March 1, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Baidoa Blast Victims Airlifted To Mogadishu For Treatment
29 February – Source: Bar-Kulan- 413 Words
18 victims of the recent twin blasts in Baidoa town have been airlifted to Mogadishu for further treatment, according to health officials.The director of Baidoa’s main hospital, Abdifatah Hashi, said the victims are in a serious condition and need specialized treatment. He said seven of those injured in the terror attacks succumbed to their injuries.
President of Interim South-west Administration Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan and several members of his cabinet on Monday visited some of the hospitalized victims at the main Baidoa hospital.During their visit to the medical facility, the officials were briefed on the injured people’s conditions by health officials.
President Sharif Hassan called on the Somali Federal Government to come to their support for the injured people..Twin blasts in Baidoa on Sunday claimed the lives of over 30 people and injured 60 others. Al-Shabaab militant group immediately claimed responsibility of the attack.
Key Headlines
- Baidoa Blast Victims Airlifted To Mogadishu For Treatment( Bar- Kulan)
- Governor Of Hiran Gives Updates On State Making Process For The Region (Hiiraan Online)
- Mahaday Ready To Launch Major Offensive Against Al-Shabaab (Goobjoog News)
- Dubai Police Help Somali Girlchild Held At Airport With Fake Papers Go Home (Emirates247)
- Death Toll Rises To 30 In Somalia Twin Blasts (China.org)
- Somali Dentist Helping Refugees In Oslo (UNHCR)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Governor Of Hiran Gives Updates On State Making Process For The Region
29 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 171 Words
The governors of Hiran and Middle Shabelle region will take over the responsibility of moving forward on the State-making process for the two regions.
Governor of Hiran region Yusuf Daba-geed who was among participants of the just concluded high level forum on Somalia in Turkey said the responsibility of steering the process was handed over to the two administrators and that the Federal government will only be playing an oversight role.“We have sorted out the political standoff in this process. Management of the conference has been handed over to the regional administration but the Federal government will only provide technical assistance,” said Governor Yuusuf. The Governor gave assurances over the process saying they will immediately embark on consultative meetings with all stakeholders in a bid to move the process forward.His sentiment comes days after a meeting between President of the Federal government Hassan Sheikh and Ugas Hassan Ugas Khalif in Beledweyne ended in a standoff after failing to agree on modalities of the State making process for the two regions.
Mahaday Ready To Launch Major Offensive Against Al-Shabaab
29 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 171 Words
The administration of Mahaday has vowed that they will carry out operation to advance on Al-Shabaab controlled areas in the district. Mahaday district commissioner Ahmed Hussein Afrah said his administration has unveiled new military operations to smoke out Al-Shabaab fighters. Speaking to Goobjoog News, Afrah said that the operations will be launched soon and aimed at liberating the areas controlled by the militants in the district. ‘’We are ready to drive out Al-Shabaab militants from this region. The operation and troops are ready, it could be any day,’’ he said. SNA forces will heavily rely on the support from African Union peacekeeping forces. Somali government forces backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops have captured several towns and villages from Al-Shabaab since their latest offensive but the group has since carried out deadly attacks in the country and neighbouring Kenya.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Dubai Police Help Somali Girlchild Held At Airport With Fake Papers Go Home
01 March – Source: Emirates247 – 335 Words
Dubai Police have ended the ordeal of a Somali girl child who was arrested with her mother at the Dubai International Airport.The child and her mother tried to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) on a false passport, seeking asylum there.On humanitarian grounds, Dubai Police have issued identification and official papers for the girl, in cooperation with her country’s consulate.Dubai Police also purchased a ticket for the child to return home to her grandmother in Somalia.
Brigadier Saeed Hamad Mohammed bin Sulaiman, Director of Rashidya Police Station said that airport security first transferred the mother and the girl to the police station.Brig. Sulaiman disclosed that Dubai Police tried to keep the child girl in the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC), but she was attached to her mother.“Therefore, we were forced to find another option, so we searched for the girl’s relatives inside the UAE, but unfortunately, we could not find any,” Brig. Sulaiman said.
The police then contacted her grandmother in her home country who expressed readiness to receive the girl.“Unfortunately,” he added, “the child did not have any official documents.”“So we went to the embassy and coordinated with them until we were able to issue identity papers.”The Al Rashidya station provided the child with the air ticket to travel to her grandmother.Brig. Sulaiman said that Dubai police also conducted DNA tests to confirm the child belonged to her mother.The mother came to the UAE through Dubai International Airport on a transit flight from Somalia to Bahrain and then to London’s Heathrow Airport, using a forged travel document.“The airport staff noticed that the name on the passport belonged to a boy.”
