November 30, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Military Fighter Jets Bombard Al-Shabaab Militant’s Bases In Hiiraan Region
29 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 162 Words
Reports reaching Hiiraan Online indicate that military jets have conducted aerial attacks against Al-Shabaab bases in Somalia’s Hiiraan region. The warplanes’ attacks is the latest in a series of aerial bombardments against the Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia. Col Mohamed Omar Aden, a senior Somali Army commander in the region confirmed the development and said more such operations will continue to target areas such as Yasooman, Ceeldheer and Ceel lahelay villages, which still harbour elements of Al-Shabaab.
Several militants are believed to have been killed in the Sunday aerial raids. The bombardment of Al-Shabaab bases is also another big blow to the already dented militant group considering that these bases are prime for their military training, planning attacks, among other logistics. Kenya Air Force fighter jets have severally bombarded Al-Shabaab camps as well as U.S. drones. Senior Al-Shabaab leaders, including Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, have been killed in drone attacks.
Key Headlines
- Military Fighter Jets Bombard Al-Shabaab Militant’s Bases In Hiiraan Region (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali PM And South West State President Arrive In Galkayo Town (Shabelle News)
- Jubbaland Forces Confiscate Livestock From Al-Shabaab (Wacaal Media)
- Somalia Vindicates Petroleum Ministry Over Corruption Allegations (Hiiraan Online)
- Mogadishu’s Jazeera Palace Hotel Reopens Four Months After Attack In A Resilient Move Against Terrorism (AMISOM)
- Boat Hijacked By Somali Pirates Freed As Several Pirates Killed: Witnesses (The Straits Times/AFP)
- Police Widen Search Operations To Curtail Terrorism (Daily Nation)
- Inside Charismatic Pope Francis’ Image Of A Rising Africa (Sunday Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali PM And South West State President Arrive In Galkayo Town
29 November – Source: Shabelle News -104 Words
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid, along with South West State President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, have arrived in Galkayo to defuse the tension between residents of Galmudug and Puntland states. On arrival, the Premier told reporters that his trip was aimed at ending the war between the two neighbouring states through dialogue and understanding. Meanwhile, Jubbaland President Ahmed Madobe also touched down in Garowe city, to join the ongoing peace efforts to stop the Galkayo clashes. The Federal Government on Saturday appointed a ministerial committee, led by the Minister of Interior Abdirahman Odawa, to initiate peace talks with local elders.
Jubbaland Forces Confiscate Livestock From Al-Shabaab
29 November – Source: Wacaal Media – 120 Words
Jubbaland forces in Afmadoow town of Lower Jubba region have managed to repossess livestock from Al-shabaab, which the group forcibly collected from local residents. The operation was carried out in Taabto, Arbaqaso and Hayo locations in the outskirts of Afmadow town. Al-shabaab recently collected livestock from local residents as payment of zakah, an Islamic levy on wealth.
However, the residents lodged complaints with the Jubbaland administration over the manner in which the collections were carried out prompting the operation. Afmadow district’s Jubbaland Army commander Aar Sheikh Ali, confirmed to the media that they had repossessed a herd of 100 animals consisting of goats, cattle and camels. Jubbaland forces did not meet any resistance from the militants, who fled the scene upon sensing danger.
Somalia Vindicates Petroleum Ministry Over Corruption Allegations
29 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 258 Words
The Somali Government has denied claims by the United Nations monitoring group that its petroleum and oil ministry received large sums of payoffs from the British Oil company, Soma Oil, to facilitate oil deals in Somalia. The company is under investigation by the UK’s Fraud Office ,which kicked off criminal investigations into the company’s operations after the oil firm allegedly paid illegal salaries to staffers at Somalia’s petroleum and mineral ministry.
In a statement issued Sunday, the government said it appointed an independent Committee of five that investigated the allegations which it said concluded that the capacity building support provided by an international company was normal practice: “The committee also found no evidence that the Ministry and the Soma Oil reached a deal on a ‘quid pro quo’ basis as previously claimed by UNSEMG,” the statement said referring to the United Nations Somalia and Eritrea monitoring group.
