March 17, 2016 | Morning Headlines
KDF Kills 19 Al-Shabaab Militants, Recover Vehicle, 10 AK 47 Rifles And 3 RPGs In Lower Juba, Somalia
16 March – Source: The Standard – 632 Words
Kenya Defence Forces on Wednesday killed 19 Al-Shabaab militants in a clash in Afmadhow area, Somalia. The KDF personnel said they recovered a vehicle, 10 AK 47 rifles and three Rocket Propelled Grenades. Spokesman Col David Obonyo said the killings happened at about 10 am and that the militants had planned an attack on a camp occupied by the African Union allied forces and Somali National Army troops in Afmadhow, Lower Juba Region.
“The Al-Shabaab terrorists had approached the camp at night with the intention to attack and cut off the SNA from Amisom (KDF) camp. KDF soldiers on patrol identified the militants and engaged them in a fierce battle.” “The Al-Shabaab attempted to fight back but were swiftly repulsed by the KDF soldiers on patrol and those at the camp,” said Col Obonyo.
The statement did not indicate if there were casualties among the AMISOM troops. The incident comes two weeks after the US strike killed more than 150 al-Shabaab militants. The Pentagon said the killings happened at a training camp where a large scale attack was being planned. “We know they were going to be departing the camp and they posed an imminent threat to US and [African Union] forces,” spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said.
Mr Davis said the strike, by both drones and manned aircraft, took place on Saturday and targeted Raso Camp, a training facility about 195 kilometers north of the capital, Mogadishu. The camp had been under surveillance for some time, according to Mr Davis. “There was a sense that the operational phase was about to happen,” he said.
The Al Shabaab terror group, which is an affiliate of al-Qaeda, was pushed out of the Somali capital city of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has continued to launch frequent attacks in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government. Al-Shabaab terror attacks have been on the increase since Kenyan troops crossed to Somalia to crush the group in 2011. They have been blamed on killings of more than 500 Kenyans and left more than 1,000 others injured in separate attacks.
Key Headlines
- KDF Kills 19 Al-Shabaab Militants Recover Vehicle 10 AK 47 Rifles And 3 RPGs In Lower Juba Somalia(The Standard)
- 11 Militants Killed As Puntland Commences Clean-up Operation (Garowe Online)
- Somali President Meets Burundian Deputy President In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- MP Godah Barre: President Mohamud Is Responsible For Failed State Formation Conference (Goobjoog News)
- NUSOJ Disbanded Call For Fresh Elections (Radio Dalsan)
- African Union On Joint Efforts Against Somali Islamists (Prensa Latina)
- Bus Driver Injured In Al Shabaab Attack In Mandera Appeals For Medical Help (Daily Nation)
- Mattarella Visits Refugee Camp Leaves Message For All (ANSA Online)
- Q&A: Online Training Revives Somalia’s Mental Healthcare (Science Dev)
NATIONAL MEDIA
11 Militants Killed As Puntland Commences Clean-up Operation
16 March – Source: Garowe Online – 239 Words
Puntland troops have clashed with Al Shabaab fighters in a deadly battle in the village of Suuj in Nugal region. On Wednesday morning, Puntland Defence Forces (PDFs) in armored vehicles raided militants regrouping in hideouts near Garmaal coastal village, 80km off former pirate hub, Eyl, according to sources within the army.
According to Puntland government officials, eleven Al Shabaab fighters were killed in the ongoing clean-up operations in areas along the Indian Ocean. Speaking at a press conference in the State capital of Garowe, Information Minister Mohamud Hassan Soadde indicated that the Puntland forces had gained the upper hand in the ongoing battle. Puntland mobilized army units towards Nugal and Mudug coastal villages following Al Shabaab’s seizure of Garacad and Garmaal.
Meanwhile, the Puntland Information Minister has pledged a safe passage for militants, saying they should surrender and hand themselves in. He predicted that the anti-Al Shabaab operations could be concluded in 72 hours. On Tuesday, a senior Al Shabaab official identified as Saacid Karate delivered sermons in Garmaal, and pleaded with villagers—mainly fishermen—to cooperate with the militant group.
