July 7, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Grenade Attack Kills Four In Baidoa
07 July – Source: Hiiraan Online – 199 Words
At least four people were killed and 18 others were injured after a grenade was lobbed into a busy business centre in the south-western Somali town of Baidoa, officials said on Monday. Police officials said a government soldier had been arrested in connection with the blast and investigations were underway. No details of the suspects were given. Security officials told Hiiraan Online that they cannot at the moment figure out the motive of the soldier who threw the grenade, but were not ruling out that the attack occurred as the result of heated arguments. Witnesses described chaotic scenes as soldiers opened fire at a nearby crowd after the blast. However, one security sources told Hiiraan Online that the soldier behind the grenade attack was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the attack. Such attacks by soldiers are common in the town which serves as the headquarters of the South-western State. The Al-Qaeda linked militants often carry out bomb attacks across Somalia. Baidoa, located 256 km west of the Somali capital, has seen a relative stability since Somali troops backed by Ethiopian troops ousted Al-Shabaab.
Key Headlines
- Grenade Attack Kills Four In Baidoa (Hiiraan Online)
- Federal Parliament Endorses Controversial Commissions (Garowe Online)
- Federal Government Say Puntland Complains About Galmudug Would Be Settled Through Constitutional Means (Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Moves To Reduce Maternal Deaths (Garowe Online)
- Kenya Expresses Concern Over Sophisticated Weapons Under Al-Shabaab’s Possession (Wacaal Media)
- Houthi Shelling Kills Six Somali Refugees In Yemen (Radio Dalsan)
- Al-Shabaab Kills More Than A Dozen In Kenya Attack Weeks Before Obama Visit (The Guardian)
- Anti-Piracy Mission Off Somalia To Be Extended (NHK World News)
- For Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir A Wish That FIBA Would Catch Up To FIFA (USA Today)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Federal Parliament Endorses Controversial Commissions
07 July – Source: Garowe Online – 187 Words
Lawmakers in Somalia’s Federal Parliament Monday endorsed two key commissions as Puntland says it isn’t legally binding approval, Garowe Online reports. Each commissioner in Independent National Electoral, and Boundary and Federalization Commissions was required to secure 94 votes of the 187 MPs present in the parliament hall. All commission members got overwhelming endorsement in exercise of secret ballots. “The Government of Puntland rejects the so-called illegal and illegitimate boundaries and federation commission, constituted currently without consultation as stipulated in article 111 of the Provisional Federal Constitution [PFC],” Puntland said in a press statement. “No deliberation or outcome from such body is binding to Puntland”. Puntland strongly opposed the formation of Galmudug administration which claims the ownership of Mudug in a regional constitution approved by Adaado delegates on June 17. Continuing, Puntland noted: “The Government of Puntland strongly supports and will safeguard the principles of federalism in the Federal Republic of Somalia and the working relations among and between federal member states as per article 50, section (c) of the Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC)”. On May 8, Council of Ministers passed three key commissions including Judicial Service committee.
Federal Government Say Puntland Complains About Galmudug Would Be Settled Through Constitutional Means
07 July – Source : Goobjoog News – 121 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia has on Monday said that complaints fielded by Puntland State of Somalia about the newly formed Galmudug state would be settled through constitutional institutions in the country. In a meeting chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte, the cabinet noted the concerns of Puntland, but urged restraint. One of the ideal constitutional federal institutions designed to solve such disputes between the states is Federalism and Boundaries Commission which was approved by the parliament just on Monday. Puntland has said in a statement “The Government of Puntland finds it regrettable, the federal government continued sponsorship, support and active engagement in an illegitimate process that is detrimental to the on-going peace and state-building efforts in Somalia”.
