March 18, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Sanitation Worker Gunned Down In Mogadishu

17 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 69 Words

Unidentified gunmen killed a woman who was sanitation worker in Dharkeynley district of Mogadishu on Tuesday. A local resident in Dharkeynley district told Goobjoog FM that the gunmen escaped from the area immediately they killed the girl. The administration of Dharkeynkey district has yet to comment on the incident. The security forces reach the area and started an operation to pursuit the alleged murderers though no one was apprehended so far.

Key Headlines

Awdal Regional Administration To Build Offices (Radio Bar-kulan)
Ethiopian Troops Invade Northern Somalia Town One Wounded (Horseed Media)
Sanitation Worker Gunned Down In Mogadishu (Radio Goobjoog)
EUTM – Somalia’s Calendar Gets Extension (Wacaal.com)
Security Operation Starts In The Outskirts Of Dhusamareeb (Radio Bar-kulan)
EU And World Vision Support Livelihoods In Puntland (Hiiraan Online)
Police Detonate Two IEDs After Blast Targeting Police At Mandera Border Post (Daily Nation)
Kenyan Governor Demands Greater Security After Al-Shabab Attack(VOA News)
Smoke Free Ealing Khat Project Wins Two Awards And Recognition From Somali Community(Getwest London)
March 16 1994: Edmonton Paratrooper Guilty In Beating Death Of Somali Teenager (Edmonton Journal)
Rib To Rib With Al- Shabaab (Dasheg journal)

SOMALI MEDIA

Awdal Regional Administration To Build Offices

17 March – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 107 Words

The regional administration in Awdal says it will start the construction of offices for the regional administration. The governor of Awdal Suleiman Ali Mahmud has said they are working on plans to construct six offices to serve the public. He said they have started laying down the foundation for the ministry of lands and rural areas in the town of Borama. The governor said they will also fast track the construction of offices for all the other ministries. At the moments all the ministries are in one office where they serve the public, and it is for that reason that the administration is working on the change.

Ethiopian Troops Invade Northern Somalia Town, One Wounded

17 March – Source: Horseed Media – 196 Words

Ethiopian troops invaded a Northern Somalia town in an attempt to arrest a Quran teacher, officials and residents confirm. The troops crossed into Buhoodle district in Northern Somalia on Monday evening, hunting for a Quran teacher who later on fled from the area. Buhoodle is located on the Somalia and Ethiopia border. The town serves as a commercial hub for the movement of goods to and from other cities in Puntland such as Galkayo, Garowe, Bosaso and Lasanod. Local officials have accused the Ethiopian troops of acting illegally by invading the town without informing the administration. “They just came in to the town without informing the local administration which is not legal,’’ said Abdirahman Abdullahi Ahmed, a local official in an interview with the VOA Somali service. He added that a local woman was injured during the operation to arrest the Quran teacher. Further reports claim that the Ethiopian troops suspected the Quran teacher of having links with the extremist group Al-Shabaab. Ethiopian officials have not commented on the incident. Ethiopia already has troops in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission.

EUTM – Somalia’s Calendar Gets Extension

17 March – Source: Wacaal.com – 148 Words

EU Foreign minister meeting in Brussels resolved to extend the training calendar for the Somali security forces to December 2016. The training is conducted by EU forces under the auspices of EUTM Somalia and was first started in 2010. Different sections of the Somali security forces benefitted from the training. The initiative also provides strategic advice to the Somali defense ministry. More than 5000 security officers have been trained since its inception. A senior EU official who spoke at the event said that the initiative was aimed at preparing the Somali security forces for taking over the security of the country from their AU colleagues AMISOM. The move comes at a time when Brigadier General Antonio Maggi has taken over the leadership mantle of EUTM – Somalia from Brigadier General Massimo Mingaradi. The extension is expected to raise the number of personnel trained for Somalia to 7,000 officers.

Security Operation Starts In The Outskirts Of Dhusamareeb

17 March – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 112 Words

The police in the district of Dhusamareeb have carried out an operation between Dhusamareeb town and Arro-Tuurka in Galgaduud region. The commander of the police, Abdullahi Gulleid has told Radio Bar-Kulan that the operation resulted in the arrest of criminals who put illegal roadblocks in the area. He said the operation resulted in injuries of two civilians. He added that the operation will continue until security of the area is improved. The commander has asked the police forces in the area not to engage in corruption. Meanwhile, four clans that live in the regions of Mudug and Galgaduud have signed a peace agreement in a peace reconciliation conference that is currently ongoing.