Somali President Meets Burundian Deputy President In Mogadishu
16 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 136 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed met with deputy President of the Burundian, Gaston Sindimwo at Villa Somalia on Wednesday. The Burundian deputy President, who will stay the country for two days, held talks with President Mohamud on the bilateral relations and security. “I am very happy to pay a visit to Somalia, where our troops under AU mission are on peacekeeping mission, I had a meeting with President Mohamud, members from the executive council and Parliament, and our discussions focused on ties between our two countries, security, and building better cooperation between our states,” said Mr. Gaston. The Somali President said he was confident that the government and people of Burundi can solve the recent political conflict in the country. Burundi has deployed 5,432 troops in Somalia, who are working under the framework African union peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
MP Godah Barre: President Mohamud Is Responsible For Failed State Formation Conference
16 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 180 Words
Somali Federal MP and former Interior minister Godah Bare has accused Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of stalling of the Middle Shabelle/Hiiraan state formation conference. In an exclusive interview with Goobjoog News, Godah said elders and people of Hiiraan boycotted the conference after the President ignored “the importance of the region”.
“As MP from the region, we tried to do our best but after we realized a conspiracy against the region we resorted to work with elders,” said the MP. The politician also directly accused the President for the disarray in the conference in Jowhar: “The President declared in public the person whom he wants to be our leader. He also wanted to name Bulla Bardethe as the capital city of the new state,” protested Barre. Federal interior minister Abdirhman Odawa is in Baladweyne to persuade elders of the region to attend the state formation conference in Jowhar. Elders of the Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle regions issued a joint statement last week vowing not to participate in the conference following what they termed “ too much interference from the government”.
NUSOJ Disbanded, Call For Fresh Elections
16 March – Source: Radio Dalsan – 214 Words
A mediation committee set up to solve the leadership wrangles among the two factions of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has called for fresh elections to restore order in the union. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the nine-member committee resolved to dismiss all the current officials of the rival factions and called for elections next week.
The spokesman of the committee Abdulkadir Mohamed Dulyar, who issued the press statement to the media, said the committee will move to the next phase in preparation for the national elections: “The committee is planning the national elections next week. We shall accordingly invite delegates and representatives from all the regions of the country and we will share progress reports on this process with the media.”
Dulyar added that legitimate media practitioners across the country will take part in the decision-making process meant to restore the National Union of Journalists in Mogadishu. The committee has also urged the federal government to avoid any contact with the two leaders of the factions involved in the NUSOJ leadership dispute, Omar Faruk Osman and Mohamed Ibrahim Pakistan. Somali Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA) has welcomed the new development and called for transparent elections.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
African Union On Joint Efforts Against Somali Islamists
16 March – Source: Prensa Latina – 169 Words
The head of the Mission of the African Union (AU) in Somalia (Amisom), Francisco Madeira, today celebrated the recent agreement between his organization and the local government in the fight against the Islamic group Al-Shabab. In a meeting on Monday with the Somali President, Sheikh Hassan Mahmoud, both sides agreed to fight extremists positioned in the Shabelle central region.
The agreement will help to increase the logistical support, coordination of operations, as well as the improvement of equipment and training for the Somali armed forces. Somali Foreign Minister Abdisalam Omer, who presided over the meeting, confirmed the commitment of the Somali government to cooperate with other African nations to eliminate terrorist elements and return peace to Somalia.
The meeting also included Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Defense from Uganda, Burundi, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, who discussed the best ways to empower the military in Somalia and the region in general.Nigerian Minister of Defense Mansur Dan Ali announced that Nigeria would send also troops to help expel Islamic militants.
