December 31, 2013 | Morning Headlines.

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Somalia evacuates citizens from South Sudan conflict

30 Dec- Source: AFP/Global Post-310 Words
War-torn Somalia flew back home Monday some 130 citizens who had been working in troubled South Sudan, the latest of thousands of foreigners to flee violence in the world’s youngest country. Western nations including the United States and Britain flew in military aircraft to evacuate their citizens after fighting began in South Sudan two weeks ago. Regional countries including Kenya and Uganda have also organised airlifts for their citizens, but the evacuation organised by Somalia challenges the basket case image the Horn of Africa nation has had for many years. “This was the first batch of 335 Somali citizens who were stranded in South Sudan due to the conflict,” Somali foreign ministry official Ali Abdi Ali told AFP. Many had been trapped in Bor when rebels seized the town, before it was wrested back by government troops last week, he said, adding that Mogadishu’s government was paying for the cost of the emergency airlift.

Key Headlines

Ethiopia to improve bilateral relationship with Somalia (Radio Bar-kulan)
Daynile Deputy Commissioner comes under attack (Radio Shabelle)
Al Shabaab suspect arrested in Hagadera (Star – Kenya)
Middle Shabelle Governor tours scene of recent inter-clan clashes (Radio Mogadishu)
Djibouti to send second battalion to Somalia to boost African mission(Xinhua)
Dozens arrested in Beledweyne crackdown (Radio Mogadishu)
Kenya: Four police officers injured in Dadaab landmine explosion(Standard Media)

SOMALI MEDIA

Ethiopia to improve bilateral relationship with Somalia

30 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 101 words

Ethiopia will expand its existing relationship and cooperation with Somalia, according to Ethiopian Ambassador to Somalia Wondimu Asaminew. The ambassador said that there is a new beginning of mutual relationship and understanding between the two neighboring countries. He highlighted that improving the relationships between the two peoples and establishing close cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries will enhance the friendship between the nations. Ambassador Asaminew was speaking at a special dinner held for Somali delegation that attended the 8th Anniversary of Ethiopian Nation and Nationalities festival held in Jigjiga early this month.

Daynile Deputy Commissioner comes under attack

30 Dec- Source: Radio Shabelle- 124 words

News from daynile district of Mogadishu says that the district’s deputy commissioner house was attacked by unknown assailants Sunday night. Ahmed Abdi, a social affairs officer in Daynile confirmed to Radio Shabelle that a hand grenade was hurled into the home of Muridi Hassan in Karan District. Local residents confirmed to Radio Shabelle on phone that the hand grenade attack resulted casualties including death and injury on guards of the house. No comments have been released by Local authorities on the incident. No group yet claimed the responsibility of the attack, but Shabaabs al Qaeda linked group carried out similar attacks in the past and launched hit and run attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu .

Middle Shabelle Governor tours scene of recent inter-clan clashes

30 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu- 120 words

Middle Shabelle Governor, Abdi Jinow Alasow has on Sunday toured some villages affected by recent inter-clan clashes near Jowhar town, the provincial capital of Middle Shabelle region. The governor addressed some of the internally displaced people in the area and urged them to return to their homes since the warring sides agreed to cease the hostilities. He added that his administration will work with the locals to rebuild their villages and will assist the displaced families to return to their homes. Jinow was accompanied by Jowhar Mayor, Mohamed Amin Osman Haji and other local administration officials. Hundreds of families displaced by recent inter-clan conflicts in the region have sought shelter in makeshift camps in Jowhar airport controlled by AMISOM forces.

People start moving to new homes on outskirts of Hargeisa

30 Dec- Source: Radio RBC- 108 words
On 12 December, aid organizations and Somaliland authorities started resettling 100 of 816 displaced families set to move from Mohamed Mooge to a new site, Digaale settlement, outside Hargeisa with access to improved services. According to United Nations Office for Humanitarian Coordination latest humanitarian report, The construction of shelter units and latrines are underway. The Common Humanitarian Fund will provide $75,000 for water trucking for up to six months while water sources are established at the site and solutions for longer term provision of water are found. Other essential support is also underway, including household items and education.