In the report issued in August, the UN monitoring group stated that ministry staffers diverted payments into a privately-held ministerial account in contravention of FGS regulations, and that it indeed attempted to have Soma direct its funding into this account. The monitoring group further described how the misuse of capacity building in the Soma context fits within a broader pattern of misconduct and misappropriation at the ministry. Soma Oil has also denied the allegations. Many major oil companies withdrew from Somalia in the early 1990s when civil war began. According to the company’s website, Soma Oil and Gas was founded in 2013 to “pursue oil and gas exploration opportunities in Somalia”.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Mogadishu’s Jazeera Palace Hotel Reopens Four Months After Attack, In A Resilient Move Against Terrorism
29 November – Source: AMISOM – 402 Words
Beaten but not broken. Such is the story of Mogadishu’s hotel industry — one of resilience and strength in the face of adversity; a determination and optimism to defeat terror. Jazeera Palace Hotel like many other luxury hotels dotting the capital city Mogadishu, has borne the weight of terror activities having been hit by terrorists, on 26 July 2015, for the symbolism it holds, for the town’s restoration.
Today however, Jazeera stood stoic as the city of Mogadishu welcomed its re-opening, four months after the terror attack that destroyed its exterior. The reopening ceremony was attended by among other dignitaries, the government ministers, federal members of parliament, diplomats from several embassies in Mogadishu as well as the business community.
The message from the hotel’s management to the people of Somalia was full of encouragement. The hotel’s manager Justus Kisaulu said the rebuilding of the hotel goes to show the resilience and determination of the Somali people, to overcome terrorism: “The hotel stands as a symbol of resilience of the Somali business community and a symbol of Mogadishu’s economic resurrection. Our message is that Somalia is open for business, Mogadishu is open for business and the Jazeera Palace Hotel, is open for business.”
Somalia’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dahir Mohamud Gelle said the re-construction of hotels destroyed by Al Shabaab is the strongest message, the Somali people can send to terrorists: “Months ago, this place was ablaze, people were in shock. And it was a sign meant to scare people into fleeing from the country. Today, it is a place that attracts people to come to, it encourages people to come. And that shows a message from the Somalis that Al Shabaab decided to destroy and kill and people of Somalia decided to build and live,” he said.
The Mogadishu Mayor Yusuf Hussein Jinaale said Jazeera was one of the most favourite in the hospitality industry, for many visitors in Somalia. With the grand reopening of Jazeera Palace Hotel, the the Federal Government of Somalia and the Somali people have another feature in their cap.
Boat Hijacked By Somali Pirates Freed As Several Pirates Killed: Witnesses
29 November – Source: The Straits Time/AFP – 316 Words
A boat held by Somali pirates has been freed after a gun battle, fishermen and witnesses said on Sunday (Nov 29), claiming several of the pirates were killed. There was no precise information on the boat or the fate of its crew, whether international forces were involved in the rescue, or whether the crew had wrested back control on their own. However, security sources said the boat was believed to be an Iranian fishing vessel seized earlier this week with 15 crew, held off the central Somali coastline.
“We heard heavy exchange of gunfire… Several of the pirates were killed and a boat they hijacked was freed,” said Mr Muktar Yakub, a fisherman in the Harardhere area, adding the boat had now disappeared from sight of the coast. Local elder Abdulahi Bare said “seven of the pirates were killed and two others were seriously wounded” but the toll could not be independently confirmed.
Piracy peaked in 2011, when Somali pirates held more than 700 hostages, but rates of attacks have tumbled, partly thanks to the posting of armed guards on boats as well as navy patrols.But experts have warned that rampant illegal fishing by foreign trawlers off Somalia is threatening economic gains and could push communities back to maritime crime. While illegal fishing was used by many pirates as an excuse for attacks – with an array of vessels seized including yachts, oil tankers and container ships – the issue could encourage a fresh round of piracy.
