April 15, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Deadly Attack on Somali Government Office Kills At Least Nine

14 April – Source: Wall Street Journal – 309 Words

Militants attacked Somalia’s higher education ministry on Tuesday, using a suicide car bomb and gunmen for a strike that killed at least nine people, police said. The Somali militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault, saying they were targeting the headquarters of Western education in the country. Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab said the attack was “targeted to destroy the ministry of higher education, which spreads Western-style curriculum to Somalia’s young generation.” The claim of responsibility echoed similar statements from the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram and suggested that al-Shabaab is trying to widen its targets beyond hostile governments and Christians. It also comes less than two weeks after the group killed nearly 150 people in an assault on a university in northern Kenya. In that strike al-Shabaab said its target was Christians.

The midday assault started when a vehicle drove up to the building and exploded, followed by men shooting. Somalia police spokesman Col. Mohamed Qasim said at least nine people had been killed and a dozen wounded. Among the wounded was the administrative director of the ministry of higher education, Ismail Moalim, who was in his office when the attack started, Col. Qasim said. The minister for national security, Abdirizak Mohamed, said a group of elite forces rescued more than 50 students who were inside the building, which also houses the petroleum ministry. Neither the higher education minister nor the petroleum minister were in the building when it was attacked, Col. Qasim said. Most of those who died appeared to be civilians who were caught at the first car bomb that hit the front gate of the building. “I saw up to nine dead bodies, mostly women, scattered outside the building,” said Hassan Yusuf, a shopkeeper who was near the building at the time of the attack.

Key Headlines

IDPs In Baladweyne Hiraan Region Facing Humanitarian Crisis (Wacaal Media)
Gal-Mudug Releases 19 Crews And Fishing Vessel (Goobjoog News)
Somalia Government To Save Its Citizens In S.Africa After Xenophobic Violence (Somali Current)
Somaliland Executes Six Convicted For Murder (Horseed Media)
President Hassan Reaches Adado (Goobjoog News)
Kenya Announces Amnesty And Reintegration To Youth Who Denounce Al-Shabaab (Standard Media)
UN Asks Kenya To Rethink Closure Of Somali Refugee Camp (Reuters)
SA Is Hell On Earth Says Somali Shopkeeper (News24)
Repatriation Of Somali Refugees From Dadaab Easier Said Than Done (Standard Media)

PRESS STATEMENT

AU Special Representative Condoles With Families Of Victims Of Al Shabaab Attack On Education Ministry In Mogadishu

14 April – Source: AMISOM – 139 Words

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia Ambassador Maman Sidikou has condemned an attack on the Ministry of Education by Al Shabaab militants today. He said, “I commiserate with the families of innocent civilians killed while trying to earn a living. This latest attack in which the Ministry of Education was the target, is a clear manifestation that Al Shabaab are against progress in Somalia”.
Ambassador Sidikou commended the special forces of the National Intelligence Service Agency (NISA) and AMISOM, for saving the lives of many civilians including workers at the Ministry of Education. “I commend the gallant officers who acted swiftly and stopped the militants from gaining entry inside the Ministry of Education building. They saved many lives”, added Ambassador Sidikou.Eight civilians died in the attack that ocurred this afternoon.

SOMALI MEDIA

IDPs In Baladweyne, Hiraan Region Facing Humanitarian Crisis

14 April – Source: Wacaal Media – 111 Words

Reports reaching our Baladweyne newsroom indicate that IDPs in the town and its surrounding areas face a grim future as their living conditions have been deteriorating. The town’s Deputy Director of Social Services, Sheikh Hussein Osman Ali, said that most of the IDPs especially those who fled recent conflicts in Gurie’l are now suffering as they live in deplorable conditions. He appealed to international aid agencies and the federal government to immediately initiate emergency relief measures to rescue the affected families before the situation turns into a humanitarian crisis. His sentiments were echoed by the IDPs who made similar calls for urgent assistance. Most of those affected are women and children.