Puntland Moves To Reduce Maternal Deaths
07 July – Source: Garowe Online – 229 Words
Puntland Government in northern Somalia has stepped up efforts to reduce maternal mortality rate, with Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) Ambassador touring maternal and neonatal healthcare initiative, Garowe Online reports. Women Development and Family Affairs Minister and CARMMA Ambassador, Anisa Abdulkadir Haji Mumin toured Garowe General Hospital and Maternity and Children’s Hospital where accelerated reduction of maternal deaths campaign is underway. Accompanied by Deputy Minister Amina Mohamed Abdullahi, Garowe Hospital Director-General Abdisamad Ahmed Jama and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) officials, Mumin listened to briefings from practitioners overseeing the newly launched maternal healthcare service delivery. Habibo Nur Ismael, the head of maternity and children’s hospital told the visiting officials that more women took advantage of the CARMMA than never before, with further improvement being made in accessibility to the maternity ward. On her side, Women Development Minister said, their aim is to assess the achievements secured under mortality deaths reduction campaign and the needs lying ahead. “We will respond to the needs very soon, and I urge UNFPA to finalize equipment necessary for maternal and child health care,” she told reporters in the midst of the tour. Puntland previously selected UNFPA as key partner in the prevention and eradication of obstetric fistula. In November 2014, UNFPA inaugurated maternal and neonatal health centre as part of campaign on accelerated reduction of maternal mortality in Africa (CARMMA).
Kenya Expresses Concern Over Sophisticated Weapons Under Al-Shabaab’s Possession
07 July – Source: Wacaal Media – 93 Words
Kenyan intelligence has expressed concern over the sophisticated weapons at the disposal of Somali militants Al-Shabaab. Kenya says they got a lot of information and camera seized from slain members of the terror group who attacked a military base in Baure, Lamu. The militants seized more sophisticated armoury after they ran over an AMISOM base in Leego town recently. The concerns came in the wake of increased Al-Shabaab attacks both in Somalia and Kenya. In the latest incident, the militants killed 14 civilians in the Kenyan border town of Mandera early Tuesday morning.
Houthi Shelling Kills Six Somali Refugees In Yemen
06 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 146 Words
Six Somali nationals have been killed when Houthi Shia rebels shelling hit a school where the refugees were sheltering. The victims including children were sheltering in the school from months old fighting between Houthi Shia rebels and Saudi led coalition airstrikes. Early last week another Somali man was killed by a mortar shell while trying to buy Ramadan food from a kiosk in Aden. This is the seventh case in which innocent Somali refugees in Yemen were caught up in the fighting which has devastated the poor Arabian Peninsula gulf state. United Nations has warned against severe food crisis that was created by the fighting between exiled President Abd Rabou Mansour and Iranian backed Houthi Shia rebels. Thousands of Somalis who fled to Yemen after the break out of civil war in their country in early 1990s are fleeing back home from the Yemen violence.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Kills More Than A Dozen In Kenya Attack Weeks Before Obama Visit
07 July – Source: The Guardian – 388 Words
Suspected Al-Shabaab fighters killed 14 sleeping quarry workers and wounded many others in a gun and grenade attack in northern Kenya staged only weeks before a highly anticipated visit by President Obama to the East African country.The gunmen raided the remote village of Soko Mbuzi near the Somalia border at around 1am Tuesday, smashed through a gate using a petrol bomb before hurling grenades at the workers and spraying those who tried to flee with bullets.
Local police chiefs said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the Somalia-based al-Qaida affiliate which has been blamed for a series of atrocities in East Africa.“All indications are that they were Al-Shabaab militants. They destroyed metal grilled doors before they bombed the houses and opened fire on the innocent victims,” Mandera County Commissioner Alex Ole Nkoyo told The Standard newspaper. Several victims were rushed to hospital although the exact number of those affected were unclear.The killings follow a pattern where Al-Shabaab militants have targeted non-locals working in the predominantly Muslim region near the Kenyan-Somalia border. Workers from areas outside the region tend to be Christian. In December, 36 quarry workers were killed in similar circumstances in the same county.
Anti-Piracy Mission Off Somalia To Be Extended
07 July – Source: NHK World News – 123 Words
The Japanese government has decided to extend the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia by another year. The current mission will expire later this month. Japan has deployed escort ships and patrol aircraft to guard commercial ships in the area since 2009. In May this year, an MSDF rear admiral assumed the head of the multinational mission for the first time. After Cabinet approval on Tuesday, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said threats posed by pirates have continued in the area and poverty in Somalia, which is the root cause of the problem, is yet to be alleviated. He added that Japan will continue to work to ensure safe passage in the key sea lane jointly with other countries’ units.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“For Abdul-Qaadir, who was born in Springfield, Mass., the ban creates many barriers. The policy restricts her from playing in leagues abroad, and even if she had the ability to play for Team USA, she wouldn’t be able to wear her hijab because the team participates in international competitions.”
For Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, A Wish That FIBA Would Catch Up To FIFA
06 July – Source: USA Today – 1,085 Words
It was the spring of 2014 and Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir had just capped off her college basketball career by leading Indiana State in scoring. While moving on to graduate school, Abdul-Qaadir’s plan was to play abroad, and she was already taking the next steps to make it happen. She hired an agent, made an online basketball profile and was excited for the next stage of her life. After setting the high school career scoring record for Massachusetts, her dream of playing professionally was in sight. And then the dream was crushed. Abdul-Qaadir’s agent told her of FIBA’s headgear policy, which would prevent her from playing in the FIBA-run professional leagues she had been targeting, because the Muslim Abdul-Qaadir wears a hijab. “It kind of broke my heart,” said Abdul-Qaadir, 24. “I was that close to the dream and then just because of my religious beliefs or something that I wore was going to stop me from playing.” The policy doesn’t just ban hijabs but all headgear more than five centimeters in width. That means athletes around the world who wear turbans or yarmulkes are also prevented from participating. “I don’t think it has anything to do with safety hazards or just a piece of material, I think it’s the fact of what I’m representing,” said Abdul-Qaadir, who now travels the country raising awareness of the ban. “They don’t want that affiliated with their organization.” But after FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, lifted its headgear ban in 2014, FIBA enacted a two-year trial beginning last September that allowed basketball players to play with headgear. But FIBA’s allowance applies only at the national level, and only if a player or team’s national federation has submitted a request to FIBA.
Only a week after the FIBA trial period began, members of the Qatar women’s national team had to withdraw from an international competition, the Asian Games in South Korea, because they refused to remove their hijabs. USA Basketball CEO and FIBA central board member Jim Tooley told USA TODAY Sports that FIBA would be gathering information during the course of the trial for a report that would be evaluated after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He said the study was focusing on whether all modifications to uniform pose safety issues, threaten the look and feel of the uniform or impede or enhance the sport in other countries. Though he noted that USA Basketball has received no request to wear headgear, when asked if the policy limits the opportunities of athletes of certain faiths, he said, “I’m not certain it does or it doesn’t. We have not had that issue here in the United States, and I don’t want to speak to the issues that Muslim countries have experienced.”
Ibtihaj Muhammad, a sabre fencer training for the 2016 Olympics and a hijab wearer, said the requirement that federations make requests on behalf of athletes was an added insult to athletes of Muslim faith. “That reminds of me of middle school and high school where my parents had to submit an official letter from the religious head from our local mosque,” Muhammad said. “We would have to get like a local Imam to sign a letter my parents drafted that said I was wearing my headscarf for religious reasons. “It’s a little frustrating that you have to, not only be different, but explain why we’re different and then from there explain to the governing body okay, now it’s OK for you to be different to still play sports.”
TOP TWEETS
@AJEnglish: Al-Shabab claims attack “to avenge killings of Muslims in Somalia and Kenya”. http://aje.io/w2cn
@UNSomalia : .@Somalia111 welcomes Parliament’s endorsement of Boundaries & Federation Commission. important step to achieving #Somalia Vision 2016.
@AbdisalamAato: Today I’ve been appointed as the Official Spokesman of #Somalia Federal Gov’t.
@IOM_news: IOM, partners engage youth in artistic activities to emphasizes importance of #Somali culture http://ow.ly/Pdulb
@somaligov: #BreakingNews #Somalia A car bomb exploded killing 2 people and wounding the driver, and Somali Police will soon release more information.
@TheVillaSomalia: President holds #Iftar reception for Muslim#diplomats in Somalia.
@UNFPA_SOMALIA: Somalia: Puntland moves to reduce maternal deaths http://www.garoweonline.com/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Deputy Head of AMISOM, Hon. Lydia Wanyoto, hands a paper bag of food to a lady during foodstuff distribution to less fortunate families around Wadajir district in Mogadishu.
Photo: AMISOM