February 15, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Attacks increase in Baidoa following regional reshuffle

14 Feb – Source: Garowe Online – 111 words

Heavy fighting between al Shabaab fighters and Somali government forces in Baidoa district left 5 dead and 10 injured in a string of attacks, that coincided with the Somali Federal Government’s reshuffle of the regional administration in Bay region. Bay, Bakol and Hiiraan regions of south central Somalia have seen a resurgence of deadly explosions and attacks waged by al Shabaab fighters in recent weeks after a long period of calm. This resurrection of attacks is mainly concentrated in Baidoa, the administrative capital of Bay region.

Key Headlines

Puntland armed forces al Shabaab fight in Galgala (Puntlandi Online)
Ahlu Sunna leader laid to rest (Bar-Kulan)
Attacks increase in Baidoa following regional reshuffle (Garowe Online)
AU forces seize more al Shabaab territory (Africa Review)
HIV/AIDS prevention workshop held in Garowe (Bar-kulan)
Girl killed after Somali gunmen attack village (Standard)
Security Council discusses revised UN presence in Mogadishu (UN News Centre)

PRESS STATEMENT

Prime Minister congratulates Somali women for participating in “One Billion Rising” campaign

14 Feb – Source: Office of the Somali Prime Minister – 198 words

His Excellency Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon today congratulated Somali women for participating in “One Billion Rising”, a global campaign to end violence against women.

Hundreds of Somali men and women gathered at the community centre in the district of Warta Nabadda, the only district in Mogadishu which has a female District Commissioner, to attend the event, which was organised by the Elman Peace and Sister Somalia organisations.

Also present were Asha Haji Elmi MP, the Women’s Rights Activist and wife of the Prime Minister, Mohamed Ahmed Nur “Tarzan”, the mayor of Mogadishu, and Deka Abdulkadir Ahmed, the District Commissioner of Warta Nabadda.

“Today you showed the world that Somalia is rejoining the community of nations,” the prime minister said. “We salute you for your strength and bravery and we are proud to see you, our Somali sisters, stand up for your rights.

Rape and sexual violence against women are completely unacceptable in Somali culture and against our laws. They have no place in the new Somalia.” “It is an honour for us as Somali women to host this event,” said Deka Abdulkadir Ahmed. “For us today was a life and death thing. We had to do it.”

SOMALI MEDIA

Puntland armed forces, al Shabaab fight in Galgala

14 Feb- Source: Puntlandi Online- 144 words

A fierce fighting between Puntland armed forces and al Shabaab militias erupted in the mountainous region of Galgala on Thursday. The fighting which occurred in Ceeldibir neighborhood of Galgala has caused the death of three al Shabaab militants.The fighting started when Puntland intelligence forces received information regarding al Shabaab militants hiding in the mountainous areas of Galgala.

Al Shabaab to continue suicide explosion attacks in northeastern Somalia

14 Feb – Source: Radio Mustaqbal/Radio Kulmiye – 90 words

Abdulkadir Momen, one of al Shabaab fighters in northeastern mountainous areas vows to continue suicide attacks against Somalia’s semi-autonomous regional administration of Puntland. Speaking to al Shabaab-run radio, he mentioned that they will target the regional authority officials and every individual in the administration.

Ahlu Sunna leader laid to rest

14 Feb – Source: Bar-kulan/Raxanreeb – 94 words

Ahlu Sunna’s fallen Executive Committee Chairman Mohamed Yussuf Hefow has been laid to rest in a cemetery in his Guri’el home town, Galgadud region. Hefow died on Wednesday aged 50 in Mogadishu’s Halene Hospital where he had been taken for treatment after his diabetic condition worsened. The burial was attended by top government officials led by Interior and National Security minister Abdikarin Hussein Gulleid.

Al Shabaab hails the death of Ahlu Sunna leader

14 Feb – Source: Hiiraan Online – 90 words

Al Shabaab militants hailed the death of rival moderate islamist leader Shiekh Mohamed Yusuf Hefow. The group says Hefow was an Ethiopian puppet and his death will disrupt the plots of infidels in the country. “After his death the people of Galgudud and Somalia at large will rest in peace” Sheikh Hassan yakub, al Shabaab commander of Galgudud region in central Somalia said in a media briefing.