Galmudug Releases 19 Crewmembers And A Fishing Vessel

14 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 95 Words

Galmudug State Administration has freed 19 crew members who were previously sentenced to one year arrest or to paying a fine after they were caught fishing illegally in Somalia’s territorial waters. Galmudug’s Minister of Fisheries, Abdikadir Jamaa Qalab-Hooq, stated the crewmembers, who are Iranians, together with their fishing vessel were released after they paid their fines and have since headed to their country safely. Local fishermen have continuously complained about foreign trawlers illegally fishing and dumping toxic waste. Some fishermen have gone missing while others have said they are tortured by the trawlers who at times spray boiling water from cannons.

Somalia Government To Save Its Citizens In S.Africa After Xenophobic Violence

14 April – Source: Somali Current – 133 Words

The Somali Embassy in South Africa has said it is trying to trace its citizens and help them escape the violence, and has called for urgent assistance from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. The Somali business community have come under attack after local residents demanded foreigners to leave the country. The local residents injured several people and looted shops belonging to many Somalis. Somali communities in South Africa have borne the brunt of violence in the country targeting foreign nationals. Fresh attacks against foreigners took place in major cities in South Africa early this week. Thousands of foreigners, including Somali nationals, are in transit camps after three weeks of violence in the country. Last week, the African Union raised concerns about the recent violence and called on the South African government to take action.

Somaliland Executes Six Convicted For Murder

14 April – Source: Horseed Media – 201 Words

Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has executed six prisoners, including two ex-soldiers condemned for murder, officials say. The six were killed by a firing squad on Monday in a jail after being sentenced by the Military tribunal, the court officials confirmed to the media. “One of the ex-soldiers killed a civilian in Hargeisa four years ago, while the other also killed a prominent businessman last month…. Both were found guilty,” the Chief of the military tribunal, Col Yusuf Farah said in a press briefing. He added that the other four people murdered four civilians years ago, and had been found guilty by the court.

The executions come following annual figures reporting that the number of executions carried out in Somalia by the authorities declined in 2014 compared to the previous years, according to an Amnesty International annual report. The European Union, the United Nations and human rights campaigners have all urged Somalia authorities to reinstate the moratorium on executions. In 2012, a military court in Somaliland sentenced to death 17 civilians who were accused of attacking a military base. Somaliland unilaterally declared independence in 1991 when Somalia’s central government in Mogadishu collapsed. The international community has not recognized Somaliland’s secession.

President Hassan Reaches Adado

14 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 72 Words

A delegation led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reached Adado town on Tuesday.The delegation was warmly welcomed at Adado airstrip by the Interior Minister, Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein, politicians and elders.The president and his delegation were escorted tothe Himan and Heb presidential palace. President Hassan is expected to hold talks with traditional elders and officials of Himan and Heb State. The Central State formation conference is scheduled to start in Adado town shortly.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya Announces Amnesty And Reintegration To Youth Who Denounce Al-Shabaab

14 April – Source: Standard Media – 443 Words

Kenya has offered an amnesty to tens of youths who joined Al-Shabaab terror group and asked them to register with the government in the next ten days. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said Tuesdaythe youths should report to County Commissioners in Nairobi, Mombasa and Garissa for further directions. “The Government hereby calls upon all individuals who had gone to Somalia for training and wish to disassociate themselves with terrorism to report to the National government offices,” said Nkaissery in a statement. Such youths may also confidentially report through: – 0701632432, 0701632643, 0701632443 orinfoken247@gmail.com. He said the Government will consider granting amnesty and appropriate reintegration support. However, those who fail to heed this call within the prescribed time frame will be treated as criminals and will face the full force of the law, he said.

