February 16, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

10 killed as militants ambush AU convoy

15 Feb – Source: Hiiraan Online – 143 Words

At least ten people were killed in south-western Somalia, after the Al-Qaeda-linked militants ambushed an African Union forces convoy, prompting heavy fighting between the two sides in a rural village on Sunday, residents said. The fighting in Rabdhure district in Bay region started after fighters from Al-Shabaab waylaid Ethiopian troops who are parts of the African Union force, resulting in intense gunfight, with nomads caught in the middle of fire that lasted for hours. Residents in the town reported that Ethiopian troops who suffered casualties from the attack have killed pastoralists in revenge for the attack by militants, killing ten civilians. There were no immediate details about the exact casualties on both sides. Rights groups often accuse Ethiopian troops of indiscriminate killings against civilians in the horn of Africa nation. Ethiopia often denies the allegations.

Key Headlines

10 killed as militants ambush AU convoy (Hiiraan Online)
Jubaland to liberate Al-Shabaab-held areas in March (Xikmo News)
Puntland forces kill 16 militants in raid (Horseed Media)
Ahlu Sunna cleric shot dead in Baidoa third in month (Garowe Online)
Drivers strike over roadblock violence and extortion (Radio Ergo)
Wajir Governor to sue state over Wagalla massacre (The Star)
Somali official killed in Mogadishu shooting (World Bulletin)
Somali shops ‘are fronts’ – man claims terrorist group is behind some tuck shops (Sowetan Live)

SOMALI MEDIA

10 killed as militants ambush AU convoy

15 Feb – Source: Hiiraan Online – 143 Words

Jubaland to liberate Al-Shabaab-held areas in March

15 Feb – Source: Xikmo News – 147 Words

Jubaland administration in southern Somalia said allied forces will commence military offensives against Al-Shabaab militants in March. On Saturday, the second Vice President of Jubaland Abdulkadir Haji Mohamud (Lugadere) unveiled that Jubaland forces along with African Union peacekeepers will liberate Al Shabaab-held areas, a day after a visit by AMISOM head and AU envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Maman S. Sidikou to the southern port city of Kismayo. “AMISOM and Jubaland forces will jointly push ahead with the operation. We discussed the plan for liberation with AMISOM officials,” Mohamud told reporters during a press briefing in Kismayo. The remarks by Jubaland Vice President have come after AMISOM delegation visited Kismayo on Friday, and held talks with Jubaland officials on the ongoing stabilization operations. Strategic Kismayo town fell to Kenyan-AMISOM troops alongside local forces in September 2012.

Puntland forces kill 16 militants in raid

14 Feb – Source: Horseed Media – 202 Words

Puntland security forces attacked Al-Shabaab targets, killing at least 16 militants in the mountainous area of Galgala where the army is trying to uproot the terror group, an official has said. Minister of security in the semi-autonomous region, Hassan Osman Alore, told journalists on Saturday that the forces raided Al-Shabaab hideouts in the area on Friday. The attack took place in Madarshoon village which is some 20KM from Galgala, a former militant base overtaken by Puntland forces after a deadly battle last year. “Our forces killed 16 militants and wounded another 26 during the operation,” he said. Mr Alore added that two Puntland soldiers were killed and another six wounded during the raid. The war between Puntland and al-Shabaab linked militants started in 2010, dozens from both sides died since and hundreds of families have been displaced. Al-Shabab officials have, on several occasion, threatened to carry out attacks in the region which has seen relative security since the civil war broke out in the country 1991. Puntland has long accused neighbouring breakaway region of Somaliland for arming and providing safe havens for the militants.

Ahlu Sunna cleric shot dead in Baidoa, third in month

14 Feb – Source: Garowe Online – 145 Words

A cleric aligned with the paramilitary group of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamea was gunned down in Bay regional capital of Baidoa on Friday evening, making the third to be killed within a month, Garowe Online reports. Late Sheikh Adan War-Isho was shot and killed by two masked gun men who immediately escaped from the scene of the crime on his way home from a nearby mosque according to witnesses. Southwest state administration officials said, they captured three suspects in a subsequent search operation. On January 18, chairman of Bay’s Ahlu Sunnah umbrella Sharif Siidkey was targeted in similar assassination shortly after evening prayers. On February 3, unidentified assailants gunned down Sheikh Hassan Hussein of Ahlu Sunnah inside a mosque. Beleaguered Al Shabaab was not quick to claim credit for the killing of late Sheikh Adan War-Insho.

Drivers strike over roadblock violence and extortion

14 Feb – Source: Radio Ergo – 240 Words

Public service vehicle drivers operating between Mogadishu and Baidoa went on strike in protest against an escalation of incidents of robbery, rape, killing and extortion of money by armed men dressed in Somali government soldiers’ uniform. In Baidoa on Tuesday, protesters displayed their vehicles with bullet holes and injured drivers, bringing business to a standstill. Abdi Hassan, a driver, said they lost all the money they earned as fares and sometimes met violence, robbery and rape of passengers by the militiamen manning roadblocks. “I operate a seven-seater vehicle along the route and I spend 200,000 Somali shilling on each round trip,” he complained. “I believe these armed men are government soldiers as it wouldn’t be easy for others to get hold of the uniform.”