Police Widen Search Operations To Curtail Terrorism
29 November – Source: Daily Nation – 275 Words
Security agents in Kenya are now focusing on international organisations, embassies, prisons, colleges and major towns, especially in Central, Eastern and North Eastern, in a renewed fight against terrorism. As a result of the intelligence-led operations, dozens of planned attacks have been thwarted in the past two months.
In the past two weeks, at least 20 people have been arrested across the country, eight of them on the Nanyuki-Habaswein-Wajir route before they could reach Nairobi. Reports indicate once the suspects sneak into the city, it is difficult to find them. As a result, operations have been enhanced on the Thika-Garissa route and also in Nyeri.
Police have also warned that terrorists are planning to use fake number plates resembling those of United Nations and other international organisations or even embassies, which are “least suspected” to execute the terror attacks. Police said the terrorists have also stolen number plates belonging to the United Nations World Food Programme, but added there is little likelihood they will be used after the theft was detected. Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet has directed officers to search all vehicles thoroughly.
Intelligence also reveals some prisoners are planning attacks while in custody with unscrupulous warders. At least two terror suspects in Kamiti Maximum Prison are being monitored closely. Commissioner General of Prisons Isaiah Osugo on Sunday denied any such plans: “I am yet to receive such information. In case there are such reports, police would be the best to deal with that,” he said. The enhanced operation this year has also been attributed to support from the international community following visits by President Obama in July, and the Pope last week.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“In Kenya, the Al Qaida affiliated Al-Shabaab gunmen in Somalia have targeted Christians and non-Muslims in their deadly attacks. The militia has also targeted Uganda. But the country has also faced violent extremism from Christian fundamentalists linked to the Lord’s Resistance Army”.
Inside Charismatic Pope Francis’ Image Of A Rising Africa
29 November – Source: Sunday Nation – 936 Words
Pope Francis is deeply intellectual, charismatic and different. His maiden trip to Africa brings to mind Toni Morrison, the American Nobel laureate (1993), who in 1998 described former US President Bill Clinton as “the First Black President”. “White skin notwithstanding,” Morrison argued in a comment for The New Yorker, “this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime.”
Of course, Morrison has lived long enough to witness the election of Barack Obama as America’s first actual black president in 2008. But the Nobel Laureate was speaking to the most obstinate legacy of European slavery and colonialism: racism or the “colour line”, which WEB Dubois before her described as “the problem of the twentieth century”.Despite the euphoria of an Africa rising, racism, sometimes in its most crass and crude forms, continues lingering on in the 21st century.
This was precisely the point the sagely Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe was making in his famous Chancellor’s Lecture, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1975), where he accused Joseph Conrad of being “a thoroughgoing racist” for depicting Africa as “the other world”.
In extremely subtle ways, racists are using new technology platforms such as cable televisions and Twitter to isolate Africa in global affairs by painting it as the “heart of darkness”.
This is the larger context in which CNN described Kenya as “a hotbed of terror” ahead of President Obama’s visit in July. In the same fiendish light, Fox News wrote: “Pope visits War-ton Africa” as he arrived in Kenya in his first tour of Africa. Even Al Jazeera, whose journalists were sentenced by Egypt’s new leaders in September 2015 for “biased coverage”, “false news” and for “aiding a terrorist organisation”, carried a barefaced headline: The Holy Pope Shakes Hands With ICC Criminals, which targeted Kenya’s top leadership.
Notably, the Pope visits Africa against the backdrop of the recent deadly terrorist attack in France and Mali. But if the Pope’s trip was to France, where more than 250 people have been killed and over 600 injured in terrorist attacks since the 1960s, including two attacks in 2015 alone, the media would not have described the West’s tourist destiny of choice as a “cesspool of terror”.
Instead, it would have accented the Pope’s “sympathy” and “solidarity” with the French people.The West’s media was fretting about the pontiff’s security, describing his first trip to Africa as “the most dangerous”. But when asked by journalists whether he was nervous about his trip, the Pope retorted that: “The only thing I’m worried about is mosquitoes.”