HIV/AIDS prevention workshop held in Garowe

14 Feb – Source: Bar-kulan – 71 words

A five-day workshop on HIV/AIDS prevention Thursday kicked off in Garowe, the capital of Puntland. The workshop organised by Puntland AIDS Commission (PAC) was officially opened by Puntland president Abdisamed Ali Shire. Speaking on Thursday at the inaugural session of the event, Shire said his administration has tackled the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region and thanked both local and international organisation involved in the fight against the virus.

Attacks increase in Baidoa following regional reshuffle

14 Feb – Source: Garowe Online – 111 words

REGIONAL MEDIA

Four APs and tax officials arrested by Somalia forces

14 Feb- Source: Daily Nation- 222 words

Eight government officials were arrested after they strayed into Somalia on Tuesday night. The four Kenya Revenue Authority officials and four police officers left Liboi on Tuesday evening to patrol Abdisugow and Hamey areas along the Kenya-Somalia border but strayed into Somalia where they were arrested by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldiers. The soldiers later handed them over to Kenyan troops at the Hosingo military camp and the eight were interrogated for two days.

AU forces seize more al Shabaab territory

14 Feb – Source: Africa Review – 125 words

Peacekeepers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) have seized new positions from Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group in Somalia. The allied forces moved to Awdegle and Janale settlements, according to General Abdullahi Osman Agey, the Commander of 2nd Brigade of the Somali National Army. “We advanced and captured important territory in Lower Shabelle and our forces together with Amisom troops got hold of Janale and Awdhegle towns,” said Gen Agey.

Girl killed after Somali gunmen attack village

14 Feb – Source: Standard Media – 145 words

Police are pursuing gunmen who raided a village in Mandera and shot dead a schoolgirl. The masked gunmen armed with AK-47 and G3 rifles looted several shops of foodstuff, soft drinks, clothes and money before escaping towards Somali border town of Bulla-Hawa carrying their looted items on donkeys. The schoolgirl, 16, a pupil at Harari-Hosle Primary School in Mandera East District, five kilometres from the volatile Kenya and Somalia border, was shot several times on the chest by the militia inside her father’s hut in the 1am incident.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Security Council discusses revised UN presence in Mogadishu

14 Feb- Source: UN News Centre- 498 words

The Security Council today discussed a revised United Nations presence in Somalia to support recent political gains and to address the urgent ongoing humanitarian and human rights situations. “This period of transformation, with its opportunities and challenges, requires a step change in the United Nations support to peacebuilding in Somalia,” the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, told the Council.

Security operation disrupts livelihoods in Kenya’s Lamu

14 Feb – Source: IRIN News – 97 words

As Kenyan security forces work to ward-off al Shabaab insurgents, the military operation and the continuing insecurity in Kiunga, a remote border town in the coastal district of Lamu East, are disrupting local livelihoods, residents say. Major economic activity, including tourism, has been restrained following attacks by Al-Shabab militants from nearby Somalia. Efforts by Kenyan security forces to stamp out Al-Shabab activity have, in turn, adversely impacted the local fishing industry.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Foreign diplomacy demands secrecy, savviness, and people that understand of global trends such as politics, economics, ideas and social issues that are taking place around the globe. Diplomacy necessitates people with the knowhow, creativity, and intuition to lead the cohort. It’s generally accepted that aspiring and potential diplomats (the ambassador and the rest) need to have academic background mostly in social sciences, humanities.”

Diplomacy: Building the Partnership

14 Feb – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1679 Words

As Somalia moves to “sovereign nation-to-sovereign nation” status with the US as former Secretary Hillary Clinton remarked recently, we know that the “beginning of a new foundation [for Somalia]” is here, and it’s here to stay as the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh, said at his speech at Minneapolis Conventional Center. Somalia has entered a new-era, an era that will define its image as a sovereign State in the coming decades: An era that demands a new thinking of how Somalia conducts its foreign diplomacy abroad and at home. The world Somalia has just entered is a complex world, a modern world where the old formulas and models of conducting foreign policy is no longer an option. It’s an era that globalization and technology has exponentially increased global interdependence in both security and economics and that has involuntarily pushed nations to closely monitor each other’s intents. Somalia isn’t exempted in this calculus.