Dozens arrested in Beledweyne crackdown

30 Dec- Source: Radio Shabelle/Radio Mogadishu- 132 words
Somali security forces along with AMISOM police force have beefed up security measure in a bid to thwart al Shabaab fighter’s attempts, locals and officials said. The operation took place at Koshin and Howl wadaag neighborhoods in Beledweyne, the capital of Hiiraan region, with security forces arresting around two hundred people in connection with rising insecurity acts in town. Somali security officials said that the troops seized Improvised Explosive Devices, ammunition and at least 11 AK47s in suspects’ home during the massive swoop in the town. They added that the crackdown will continue until Beledweyne residents can live without coordinated killings and bombings in the town.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya: Four police officers injured in Dadaab landmine explosion

30 Dec- Source: Standard Media- 332 words

Four police officers escaped death narrowly on Monday morning after their vehicle was hit by a landmine in Dadaab refugee camp. The officers were escorting officials of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) for an assignment when the incident occurred at Dagahaley area within Dadaab refugee camp, police said. The police vehicle was badly damaged but reports indicate the officers sustained minor injuries. “The officers have all survived the explosion that hit their vehicle. They were escorting some officials there when the blast happened,” said an officer in the area who asked not to be named. In May, 2012 a similar attack killed a police officer and injured three others. Incidents of attacks by al Shabaab mainly targeted at security forces in the Eastern and North Eastern Provinces have been on the increase since Kenyan military forces crossed into Somalia to battle the terrorist group.

Al Shabaab suspect arrested in Hagadera

30 Dec- Source: Star- 432 words

A former KDF soldier who joined the Somalia al Shabaab group and has reportedly been organizing terror attacks on Kenyan security agents in North Eastern area was on eve of Christmas arrested by police. The former soldier who was discharged from the force in 2005 after a court martial for offenses contrary to the KDF act relating to indiscipline was arrested in Hagadera refugee camp on December 24th 2013 a while allegedly planning another terror attack. It is reported that he and his al Shabaab terror accomplices have been infiltrating refugee camps as desperate people escaping from Somalia only to organise and execute attacks.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia evacuates citizens from South Sudan conflict

Djibouti to send second battalion to Somalia to boost African mission

30 Dec- Source: shanghaidaily/ Xinhua- 145 words
Djibouti is set to send the second battalion to Somalia under the auspices of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), according to the information obtained here Monday from the official ADI news agency. “In early 2014, Djibouti government will avail to AMISOM the second battalion in addition to the first one that is operational in zone 4, one of the largest zones in Somalia,” the ADI said. Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guellleh already discussed the decision with his African peers and European partners on the Somalia issue during a summit on Peace and Security in Africa held on Dec. 6-7 in Paris.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Selecting out those particular places for his first visits, Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed has proposed his course of action and made his debut as the New Prime Minister. He is expected of coming up with programs and plans that will deliver, touch wood. That is the hope Somalis have for the future this time round. In view of that tour and judging him by his touching base with the masses, the New Prime Minister has got off to a new start.”

The New Prime Minister of Somalia: Getting off to a Good Start

30 Dec- Source: Hiiraan Online-781 Words

First of all, I would like to congratulate His Excellency, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed on his new job as the Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia, a country, in the Horn of Africa, that is still faced with the daunting prospect of overcoming more than two decades of conflict and state collapse. By the grace of God, he will manage to deliver, God willing. This short piece of writing strikes a note of expressing the impression I got of the new Prime Minister in general and his recent tour, on his 2nd day in office, to four places in Mogadishu in particular. That visit was noticeably significant, in a sense, as it came just less than 40 hours after his endorsement by the Federal Parliament of Somalia as the Prime of the Federal Government of Somalia, with a view to pushing through his work and getting ahead in it.