May 8, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Police Officer Killed, Another Injured In Landmine Explosion In Somalia

07 May – Source: Xinhua News – 235 Words

A police officer was killed and another injured in a landmine explosion in a busy street in Mogadishu on Thursday. Police spokesman Qasim Ahmed Roble told Xinhua News the explosion occurred as security officers were checking car in one of the checkpoints heading to Bakaro market in the capital Mogadishu. “The officers were busy checking cars and occupants in the checkpoint when the landmine exploded killing one officer and injuring another,” said Roble. Eye witness in the Aden Ade cross section near the check point told Xinhua they heard a huge explosion followed by heavy smoke. “I was near next to a shop here when we suddenly heard a deafening noise from the road across. Each one of us had to scamper for safety and we later learned a police officer had been killed,” said the witness. Police said they also managed to safely detonate two other landmines that had been implanted near the checkpoint. Police have in the past weeks mounted heavy security checks on public and personal vehicles following a warning that the militant group Al-Shabaab was planning to launch an attack. The insurgents have in the past launched similar attacks on police checkpoints and other government installations even as the country’s security forces in collaboration with the African Union backed forces have significantly pushed them out of major strongholds in the country.

Key Headlines

Heavy Fighting Between Government Forces And Al-Shabab Erupts In Aboorey Locality (Goobjoog News)
Somali President Lands At Kismayo Airport (Goobjoog News)
AMISOM And Somali Security Forces Carry Out Sweeps In Mogadishu (Wacaal Media)
IGAD Foreign Secretaries Land In Kismayu (RBC Radio)
As Kerry Visited Somalia US Congressman Urges Remittances Reopening (Hiiraan Online)
Police Officer Killed Another Injured In Landmine Explosion In Somalia (Xinhua News)
Somali Islamists Driven Into North South Pockets – UN Envoy (Reuters)
Somali Police Say Dozens Arrested In Capital After Assassination (Bloomberg)
Somalia Still A Threat – McKinstry (SuperSport)
‘Shabaab’ Or ‘UGUS’ Somali Media Between Rock Hard Place (Anadolu Agency)
What Is The Outcome Of The Garowe Meeting? (Wardheer News)
Dreams For My Generation (Warya Post)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Heavy Fighting Between Government Forces And Al-Shabaab Erupts In Aboorey Locality

08 May -Source: Goobjoog News – 175 Words

Reports from Hiraan region indicate that Somalia government forces engaged in gun battle with Shabaab fighters in areas under Bulla-Burde district on Thursday. The fighting flared up after the government forces attacked Al-Shabaab controlled area. Aboorey is located 47km east of Bulla-burde town. Colonel Abdirahman Abdi Mumin who is one the commanders leading the government soldiers told Goobjoog News that they attacked the Al-Shabaab held area in a move to flush out the militants from the region.

Abdirahman said that they have killed two Al-Shabaab fighters and injured several others in the Aboorey clashes .“On our side there is no so much casualties and we will continue fighting with these elements [Al-Shabab] till we annihilate them from Somalia.” Al-Shabab has not yet comment on the claims made by the commander and the fighting in the area. Somali National Army together with African Union peacekeeping troops have pushed out Al-Shabaab from Bulla-burde 2014, since then Al-Shabaab has carried out several deadly attacks against allied forces and government institutions.

Somali President Lands At Kismayo Airport

07 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 101 Words

High level delegation led by Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has reached Kismayo, the administrative capital of Interim Jubba Administration. The president and his delegation were warmly welcomed at airport by some of IJA leaders and members of the civil society in Kismayo. Reports indicate that the aim of the president’s trip is to attend inauguration ceremony of the newly selected IJA parliamentarians which is due to take place in Kismayo. Security has been stepped up in city and the movements of public vehicles have been curtailed. Delegation led the Executive Secretary, Ambassador Mahboub Maalim is also expected to touch at Kismayo Airport soon.