The minister told any parent or guardian whose child has either gone missing, suspects that the child has been radicalized, or suspects the child to have been killed in Somalia to report the same. “Failure to report will lead to presumption that they are aware and condone or are party to the terrorist training with attendant criminal consequences,” he said. The measures are the latest to be taken by the government in efforts to address growing terror threats in the country. The announcement come more than a week after terrorists raided Garissa University College and killed 148 people and injured more than 100 others. The minister said a number of unsuspecting Kenyan youths have been lured into traveling to Somalia for purposes of receiving militia training over the years. “The training is aimed at, among other things, instilling murderous terrorist ideology targeting fellow Kenyans and has led to senseless killing and maiming of innocent citizens.”

He said they are aware that some of the youth were recruited by cunning individuals some of whom are terrorists masquerading as religious leaders. He said a number of these Kenyan youth have been killed in Somalia while some have returned and are eager to disassociate themselves with the murderous Al-Shabaab ideology with some seeking refuge in neighbouring countries such as Uganda for fear of reprisals from Al-Shabaab. Following the passage of the Security Laws Amendment Act, 2014, the Government is in the process of putting in place mechanisms to rehabilitate youth who have been radicalized and those who are vulnerable to exploitation and radicalization. The measures will include de-radicalization programme and working with the relevant Government ministries and departments to provide training and alternative source of livelihood.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

UN Asks Kenya To Rethink Closure Of Somali Refugee Camp

14 April – Source: Reuters – 431 Words

The United Nations refugee agency urged Kenya on Tuesday to rethink its order to close the world’s largest refugee camp, saying it would not participate in forcing Somalis back to their homeland as that would breach international law. Kenya gave the United Nations three months to remove Dadaab camp, housing 350,000 registered Somali refugees, as part of its response to the killing of 148 people in nearby Garissa by a Somali Islamist group. Kenya has in the past said al Shabaab militants use Dadaab camp as a hideout. The UNHCR said the “abrupt” plan “would have “extreme humanitarian and practical consequences”. “We are thus urging the Kenyan authorities to give the matter further consideration,” UNHCR spokeswoman Karin de Gruijl told a news briefing. “The main issue is the voluntariness of returns. If these people were forced to return, it could be in breach of international law and UNHCR would not facilitate such a move,” she said. The 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, to which Kenya is a party, prohibits forcing refugees back to areas where their life or freedom is threatened, a practice known as ‘refoulement’.

Njonjo Mue, of the human rights coalition Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice, said the logistics of emptying Dadaab “boggles the mind” and could play into al Shabaab’s hand. “Basically, we would be handing over to al Shabaab a ready-made army of say 200,000 young men who will be desperate and who will have nothing to do,” he said. UNHCR considers that large-scale returns of refugees is still not possible in many parts of Somalia, where public services such as schools and healthcare are lacking after 20 years of conflict. The U.N. agency said it was ready to work with Kenyan authorities to strengthen law enforcement at Dadaab to help protect refugees and Kenyans against possible intrusion by armed groups or “terrorist incursions” from across the border. “The government of Kenya has not said this camp should be closed because al Shabaab is in the camp. The government of Kenya is just concerned about the whole situation in the camp,” de Gruijl said. “With them we have stepped up law enforcement in the camp, so the situation is much calmer now than some years ago.” At its peak, Dadaab held 500,000 Somali refugees, many of whom had fled famine in 2001, she said. “The majority of the people who are still in the camp are those who have been there for a very long time including some of them for generations.”

SA Is Hell On Earth, Says Somali Shopkeeper

14 April – Source: News24 – 301 Words

A Somali shopkeeper, protected by heavily armed riot police, loaded what remained of his stock into a bakkie in Lindelani, near KwaMashu, on Monday night. Are you there? Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos. Bashir Mahmoud, 27, said he had not slept for six days fearing he may be killed and his general dealer – his entire livelihood – plundered. About 200 people stood at a distance, kept at bay by police. The locals laughed and jeered as Mahmoud loaded what he could into the bakkie. They eventually broke into another shop abandoned by its former owner. Two children struggled under the weight of a washing machine which they pulled from the shop, and disappeared into the night. Outcasts “I have not been able to sleep. First I worried that they might kill me and now I find myself here, where I am trying to close my store because they will take everything,” Mahmoud said.

