January 25, 2016 | Morning Headlines
AMISOM On The Spot As AU Leaders Meet In Ethiopia
25 January – Source: Daily Nation – 234 Words
The structure of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is expected to come under sharp focus when the AU discusses a report on peace and security in Africa. AU heads of state and government converge in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a summit this Saturday. The meeting comes in the wake of repeated terrorist attacks on its mission in Somalia.
On January 15, KDF in El Adde were ambushed by Al-Shabaab militants. Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe alluded to AMISOM’s alleged lack of “necessary capacity” leading KDF to mobilise its resources in response to the attack. AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui said in Nairobi on Friday that Al-Shabaab’s “dastardly acts of terror [will] only help to solidify our resolve to win the war against.”
But this followed two similar attacks on Amisom forces where soldiers from Uganda and Burundi were killed by the same militants. But as is tradition, a report on such matters prepared by the Peace and Security Council will be tabled before the AU’s 26th Ordinary Summit.
Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, says it will this year set up a regional centre for sharing counter-violent extremism information to help beat down the threat of terrorism. Igad executive secretary Mahboub Maalim said the centre will be part of global efforts against radicalisation and will help share strategies on how to discourage people from joining extremist groups.
Key Headlines
- AMISOM On The Spot As AU Leaders Meet In Ethiopia (Daily Nation)
- Somalia Set To Airlift Victims Of Restaurant Attack (Hiiraan Online)
- Al-Shabab Tells Kenya To Pull Out Of Somalia Threatens More Attacks (Hiiraan Online)
- Puntland Leader Tells Public Not To Heed ‘Failed Politicians’ (Garowe Online)
- UN Agency Eyes 50000 Somalis Returning From Kenyan Camp (Reuters)
- Detectives Grill Blogger Yassin Juma Over Social Media Posts On KDF Attack In Somalia (Sunday Nation)
- Egypt Condemns ‘Vicious’ Terrorist Attack In Somalia (Ahram Online)
- Finding Cultural Balance A Challenge For Somalis Employers (Journal Sentinel)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Set To Airlift Victims Of Restaurant Attack
24 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 259 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has announced that his government will airlift seriously wounded victims for specialized treatment since local hospitals lack the capacity to deal with critical cases.: “We shall never forget those we lost to that heinous attack,.” said the President. He accused Al Shabaab of plotting to ‘massacre’ civilians by targeting public places.
“The only thing that those anti-peace elements are capable of is attacking State House, Parliament and the courts – shedding the blood of innocent people is all they can do,” he said. The attack comes few days after the militants overran an African Union military base in El-Ade, southwestern Somalia, killing tens of soldiers. The fighters also looted caches of weapons and military vehicles.
The deadly Al-Shabab attack on a beachfront restaurant on Thursday brought an outpouring grief and solidarity among the residents of the seaside capital. More than 25 people were killed amid mounting pressure on the government to prevent such attacks. The Somali people stood in solidarity with security forces, who rescued at least 100 people under the hail of gunfire during the complex attack on Lido Seafood restaurant.
The government of Somalia has been under renewed pressure in the wake of the attack, as Somalis took to the social media calling on their government “to take decisive measures to deal with the militants’ attacks”. More than 40 people were wounded in the attack which lasted more than 10 hours before the security forces ended the siege on Friday morning.
Al-Shabab Tells Kenya To Pull Out Of Somalia, Threatens More Attacks
24 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 290 Words
The Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group in Somalia has warned Kenya to pull its troops out of Somalia days after its fighters overran a Kenyan military base in southwestern Somalia in a complex attack, killing tens of soldiers. Al Shabaab claimed it killed more than 100 soldiers during the attack in El-Ade as fighters also looted military hardware, ammunition and vehicles.
“Despite earlier warnings, this is another one telling Kenya to pull its troops out of Somalia,” said Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, Al Shabaab’s military spokesman on Saturday. He said that the group would stop attacks against Kenya once the east African nation ‘decides’ to pull its troops out of Somalia, warning that militants would step up attacks if Kenya keeps troops in Somalia. He also claimed that his fighters had taken 12 Kenyan soldiers hostage during the attack.