EU And World Vision Support Livelihoods In Puntland

17 March – Source: Hiraan Online – 159 Words

Today, the European Union and World Vision, in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Youth and Sports, launched the “Nugal Empowerment for Better Livelihood Project” aimed at improving the local economy in Puntland through training and business support. With a total funding of 3 million EUR, the project will organize, over the 3 coming years, training and non-formal education programs, small businesses support and community awareness around livelihood and human rights issues. Through training, mentoring and networking support, the project which is part of the Somali New Deal Compact will enhance social cohesion and benefit approximately 24,000 Somalis of the most marginalized groups in Dangorayo, Eyl, Godobjiran, Garowe, and Burtinle districts of the Nugal region in Puntland. The EU Ambassador to Somalia, Michele Cervone d’Urso, said “Skills development is vital for Somalia’s economy. The EU will continue to invest in education and vocational training as these are the country’s greatest assets to stimulate growth and employment”.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Police Detonate Two IEDs After Blast Targeting Police At Mandera Border Post

17 March – Source: Daily Nation – 349 Words

A bomb exploded in Mandera on Tuesday morning before police detonated two others.The improvised explosive device went off at Border Point 3 along the Mandera-Somalia border.Police later recovered and detonated two other IEDs found at the scene after the 10.30am incident.“There has been an explosion at Border Point 3 but no injuries nor damage have been reported so far but the police combed the area and found two other IEDs that we have managed to detonate safely,” said Mr Elvis Korir, the Mandera East Deputy County Commissioner. The explosives, according to Mr Korir, were planted at night by people believed to be from the neighbouring Bula Hawa Town in Somalia.

The explosives appeared to have been targeted at police officers on patrol, he said. “The area is used by our officers who patrol the border and it seems like they were the target only that they had not arrived,” said Mr Korir. A police officer who participated in detonating the two explosives said the criminals have devised new techniques to attract security teams to a scene. He said the criminals plant several explosive devices then trigger one to explode, in order to attract people, who would be targeted by the subsequent explosions.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Kenyan Governor Demands Greater Security After Al-Shabab Attack

17 March – Source: VOA News – 404 Words

The governor of Kenya’s Mandera County has called on the national government to replace the local head of police, who he said has failed to stop attacks by the Somali militant group al-Shabab. The call came just days after the governor survived an attack. A visibly shaken Mandera Governor Ali Roba told journalists Monday his life was in danger and accused security forces stationed in his county of failing to halt terror attacks.

Roba’s convoy was ambushed Friday by Al-Shabaab militiamen. He survived the attack unharmed but six other people were injured. The governor said in this case and others, security forces take too long to arrive at the scene of attack. “Police are unable to respond in timely manner, [which is] why we really need to find out why is it that the police or the security forces could not respond to security incidents. We think the shortest time possible is that something that can be sorted through change of head, no or maybe,” he said. The county government said more than 100 people have been killed in Mandera in the last four months by al-Shabab.

The Somali Islamist group vowed revenge attacks against Kenya after it sent troops into Somalia in 2011 to fight alongside an African Union force. The insecurity has crippled education in northeastern Kenya, where hundreds of teachers have refused to go back to their schools after militiamen attacked a bus carrying educators late last year, killing 28 people.

Smoke Free Ealing Khat Project Wins Two Awards And Recognition From Somali Community

17 March – Source: Getwest london. – 717 Words

A pioneering Ealing khat project has won a Department of Health award and has a national award voted by the Somali community.Smoke free Ealing and Abdi Ali, an advisor at the service, won a Department of Health ‘celebrating public health excellence’ award last week, in recognition of outstanding work on the Ealing khat project. The team also won a national award, voted by the Somali community, which recognised the effectiveness of Smokefree Ealing in delivering to a perceived ‘hard to reach’ community.

Before the ban, the use of khat, was common place amongst communities descending from the Horn of Africa and Yemen, and was being used widely in parts of Ealing. The leaf is chewed socially and, although milder than alcohol, is a highly addictive drug that can have severe side effects such as psychotic episodes. This is particularly prevalent in chewers who already have existing mental health problems. The project run by the West London Mental Health Trust involved working with members of the Somali community, in Ealing, and educating them about the harmful nature of khat and supporting them with khat abstinence while directing people to local NHS addiction services.