“The government says that we are welcome here, but that is not the truth. These people will take everything and take your life. We are outcasts.” The shopkeeper, who has plied his trade in Syria, said South Africa had become hell on earth. “This is what we have been reduced to… running for our lives. We are trying desperately to leave, but all the trucks are busy. All the brothers are trying to flee.” Earlier in the night, another Somali-owned shop in a shipping container was doused in paraffin, but police chased the vandals away before they could set it alight. In Lindelani, police rushing to the scene of a shooting happened upon a shop where the owners were clearing out their stock. Police had seen a group of South Africans closing in and warned them off, only to be pelted with rocks and stones.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“In other words, the world is less safe as long as Somalia is a lawless outpost on the world map. Rather than washing its hands of Somalia, it would help more if Kenya were involved in the exploration of other options to make peace in that nation a reality.”

Repatriation Of Somali Refugees From Dadaab Easier Said Than Done

14 April – Source: Standard Media – 557 Words
One of the immediate (and unfortunate) reactions following the Garissa University attack was a call by Muslim leaders from North Eastern that the Dadaab Refugee Camp – established in 1991 as Somalia imploded after the ouster of former President Siad Barre – should be closed. To them, the camp has stopped being a place of refuge and become a recruiting and training ground for the Al-Shabaab terror group that has claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed nearly 500 Kenyans since 2013. Deputy President William Ruto’s proclamation that the Government has ordered the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to close the camp within three months or Kenya will forcefully repatriate the more than 500,000 refugees in the camp is the stuff of political campaigns. Despite that, we understand Mr Ruto’s anger and deep frustration: he is aware that come 2017, he and his boss President Uhuru Kenyatta will be hard-pressed to explain away the security lapses to a citizenry growing increasingly impatient about unkept promises of safety.

Understandably, Ruto reckons that after 24 years, Somali nationals ought to have grown weary of the sound of bombs and bullets ringing in their neighbourhood. That is easier said than done. The dynamics playing out in Somalia have confounded the world. Moreover, Kenya is a signatory to the Geneva Convention that outlaws the forceful removal of people considered vulnerable as they flee war or such situations. Secondly, the provisions of a Tripartite Agreement between UNHRC, Kenya and Somalia signed in 2013 on the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees to safe areas seems to have achieved little. Also, a blanket condemnation of refugees at Dadaab is not fair. Yet many will view Mr Ruto’s pronouncement as a red herring to cover up for the ghastly flaws in the security machinery.

Wouldn’t it be like sending sheep to the slaughterhouse were the refugees to be sent to a land still torn apart by sectarian war? Kenya’s approach to the Somalia equation has been on two levels: political and military. Before the Kenya Defence Forces rode into Somalia in 2011, Kenya played a key role in the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in 2004 that transitioned to the Federal Parliament. Then, law and order in Somalia looked so near, so real. Those efforts went to waste. But it is not yet time to give up. Other than building a wall to keep away would-be-terrorists, the least Kenya can do is force the hand of political leaders in Somalia to form a stable, all-inclusive Government that will take care of the interests and aspirations of all Somalia nationals. See also: Kenyans in China honour slain Garissa University students The rest of the world can help in many ways. Most importantly, it ought to acknowledge that Somalia is not solely a Kenyan problem. The threat of homegrown Jihadism in London, New York or Paris is as real, as it is in Nairobi. Cases of immigrants going back to Somalia to get intoxicated by the terror gospel have been on the increase. In other words, the world is less safe as long as Somalia is a lawless outpost on the world map. Rather than washing its hands of Somalia, it would help more if Kenya were involved in the exploration of other options to make peace in that nation a reality.