The areas most plagued by such roadblocks are the districts of Afgoye and Wanlaweyn in Lower Shabelle, he said. Another driver, Hussein Ahmed Ali, was wounded when he tried to protect one of his passengers from the armed men on the highway. “I told them to hurt me instead of abusing my female passengers, and then they tortured me and forcefully took 500,000 Somali shillings,” he said. Abdirahman Abdi Hussein said he had been put out of the driving business by the extortion. The drivers conveyed their grievances to the Southwestern administration authorities’ office in Baidoa and vowed to continue the strike until the roadblocks were ended.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Wajir Governor to sue state over Wagalla massacre

15 Feb – Source: The Star – 367 Words

Wajir County governor Ahmed Abdullahi said his government will partner with local and international human rights organisations in seeking justice for the victims of the 1984 Wagalla massacre. Speaking in Wajir on Saturday, Abdullahi said they will sue the government to get compensation for the victims and their families. “We must sue the government of Kenya to compel them to compensate the victims of that heinous massacre. They must also be forced to acknowledge that the atrocity was committed and offer an apology to the people of Wajir,” Abdullahi said. The governor added; “The government of Kenya is a legal entity which enjoys perpetual succession. Regardless who was in charge at the time of the massacre, any subsequent government must also take responsibility for those crimes”. He also said the government must be compelled to implement the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission that offered “some sort of remedy” to the victims. “Subsequent governments had an opportunity to give a chapter of closure to the massacre. The truth commission report offered such an opportunity which remains squandered,” Abdulahi said. He said those mentioned by the TJRC report and witnesses must be prosecuted. “The same people who afflicted the pain to our people remain unpunished and are still with us,” Abdullahi said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali official killed in Mogadishu shooting

15 Feb – Source: World Bulletin – 197 Words

Militants killed Youssef Siyad, an official with Somalia’s ministry of planning and international cooperation, while on his way to work, eyewitnesses told The Anadolu Agency. A Somali official was killed by unknown gunmen in western Mogadishu, eyewitnesses said. Militants killed Youssef Siyad, an official with Somalia’s ministry of planning and international cooperation, while on his way to work, eyewitnesses told The Anadolu Agency. Security forces arrived at the site of the incident and arrested several people as potential suspects, the witnesses added. Planning and International Cooperation Minister Yusuf Ali Aynte, for his part, expressed his condolences, adding that Siyad was killed by “enemies of peace and stability.”

Somali shops ‘are fronts’ – man claims terrorist group is behind some tuck shops

14 Feb – Source: Sowetan Live – 511 Words

A Somali national has told police that his countrymen are using some of the tuck-shops in South African townships and villages to launder money for the Al-Shabaab rebel group. The Durban-based Somali national accuses the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab of being behind most of the tuck-shops that have mushroomed across the country. The 36-year-old man on Thursday opened a case of assault and intimidation at Durban’s Broad Street police station against his countrymen. He claims he was assaulted with a hammer and threatened with guns after speaking out against his countrymen using spazas and other businesses to launder money to Al-Shabaab to wage its war against the UN-backed Somali government. He said the attack took place while he was walking home. “I believe that my life is in danger because I have been speaking out about these activities and reported them to the police,” he said. Al-Shabaab is notorious for specialising in suicide bombings and hijacking cargo ships and kidnapping foreign nationals and demanding ransom from their countries.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“I wish to urge the Somali youth to take part in the ongoing development in order for us to get out of the problems we are facing. The youth have to actively take part in ongoing
programs and to unite in order to bring change because I believe we can bring change,”

Workshop on promoting peace and alleviating poverty in Somalia

15 Feb – Source: UNSOM – Video – 3:04 Minutes

Somali youth are expressing optimism that poverty and unemployment in Somalia can be reduced through quality education and youth empowerment. Local university students and experts on Saturday took part in a workshop in Mogadishu that culminated in a brainstorming session on the future of youth in Somalia.

In praise of the humble radio: my tribute to radio Mogadishu

13 Feb – Source: AMISOM News – 874 Words

One of my most vivid childhood memories growing up in Mogadishu is gathering around our old transistor radio on Friday mornings listening to Maaweelada Caruurta, a children’s show on Radio Mogadishu, performed by professional actors. The fables were often fantastical retelling of famous Somali folklore about cunning foxes, talking hyenas and scary witches. I was always captivated by these tales. It tapped into a deep and universal need to hear stories. There was a unique intimacy in the act: one human voice telling a story to another human being in a way that transcended time and space. It was simple. It was intimate. It was beautiful. But in retrospect, I think I was more drawn to the “gather around the campfire” tradition that listening to the radio evoked.

In the evenings while we had dinner, we would listen to the nightly news with reports from far and away places where dramatic events that were beyond my comprehension were taking place. Stories such as British naval attacks in the Falkland Islands; the shootings of Palestinian stone throwers during the first Intifada; or the bravery of rioters in Soweto and other townships in Apartheid South Africa intrigued me. I believe my desire for travel, my curiosity about the world and my love of radio journalism was cultivated by those nightly newscasts on Radio Mogadishu. Radio became a gateway to a vast, chaotic, endlessly fascinating world and I yearned to know more about. Even though we had a record player complete with the latest albums from America at home, not to mention a TV set with a VCR player, it was our old transistor radio that consistently held my interest throughout my childhood. It was no surprise then that many years later I ended up becoming a radio journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. And even though my listening habits evolved over the decades—nowadays I download podcasts of my favorite shows from BBC, CBC and NPR and listen to them at my leisure—radio remains my favorite mode of mass communication.