Death Toll Rises To 30 In Somalia Twin Blasts
01 March – Source: China.org – 273 Words
At least 30 people were killed and 42 others injured in twin blasts which hit popular restaurants in Baidoa town in the south-central bay region of Somalia, local officials said Monday. Mayor of Bay region Abdirashid Abdullahi told Xinhua by phone that most of the killed are civilians.”The death toll has risen to 30 with 42 others injured, the explosions took place at busy restaurants in the city,” Abdullahi said.According to the mayor the first blast was caused by a car bomb while the second was carried out by a suicide bomber, noting the troops carried out operations in the city and arrested the suspects.”We have arrested some people who we believe conducted the attacks. The troops are still launching operations in Baidoa town,” the mayor added.
Residents said troops are carrying out search operations in the city which was last night deserted for fear of more attacks. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.”Somali troops started huge operations this morning arresting many people, some of them were nabbed from their homes, and the movement of the trade in the city is very low, because commercial sites are closed.” Baidoa resident Siidow Nor told Xinhua.The blasts come after two massive explosions rocked a popular restaurant and neighboring park in Somali capital Mogadishu on Feb. 26, which killed at least 12 people and wounded nearly 30 others. The attacks were claimed by Al-Shabaab militants linked to Al-Qaida.The African Union on Monday condemned the latest terror attack in Baidoa town, with the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui calling for aggressive operations against Al-Shabaab militants to be fast-tracked.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Ali says she feels 99% Swedish. But working in Oslo – her “little Somalia”, as she calls it – is also a reminder of the obligations she feels to the people in Somalia. Whenever she visits the country she tries to work part of the time as a volunteer dentist,”
Somali Dentist Helping Refugees In Oslo
29 February – Source: UNHCR- 742 Words
On a dark and snowy afternoon in central Oslo, the Muslim call to prayer rings out in a small dental practice above a pizza restaurant. A computer issues the call automatically five times a day so patients and staff can stop to pray Many patients here have immigrant or refugee backgrounds. Some have never been to a dentist before, and they need a lot of help and education about dental hygiene.”I have days when I feel I’m making a difference, and others when I am drained,” says Amal Ali, a Swedish Somali dentist working at the practice.
When Ali’s family fled to Sweden in 1991, they hoped it would be just a brief stay until the civil war in Somalia was over.Now Ali, 29, has become one of a tiny handful of Somali Swedes to qualify as a dentist, but her route into dentistry was not easy. When she first graduated, she was the only dentist with darker skin and who wore the hijab, the Islamic headscarf.“In the beginning it was very tricky being different” she says. “But then when I opened my mouth and they heard my Swedish and Gothenburg accent, they just let it go – and we could have fun.” Sweden opened up enormous opportunities for an ambitious young woman, and by staying positive and not focusing on negative attitudes she proved that refugees can succeed. The situation for arrivals in Scandinavia is harder than 25 years ago, Ali says, but she believes they can still do the same as she did.”Try to fulfill your dreams, because you came to a country where you can. Come here with an open mind and try to use all the opportunities you can get. It is going to be a struggle, but it’s a struggle wherever you are in the world.”
TOP TWEETS
@SomaliaDirect:#Somalia‘s Lido beach: the heart of Mogadishu and the place my friends died | Abdi Latif Dahirhttp://www.theguardian.
@OCHASom:Did you know that Gu rainy season is the primary cropping season in #Somalia? Accounts for 75% of annual rainfall.
@HodanTV:Sometimes you just have to laugh at some tweets! Too many critics in the stands and not enough people in arena fighting for #Somalia
@Daudoo :Roadside bomb hit #Somalia troop’s convoy near Elasha Biyaha, just outside #Mogadishu, 1 vehicle “destroyed” resulting casualties – Witness
@Barkulanradio:Radio Bar Kulan is 6 years #STRONG today! Reliable and impartial news and information since 2010! Connecting #SOMALIA #RBK
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Some of the delegates at the AMISOM Troop and Police Contributing Countries Heads of State Summit in Djibouti, on February 28, 2016.
Photo:AMISOM/ Julian Amutuhaire