AMISOM And Somali Security Forces Carry Out Sweeps In Mogadishu

07 May – Source: Wacaal Media – 94 Words

Somali security officials assisted by their AMISOM colleagues have today launched a security operation in Mogadishu especially in the neighborhood where deputy district commissioner of Wadajir was killed yesterday. In the operations that started late last night, the NISA and AMISOM troops carried out house to house searches in Wadajir area. The alleged killers of the senior administrator have reportedly fled the scene in a car. Movement of people and transport has been limited in the area as several people were arrested in the operations. Sources say some of those arrested are suspected members of Al-Shabaab.

IGAD Foreign Secretaries Land In Kismayu

07 May – Source: RBC Radio – 145 Words

Kenya and Ethiopia foreign cabinet secretaries, Tedros Adhanom and Amina Mohamed have arrived in the lower Jubba’s port town of Kismayo. Interim Jubba administration officials including the President Ahmed Madobe have welcomed these high level delegation at Kismayo airport. Intergovernmental Authority on Development Secretary General Mohbub Moalim also arrived at the port town. The dignitaries are gathering in Kismayo for the inauguration ceremony for the Jubbaland parliament. A large delegation lead by Puntland Deputy President Abdihakim Abdullahi Haji Omar Amey also reached Kismayu a day ahead of the event. This inauguration ceremony is scheduled to kick off today in Kismayu.

As Kerry Visited Somalia, US Congressman Urges Remittances Reopening

07 May- Source: Hiiraan Online – 383 Words

One day after the US Secretary of State John Kerry paid a surprise visit to the Somali capital, US congressman Keith Ellison urged his government to protect Somalia’s ‘hard-fought’ fragile gains by reopening Somalia’s ‘lifeline’ remittance services after US banks terminated contracts for Somali money transfer companies which funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to Somalia every month. Secretary Kerry who held talks with Somali officials at the Mogadishu airport and urged Somali leaders to ensure a better security for the city, saying ‘we need to walk downtown next time’, however, it’s unclear if the remittances’ closure issue was on their agenda.

“We must ensure Somali-Americans can maintain the ability to send money to their loved ones in Somalia; these remittances add up to $215 million a year, outpacing U.S. foreign aid to the country.” Rep. Keith Ellison said in a statement issued on Wednesday. He called for the Senate to also swiftly confirm the president’s nominee to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Katherine Dhanani who will be the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia since 1991.”I’m sure Secretary Kerry left with the same sense of hope for Somalia that I felt during my last visit in 2013.”

US banks that handled Somali money transfer services have terminated contracts for the companies over complicated banking regulations and fears about an anti-terror legislation have scared away several other financial institutions. Somali hawala firms deliver hundreds of millions into the horn of Africa each month, including funds for aid agencies working in the country. The remittance banks also faces further challenges after the Kenyan government recently closed the accounts for 86 individuals, organizations, hotels and remittance companies it accused of being involved in terrorism activities as parts of anti-terrorism crackdown in the East African nation. The killing of 148 students by Somalia’s Al-Shabab at Garissa, some 120 miles from the border, has piled pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta to deal with the fighters who have killed more than 400 people in Kenya in the last two years. International organizations including the United Nations and humanitarian workers warned that shutting down the companies will have a huge impact on Somalia as it would cut off a vital lifeline for Somalia, a country that has no formal banking system.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Islamists Driven Into North, South Pockets – UN Envoy

07 May – Source: Reuters – 444 Words

A military offensive has driven Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist group out of major strongholds and deprived it of revenue sources, but its retreat to a southern valley and northern hills still poses a threat, the U.N. envoy to Somalia said. The African Union’s AMISOM peacekeeping force and Somali soldiers have pushed the group, which wants to topple the Western-backed government, into smaller pockets of territory since launching an offensive last year. But the group has continued to strike Mogadishu and other government-held areas with bomb and gun attacks from bases in the southern Juba Valley and in northern Puntland’s Galgala hills, a region outside the African Union’s area of operation. “The AU-U.N. have just done a benchmarking review of AMISOM and the Somali national army, as well, and certainly they have recognised that Puntland is an area of concern,” U.N. envoy to Somalia, Nick Kay, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said expanding AMISOM’s region of operations to the semi-autonomous region of Puntland was “under active consideration”, without saying when it might be agreed. The Somali government has said that the Juba Valley, which lies in the far south near the strategic Kismayo port, was the next target for the military offensive, but has not said when. Puntland, which has been slowly drawing closer to the federal government in Mogadishu, has agreed to integrate 3,000 of its forces into the Somali national army, Kay said.