The Kenyan government is yet to officially release figures of the troops’ casualties from the Gedo region attack. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the attack has only renewed Kenya’s determination to destroy Al Shabaab, calling on Kenyans to stand shoulder to shoulder to face the ‘enemy’ of humanity. He delivered the speech during a visit to soldiers wounded in the attack a Nairobi hospital over the weekend.
In addition, Kenya’s former Prime Minister as well as the Opposition leader Raila Odinga added his voice to the President’s speech, urging soldiers to ensure that Al Shabaab and other terror groups are stopped at all cost. Odinga said the country must stand together and take the battle to the Al-Shabaab. Kenya sent troops into the neighboring Somalia in 2011 after a series of suspected Al-Shabaab raids and kidnappings of tourists in the country.
Puntland Leader Tells Public Not To Heed ‘Failed Politicians’
24 January – Source: Garowe Online- 181 Words
The President of Somalia’s Puntland government, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, has criticized what he described as “failed politicians plunging ordinary people into confusion” over the country’s problematic political transition process.
Before departing at Bossaso International airport on Sunday for a critical forum in the capital city of Mogadishu, Ali said his government will act in line with the will of the Puntland people during upcoming political talks in Mogadishu. The Puntland leader will be attending leadership forum, which will primarily focus on arriving at a model for electoral transition in 2016. The talks have previously stalled with leaders differing on whether Somalia should adopt more enhanced legitimacy or return to traditional clan power sharing formula.
The Puntland President’s harsh reactions follow remarks on local FM stations by former Puntland Education Minister Ali Haji Warsame, who claimed that Puntland is now warming up to clan sharing formula after a long period of reluctance.In a position paper in the latest political talks, The Puntland leader maintains their position has not changed. Earlier this month, discussions on the subject ended in a disarray after parties stuck to their positions.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Agency Eyes 50,000 Somalis Returning From Kenyan Camp
24 January – Source: Reuters – 340 Words
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR is planning for as many as 50,000 Somalis to return home this year from a Kenyan camp home to 350,000 people, but that figure may not be reached given concerns many refugees still have about problems back home. About 6,000 Somalis returned from Dadaab camp last year under a voluntary repatriation programme, while an additional 1,200 have left so far in January, including a group of families and individuals who left the sprawling camp on buses on Thursday.
Somalia is trying to rebuild after two decades of war and chaos. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled to Kenya and other neighbouring states after civil war erupted in 1991. More fled the 2011 famine. At its peak, Dadaab hosted 580,000 people: “We are trying to plan for a possible 50,000 people (returning) in 2016,” Raouf Mazou, the UNHCR representative to Kenya, told Reuters in Dadaab camp. He said, however, this figure for possible returnees might not be achieved without additional targeted aid to help those seeking to resettle meet basic requirements, such as school fees.
“They need specific support inside Somalia,” he said. Returnees already receive a one-off cash handout and some basic foodstuffs and other items to help them get reestablished. But U.N. officials said some of the main complaints by those who had returned were about lack of schooling or adequate shelter, after leaving a camp where basic needs were met. Those who have not opted to return cite security as a major worry: “I want to go back,” said 50-year-old Mihiya Abdi Ali, who has been in Dadaab 25 years. “It is my motherland but because of the current security situation I cannot go back.”
Detectives Grill Blogger Yassin Juma Over Social Media Posts On KDF Attack In Somalia
24 January – Source: Sunday Nation – 304 Words
Detectives have on Sunday grilled blogger and former NTV journalist Yassin Juma over what he has been posting on the social media about the terror attack on a KDF camp in El-Adde, Somalia which left an unknown number of soldiers dead. Mr Juma, according to the police, was arrested following his regular updates on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The Kenyan journalist was arrested at his Donholm residence in Nairobi on Saturday at around 8pm by eight officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters and was taken to the Muthaiga Police Station: “I was from the hospital when I was arrested by eight police officers in two cars They took me to my house where they conducted a search before they escorted me to the police station,” he told Nation at the police station.
