacekeepers to be deployed in Baidoa, Beledweyne

14 Aug- Source: Radio Risaala- 114 words

Gunmen kill Mogadishu market chairman

14 Aug- Source: Jowhar Online/Radio Shabelle- 79 words

Gunmen have killed the chairman of Bacad market outside a mosque in Mogadishu. The assailant fled the scene. Said Fidow was shot dead as he distributed water to people to break the fast in the evening. Eyewitnesses said two men armed with pistols shot the chairman at the head. Mogadishu’s Yaqshid District administration did not comment on the matter as no group claimed responsibility for the killing of the chairman.

Police officer kills security agency official in Mogadishu

14 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 83 words

A police officer on Tuesday shot and killed an official with the National Security Service inside Mogadishu seaport under unknown circumstances, reports say. The officer shot dead the victim only named as Afweyne after picking a quarrel with him over unspecified issue, according to another official with the national spy agency. The police officer is now being held in custody.

Over 600 Somali soldiers finish training

14 Aug- Source: Radio Risaala/Radio Mogadishu/ Radio Kulmiye-125 words

More than 600 soldiers on Tuesday concluded more than 6 months of vigorous training abroad. The graduation ceremony was held in Jazeera Military Camp in Mogadishu and was overseen by senior government officials.Various celebrations and Military maneuvers were held where the soldiers displayed some of the skills they acquired in their training. Somalia’s Minister for Defense, Hussein Arab Ise, Somalia’s army general, Abdikadir Sheikh Ali Diini and the Minister for Security of Puntland, Khalif Ise Mudan all addressed the new graduates and they urged them to defend their country and their people.The soldiers were also promised to be paid 4 months’ salaries that were in arrears.

Tribal clashes in central Somalia kills 2, injures 10

14 Aug – Source: Shabelle – 84 words

At least two people have been killed and more than 10 others were wounded, some of them seriously in a heavy clan fighting in central Somalia. Hassan Abdi-alas, the district administrator of Abud-waq for the Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a (ASWJ), told Shabelle Media that the battle took place in an area located east of the town, adding that both sides are fighting over grazing land.

Al Shabaab hijacks relief trucks in Hiiraan region

14 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 92 words

Al Shabaab militants have last night allegedly hijacked nine trucks transporting relief food at Mir-Ade area, some 55 KM east of Beledweyne town. The trucks left Beledweyne and were heading to Mahas town to deliver the food ration, according Mahas District Commissioner Mumin Mohamoud Mohamed. Mohamed said the militants diverted the trucks and the relief supplies to Bula-Burte, another town in region still under the control of the rebel group. It is not yet known why the rebel group decided to hijack these trucks carrying humanitarian aid to needy people in Mahas district.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Garissa blasts linked to Somali ex-soldiers

14 Aug- Source: Star (Kenya)- 218 words

Garissa leaders are now blaming former Transitional Federal Government’s soldiers for the insecurity that has rocked the northern Kenya town and other parts of the region. Garissa Mayor Ismail Garat and Peace secretary counterpart Hassan Osman said that the solders are connected to the attacks that have occurred in the region.Their revelations come a month after police gunned down two bandits at Nuno on the Garissa- Mandera road. The two had allegedly been involved in a series of robberies and killings along the road. One of those killed had a jacket that had TFG numbers. Some have linked the TFG deserters to the church attacks in Garissa that killed twenty people on July 1, and the attacks that have rocked the refugee camps in Dadaab.

Eight survive army helicopter crash; two dead

14 Aug- Source: New Vision- 508 words

Eight Ugandan servicemen walked away from their helicopter after it crashed in Kenya en route to war-torn Somalia while two soldiers were confirmed dead in another crash, officials said Tuesday. Theirs were among three Russian-made Mi-24 combat helicopters that went down Sunday in a remote mountainous region of Kenya. One was found on Monday, with all seven servicemen on board rescued.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

US, UN concerned over corrupt Somali transition

14 Aug- Source: AP- 621 words

World leaders from Africa to the U.S. and Europe said they are growing increasingly concerned that intimidation and corruption are marring the selection of a new Somali parliament, a task still unfinished less than a week before the government’s U.N. mandate expires. The U.S. Embassy said in a statement Tuesday that it shares the concerns of the African Union and U.N. over “multiple credible reports of intimidation and corruption” in the selection of the country’s new 275-member parliament.

Al Shabaab in Somalia still a threat to peace in spite of decline – UN

14 Aug – Source: Defenceweb – 145 words

Although al Shabaab has suffered a number of reversals over the past year, been weakened by internal divisions and lost territory in Somalia, it remains a grave threat to peace, according to a report by the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.
In August 2011, al Shabaab withdrew its forces from most of Mogadishu, and in October 2011, Kenyan forces, accompanied by a loose coalition of anti-al Shabaab Somali militias, entered south western Somalia, securing long stretches of the common border.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“This entire process of constitution building in Somalia has been conducted over and above the heads of the population. The war that is being waged in Somalia is conducted in secret and is coordinated by the Pentagon and the CIA. How can such a back drop result in a genuine democratic political system and social stability?”

Can A New Constitution Bring Peace to Somalia?

14 Aug- Source: Pan African news Blog-1165 Words

On August 1 the Somalia National Constituent Assembly approved overwhelmingly a new constitution for the Horn of Africa nation. The document is the result of eight years of negotiations between various political forces inside the country. The constitution allows for abortion if the life of the mother is in danger and it bans female genital mutilation. Islam is the only religion that can be propagated in Somalia although the new constitution says that other believes will be allowed.