On the political front, Kay said Somalia was laying the groundwork for a revised constitution, although preparations had been delayed, and for parliamentary and presidential elections in 2016. He said it was still not clear whether they could be on the basis of one person, one vote. He said the government was committed to a process that is “more inclusive and more representative” than in 2012, when elders chose parliamentary lawmakers for their communities and lawmakers then chose the president. One option would be to expand the number of people choosing the president to include elders, civil society, women’s groups and others, he said, adding it was up to Somalia to decide. “We should not worry if the time that it needs to be really cemented takes a bit longer than had been originally anticipated,” Kay said. “This is a country facing many problems and challenges, but they are the problems and challenges of a country coming together, rather than falling apart.” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a surprise visit to Somalia on Tuesday, acknowledged the country’s progress and said the United States would start the process to re-establish a diplomatic mission there.

Somali Police Say Dozens Arrested In Capital After Assassination

07 May – Source: Bloomberg – 162 Words

Somali authorities raided a district of the capital, Mogadishu, seizing dozens of suspected al-Shabaab members, a day after the Islamist militants shot dead a local commissioner. Security forces swept the city’s Wadajir district early Thursday, briefly detaining hundreds of people, police officer Isse Mohamed said by phone. Wadajir’s deputy commissioner, Abdifatah Barre, was shot dead on Wednesday morning in an attack claimed by al-Shabaab. “After conducting house-to-house searches the police managed to capture dozens of suspected al-Shabaab members” who will appear in court soon, Mohamed said. Wadajir resident Nacima Sharmarke said by phone that several hundred people, including her brother, were held and released after questioning. Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab is waging an insurgency in the Horn of Africa nation, staging gun and grenade attacks to try and destabilize the government and impose Islamic law. Barre’s murder underscores the challenge President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud faces in restoring security before elections scheduled for next year.

Somalia Still A Threat – McKinstry

07 May – Source: SuperSport – 332 Words

Rwanda coach Johnny McKinstry believes Somalia are still a threat despite his side holding a two-goal advantage from the first leg of the Caf Under-23 Championship qualifier a fortnight ago. Midfielders Yannick Mukunzi and 16-year-old Kevin Muhire found the back of the net at Amahoro Stadium to overcome the Somalians but McKinstry is cautious ahead of the return leg on Saturday. “If we had gone 4-0 in the first leg then the second game would have been a dead rubber but at 2-0 they’ll see it as a real opportunity,” McKinstry admitted. However, McKinstry explained that it really depends on how Somalia approach the game. “If I was the Somalian coach, I would be looking at a two-goal score line and thinking if Somalia score earlier in this game then there is a real game because it is 2-1 and I think that is how they will approach it but what that means is that they will have to come out.”

According to the Irish tactician, Somalia sat very deep in the first half of the first leg. “They sat very deep, they largely didn’t come out of their own half of the field maybe one or two instances and that makes it very difficult for us to create goals.” “Whereas in the second leg, they’ve got to score and so they’ve got to come out and that will provide us with more space to try and capitalise and score goals ourselves. That will give us more opportunities than we had in the first leg. Ultimately, we want to go and win the game,” explained the optimistic McKinstry. The winner of this tie will face Uganda and the team that proceeds will face Egypt in the last round of qualification for the Caf Under-23 Championship that will attract eight teams and will be held in Senegal fromDecember 5-19. The top three sides at this event will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