Bus Driver Injured In Al Shabaab Attack In Mandera Appeals For Medical Help
16 March – Source: Daily Nation – 502 Words
The driver of a bus that was attacked by Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera in December 2015 is appealing for financial assistance to treat his gunshot wounds. Mr Farah Shukri, a bus driver with the Makkah company, whose vehicle was attacked by militants on December 21, 2015 in Mandera County, sustained bullet injuries in his left leg and now needs urgent medical attention.
“I was behind the wheel when Al-Shabaab attacked my bus between Kotulo and Borehole 11. They shot me in the left ankle, which has kept on swelling since then,” said Mr Shukri. He said a tetanus jab was administered on him when he was taken to Elwak Sub-County Hospital and since then he has been unable to get better medical care.
“I have kept on driving on the same road despite my medical condition because I have to feed my family and pay school fees with the little pay, which cannot afford me better medication,” said Mr Shukri. He said the company he works for does not provide medical cover, adding that he would appreciate any support for his treatment.
“I have a feeling the bullet is lodged in my ankle more than three months after the incident, but it will be proved by a good medical examination,” said Mr Shukri. Mr Shukri was among Muslims who shielded Christians when the bus was attacked by Al-Shabaab militants by declining to be separated along religious lines.
Mattarella Visits Refugee Camp, Leaves Message For All
16 March – Source: ANSA Online – 97 Words
President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday made the first-ever visit by an Italian head of State to a refugee camp, the Gambella camp on Ethiopia’s border with South Sudan. “Visiting this camp with the children who greeted the motorcade and (others) dancing in this school is a message that strikes you: Ethiopia is in difficulty and yet it does not leave those who seek help without help,” he said while visiting a school inside the camp. Sharing borders with Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Eritrea which are grappling with conflicts, Ethiopia has been hosting refugees since the 1990s.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“I think Somalia is a typical example of a failed state and shows how to establish a health system again in a fragile state. And this could be used in other countries that have had similar experiences. There is room for improvement, and let us all be optimistic for a better world” – Dr Djibril Handuleh
Q&A: Online Training Revives Somalia’s Mental Healthcare
16 March – Source: Science Dev – 1,296 Words
In countries affected by conflict and political volatility, mental health problems are often serious and complex but poorly supported by public health services. Take Somalia. Here trauma is common, and illnesses such as depression — often caused or exacerbated by poverty — are widespread after decades of civil war, instability and (more recently) terrorism. The WHO estimates that 1-in-3 Somalis have been affected by a mental illness at some point in their lives.
War and poverty have decimated the country’s health sector. Services and research in mental health fare even worse: Somalia has only a handful of trained psychiatrists. In this interview, we speak to Djibril Handuleh, a Somali doctor and mental health researcher working in Somaliland, a self-declared state in northwest Somalia, and member of the King’s Centre for Global Health in the United Kingdom.
Handuleh is active in using information and communications technologies (ICTs) as a cheap, effective way of training health workers in an impoverished nation where medical infrastructure is weak and opportunities for postgraduate training almost non-existent. He explains how training programmes can use technology to draw on regional and global expertise and develop robust, evidence-based systems of care.
Q: What kind of mental health issues do people tend to be affected by in Somalia, and what is the capacity in terms of mental health support?
A: The main issues people in Somaliland face are those like post-traumatic stress disorder and substance misuse, as well as others that are closer to issues experienced in the rest of Somalia: depression, psychosis and so on.The basic reality in this country is that the institutions are now building up after 25 years of conflict. The capacity [we have] now is just to train nurses and medical doctors. Postgraduate training is not yet established: those who want to study [mental health] have to go elsewhere and specialise in their respective fields.
Q: Could you tell us more about your research on the training of mental health workers in Somalia?
Currently my research looks at the use of ICTs in mental health education. Because of poor access to mental health services, we need to train general healthcare workers to treat patients. Using local broadband internet, it’s possible to connect a supervisor to a practising physician or nurse based elsewhere, and then the supervisor can teach the nurse how to assess the patient, run a management plan and so on. The people doing the training can be in the country, in the region — wherever they work. This system has been used in other fragile states like Palestine and Sierra Leone.