The detectives ransacked his house and took flash disks and looked through the contents of his laptops. Mr Juma, however, said that he had not been informed of the charges he was going to face. An entry in the Occurrence Book, OB 52/23/01/2016, indicates that he was accused of “misuse of communication gadgets.” A day after the attack, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Nkaissery warned Kenyans against sending alarming pictures and information about it, adding that doing so served to further Al-Shabaab’s fear-mongering agenda.
Maj Gen (Rtd) Nkaissery singled out Mr Juma as being among those journalists “portraying Al-Shabaab in good light while showing security agencies in bad light” when claims of mass graves in Mandera emerged late 2015. The Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinett also warned that police would deal firmly with people who were “using media freedom to spread images that glorify terrorists.”
Egypt Condemns ‘Vicious’ Terrorist Attack In Somalia
24 January – Source: Ahram Online – 86 Words
Egypt on Saturday strongly condemned a terrorist attack by Al-Shabaab at a restaurant in Mogadishu, which killed around 20 people. Five gunmen detonated a bomb on Thursday at a beachside restaurant in Mogadishu, then fired at those inside the venue. The government expresses sincere condolences for the victims, and supports Somalia’s government and people in their fight against “vicious terrorism”, a statement by the foreign ministry on the ministry’s English-language Facebook page said. Four of the gunmen were killed and one was captured by security forces.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Although in many ways the Somalis’ story is similar to the experience of other immigrants, often the Somalis came here suddenly as the result of war. They didn’t have time, or the resources, to plan for their new lives. Also, the Somali society may be one of the few societies in the United States that is African, black, Muslim and non-English speaking at the same time”.
Finding Cultural Balance A Challenge For Somalis, Employers
24 January – Source: Journal Sentinel – 1,395 Words
Ibrahim Mehemmed came to Wisconsin from Africa to escape violence and oppression. He never expected his religious beliefs would create conflict here. However, he and other Somali Muslim immigrants recently found themselves in a controversy over prayer breaks at their employer, Ariens Co., in Brillion.
More than 50 Muslim employees at the manufacturer of snowblowers and lawn mowers wanted the company to continue a previous, more lenient practice of allowing them to leave their work stations at different times — such as at dawn and sunset — to pray as their faith requires of them: “Pray and then go back to your job,” said Mehemmed, who lives in Green Bay, about 30 minutes from Brillion.
Ariens, however, said it was sticking with a policy that doesn’t accommodate special prayer breaks, despite having bent the rules some in the past. The company said it would begin enforcing the policy Monday. With more Muslims on the assembly line, Ariens said, unscheduled work breaks of more than a few minutes could cost the company millions of dollars annually in lost productivity. This time of year, the company’s 900 employees in Brillion are balancing the production of snowblowers and equipment for the upcoming lawn and garden season.
“We are really ramped up for spring,” company President Dan Ariens said, adding that a big snowstorm, such as the one that’s overwhelmed much of the East Coast and South this weekend, would drive demand for snowblowers. There are pockets of Somali immigrants across Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and smaller communities in the northern part of the state. Mehemmed is a Somali from Ethiopia who came to the United States in 2010. He lived in California and Arizona before settling in Wisconsin.
This is his home now, Mehemmed said, and he doesn’t want to pick a fight with his employer or anybody else. Aside from the prayer-break issue, the Somalis that Ariens hired through an employment agency have blended well with the rest of the workforce, according to the company and Mehemmed: “We respect each other. We don’t have a problem with the other employees,” he said. Many Somalis have come to the United States to escape civil war in their homeland. In the early 1990s, more than 300,000 Somalis were killed in civil war or from the famine that resulted when militia confiscated and blockaded food shipments.