‘Shabaab’ Or ‘UGUS’, Somali Media Between Rock, Hard Place

07 May – Source: Anadolu Agency – 476 Words

Somali journalists have found themselves in a fix, with the government banning the use of the name “Al-Shabaab” to refer to the militant group, while the militants are threatening anyone who refers to them using a term coined by the government. “We are caught between a rock and a hard place. That is the situation Somali journalists find themselves in,” Hussein Mohamed, a Somali freelance journalist based in Mogadishu, told The Anadolu Agency. Somali Intelligence Chief Abdirahman Mohamud last week ordered journalists to use the acronym “UGUS” – which stands for “the group that subjects the Somali people to humiliation” – when referring to Al-Shabaab. But in a subsequent statement, the Al-Qaeda-linked group dismissed the new acronym as an “insult,” threatening to “respond appropriately” to anyone who used it. Al-Shabaab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, assumed this name after the defeat of the Islamic Courts Union in 2007. “Being a journalist in Somalia is dangerous enough,” said Mohamed. “And the government has made it more dangerous by forcing us to use the word UGUS.” “After Al-Shabaab’s warning, I chose to avoid covering any story on the group,” Mohamed told AA. “I take their threats seriously, because I have seen journalists killed in this country,” he said. Somalia was ranked the third most dangerous country for journalists in 2014. Since last May, four journalists have been killed in the restive Horn of Africa nation. Last week, a radio producer and his wife were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Baidoa in central Somalia.

Media organizations intend to petition the government to have the order reversed. “The media should work under no intimidation or interference at all,” Ismail Omar, chairman of the Mogadishu Independent Newspaper Association, told AA. “It is ironic that these orders were issued on World Press Freedom Day,” he fumed. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has called on both the government and Al-Shabaab to halt the intimidation of journalists. “Journalism must thrive in Somalia,” NUSOJ said in a statement. “The days in which journalists are harassed, intimidated, brutalized, jailed or even killed outright should belong to the past,” it added. A source at the Interior Ministry said ministry officials would advise the government to revise the order. “It’s a dangerous order that puts journalists at risk,” the official, who sought anonymity because of his rank, told AA. “It’s a dangerous order, especially now that the terrorists have issued a warning,” added the official. Al-Shabaab, which is waging a years-long insurgency against the Somali government, had for years controlled much of central and southern Somalia. Recently, however, the group has lost ground to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) working in coordination with Somali army troops. Nevertheless, the group has continued to carry out regular attacks on government officials and security personnel.

OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE

“President Hassan said that even though he recognizes it is unconstitutional to form one and a half districts into a state under the federal constitution, there is also another article in the constitution that allows him to form an interim administration before it is fully recognized as a state. As a result, the president said he knows the Central State consists of Galgadud and half of Mudug now and his intention was just to create an administration in the Central State, which is much better than having no administration. Later, he added it is the responsibility of parliamentarians and the constituents of Mudug to decide whether they want to become part of Puntland or part of Central State.”

What Is The Outcome Of The Garowe Meeting?

05 May – Source:Wardheer News – 1,137 Words

Lately, Somali media have been interested in covering the outcome of the Garowe meeting where three state presidents and the Federal President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, met to discuss what needs to be done before the 2016 election. A statement was released at the end of the meeting, but it became clear to everyone who listened to the press conference afterward that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had finally found a loophole in the constitution. President Hassan said that even though he recognizes it is unconstitutional to form one and a half districts into a state under the federal constitution, there is also another article in the constitution that allows him to form an interim administration before it is fully recognized as a state.

As a result, the president said he knows the Central State consists of Galgadud and half of Mudug now and his intention was just to create an administration in the Central State, which is much better than having no administration. Later, he added it is the responsibility of parliamentarians and the constituents of Mudug to decide whether they want to become part of Puntland or part of Central State. Now, the question is why the president all of a sudden wants to change the procedures of creating an interim regional administration based on the constitution. It was well documented that the president claimed at the onset of creating an interim administration in Jubba and the South West that they should be based on the constitution until they could be recognized as full states by the parliament. The answer to that question is very simple: The president wants to create a Central State that consists of Mudug and Galgadud as he stated when he was in Galgadud and that creation is based on the constitution as were all the other ones.

Dreams For My Generation

07 May – Source: Warya Post – Video – 2:29 Minutes

Poem: A message to the young generation by Faduma Warsame.