Dr Jackie Chin, Ealing Council’s director of public health, who supported the nomination said: “We have heard first-hand the negative effect Khat use can have on mental health and family life. So as commissioners of this project we are delighted to learn that its success has been acknowledged by the Somali community it was set-up to support. “I would like to join Ealing’s Somali community in thanking the Smokefree Ealing team for their hard work and dedication.” In December, the Smokefree Ealing service, which is run by West London Mental Health Trust, was also nominated and won the national health care provider award at the national HAYA Somali community awards.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Blindfolded, and bound hand and foot, he was kept in a shallow, sandbagged weapons bunker and was to have been turned over to Somali police the next day.The court martial heard Arone was repeatedly beaten over three hours with fists, boots, a heavy wooden riot baton and a metal pipe.Brown admitted he punched Arone in the jaw and kicked him five or six times in the thighs and ribs early on because he “despised thieves.”

March 16, 1994: Edmonton Paratrooper Guilty In Beating Death Of Somali Teenager

16 March – Source: Edmonton Journal – 379 Words

Elvin Kyle Brown of Edmonton was convicted of manslaughter and torture in the beating death of a Somali teenager in Canadian custody in Somalia.His conviction for torture was the first in Canadian history and capped a sensational six-week trial that tarnished Canada’s international peacekeeping reputation. Two days later, a court martial at CFB Petawawa, Ont., imposed a five-year prison term on the 25-year-old soldier with the elite Canadian Airborne Regiment.The five-officer panel also ordered Brown be dismissed “with disgrace” from the forces.Brown nodded approvingly and smiled slightly after the sentence was announced.

The stocky soldier said nothing to reporters as he left court, stripped of the distinctive paratrooper maroon beret.“He’s definitely relieved,” said defence lawyer Patrick McCann. He added the sentence was fair and recognized the “minor” role Brown played in the death of Shidane-Abukar Arone on March 16, 1993, in the Canadian compound near Belet Huen during a UN famine relief mission. Friends and former colleagues in Edmonton said they were shocked and relieved to hear of Brown’s sentence, but some were also upset he was going to jail, saying he’d been made a “scapegoat.”The short, slight, 16-year-old Arone, who told soldiers he was looking for a lost child, was arrested by a Canadian patrol as he crawled through the barbed wire of an adjacent abandoned U.S. military compound.

“Mandera is a grisly conflict zone where people live in constant fear and it is a town that is totally on the verge of collapse because of Somalia,” says another resident. “I think we are the worst affected by the lawlessness in Somalia.”

Rib To Rib With Al-Shabaab

17 March – Source: Dasheg Journal – 802 Words

A narrow path separates Kenya from Somalia, and across the border, the sound of gunfire and explosions every night from the middle of the terraced houses of Bula Hawo in Somalia sends shivers down the spines of the authorities and Mandera Town residents alike. Just a few steps away from the unmarked porous border, two Kenya border police officers position themselves inside a barricaded compound. They are rib to rib with war torn Somalia, a place largely ruled by the hard-line Islamist al Shabaab.

“You see we are here in the office. We cannot move around with guns. These guys are suspicious; they have intelligence crawling all over the place,” said one policeman, in reference to members of al Shabaab. In the neighbouring Bula Hawo, one of the strategic towns in Gedo region of Somalia, the dreaded group rules with an iron fist, often sending its rank and file to monitor border security — more than Kenya does.Somali gunmen often prowl along the borderline and their presence is testimony to the fragile security in much of Kenya’s lengthy border.

Over the years, the worsening situation of Somalia has rendered the security of Mandera all but non-existent. Residents live in fear. Late last year, the government imposed a night curfew following renewed tribal clashes, after an upsurge of al Shabaab action had worsened an already fragile security. “For the past one year, we have done a security scale up, including a night curfew that has tremendously improved the security of the town,” Mandera police officer Odhiambo Akelo says. The long nights in this town on the very tip of the Kenyan landmass are boring. Living in the town is like living in no man’s land, where police prey for prowling gunmen and command the dusty streets where the deafening silence means endless fear.