April 27, 2016 | Morning Headlines
ISIL Claims False, AMISOM Says But Confirms IED Explosion Outside Mogadishu
26 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 220 Words
The African Union force AMISOM has denied reports that its convoy was attacked outside the capital city of Mogadishu on Monday as claimed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, ISIL in a post. AMISOM spokesperson Joe Kibet told Goobjoog News the reports were false but confirmed there was an explosion at KM 13, some 13 kilometres south west of Mogadishu.
“Our convoy had just passed some junction at KM13 when those on board heard an explosion. They turned back and established it was an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion. There were no military or civilian casualties,” said Kibet. ISIL on Monday claimed responsibility for what it said its fighters detonated a bomb targeting African Union troops on the outskirts of Mogadishu. The group celebrated the alleged attack as “the first successful onslaught on Somali soil”. A breakaway faction of Al-Shabaab led by a former UK based preacher Abdul Qadir Mumin declared allegiance to ISIL late last year but Al-Shabaab leadership purged the group in a bid to maintain its loyalty to al-Qaeda.
Meanwhile AMISOM has confirmed Al-Shabaab attempted to attack its base in Janale, Lower Shabelle on Tuesday morning but the attackers were repulsed: “Indeed there was an attempted attack on our base in Janale this morning but our forces quickly foiled the attempts. We are still gathering more information on the incident,” Kibet said. Al-Shabaab attacked the Janale base last year killing about 50 Ugandan soldiers who were based at the camp.
Key Headlines
- ISIL Claims False AMISOM Says But Confirms IED Explosion Outside Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- At Least 5 Killed 13 Others Injured In Fighting Near Baidoa (Shabelle News)
- Hand Grenade Attack Targets Somali Lawmaker House In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Army Says It Foiled Al-Shabaab Attack On Wajid Town (Shabelle News)
- Somali Army Killed 20 Terrorists (Prensa Latina)
- Kenya Agrees Security Pact With Somali Border Locals (Daily Nation)
- AMISOM Forces Will Uphold Respect For Human Rights – SRCC (AMISOM)
- Somalia Needs Urgent Aid To Avoid Famine Disaster NGOs Say (International Business Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
At Least 5 Killed, 13 Others Injured In Fighting Near Baidoa
26 April – Source: Shabelle News – 141 Words
A military officer says at least five soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in heavy fighting in southern Somalia on Tuesday, in the latest confrontation between Al-Shabaab and government troops backed by the African Union peacekeepers. The fighting broke out when heavily armed gun-toting Al-Shabaab fighters raided the Somali National Army base in Deynunay village, approximately 35 kilometers north of Baidoa, the interim capital of South West state of Somalia.
Confirming the incident, Col Ahmed Mohamed, a military commander in the area, told Radio Shabelle by phone that five SNA soldiers lost their lives in the daring attack: “The armed militants marched to SNA base in Deynunay village, prompting fierce gun battles,” said Col Ahmed. He did not disclose casualties on the AMISOM side, but residents said they saw armored vehicles evacuating wounded AU soldiers from the battle zone.
Hand Grenade Attack Targets Somali Lawmaker House In Mogadishu
26th April – Source: Goobjoog News – 110 Words
Assailants riding a tricycle rickshaw attacked the residential house of Somali lawmaker Adan Ibrahim Dawiye in Hodon district of Mogadishu on Tuesday evening. At least four security personnel of the lawmaker sustained injuries. An eyewitness told Goobjoog News that several hand grenades were thrown into the residential building of the lawmaker before the assailants managed to escape. Terrified residents in the neighborhood rushed to their homes following intense fire exchange after the attack. No group has claimed responsibility of the attack, but Al-Shabaab have previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks.
Somali Army Says It Foiled Al-Shabaab Attack On Wajid Town
26 April – Source: Shabelle News – 129 Words
Somalia’s military said on Tuesday its troops foiled a major Al-Shabaab attack targeting an army outpost in the strategic town of Wajid located in the country’s south-western Bakool region. Speaking to Radio Shabelle, Col Abdirahman Mohamed Osman known as Tima-adde, said the SNA soldiers repelled massive militants attack on Wajid, and inflicted heavy losses on the attackers.
Col Osman did not give further details about the casualty figures on both sides involved in the gunfight.Residents in the town said they heard blasts and gunfire as dozens of armed militants attacked checkpoints manned by Somali troops and military bases before troops pushed them back. On their part, Al-Shabaab claimed it attacked the Somali army and AU peacekeepers bases in the outskirts of city and killed an unspecified number of soldiers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Army Killed 20 Terrorists
26 April – Source: Prensa Latina – 136 Words
The Somali National Army today killed at least 20 terrorists during an operation in the southwest where five soldiers were also killed and three others injured, informed the local news agency. The attack was deployed by a military detachment in the military base near Baidoa town in Bay region, 250 km southwest of Mogadishu, against Al-Shabaab militants sheltering in that place, added the website of the source.
The rebels were surprised in their attempt to attack the base where the army was moving from Baidoa to reinforce other troops dislocated in the area. According to witnesses quoted by the Somali agency, the fighting lasted several hours and followed an action between the army and troops of the African Union which foiled an insurgent offensive in the southern region of Lower Shabelle.
Kenya Agrees Security Pact With Somali Border Locals
26 April – Source: Daily Nation – 236 Words
The Kenya government has launched a multipronged approach to fighting terror that will involve working with Somalia’s Marehan community. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Sunday said the initiative was adopted owing to poor flow of information, especially intelligence, that has hindered Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) operations along the Kenya-Somalia border and in their areas.
For a long time, he said, the locals have also been resisting KDF operations based on clan rivalry between the Marehan and the Ogaden.Mr Nkaissery also said that the construction of the border wall would continue but assured Somalis that it will be purely to check incursion of the Al-Shabaab terrorists and not to restrict the residents’ movements: “There will be entry points where officials from both countries will be stationed to allow free movement,” the minister said.
He spoke at a three-day joint conference of the Marehan and the Kenyan government in Westlands that was attended by three former Somali prime ministers, as well as MPs and Cabinet ministers, businessmen and scholars. Former Somali Prime Minister Said Abdi Shirdon told the meeting that the cooperation between the Somali community across the border and the Kenyan government was key in dealing with insecurity, especially terrorism, and also for development.“The conference is aimed at building trust and confidence between Marehans and the Kenyan communities along our common border and foster peace, security and development,” he said. The conference is expected to end Tuesday.
AMISOM Forces Will Uphold Respect For Human Rights – SRCC
26 April – Source: AMISOM – 378 Words
Mogadishu, April 26, 2016 – Forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are committed to complying with international Human Rights law, the Mission’s head Ambassador Francisco Madeira affirmed Tuesday.
Madeira, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) in Somalia, was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop on Human Rights and Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP) held in Mogadishu. Ambassador Madeira said upholding human rights remains central to the operations of the regional peacekeeping force and added that AMISOM has a robust mechanism to investigate any human rights violations.
Citing last week’s killing of four civilians in Bula Marer in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, the SRCC said preliminary reports indicated that prior to the incident, a car driven by civilians had defied warnings by AMISOM troops manning a roadblock in the same area to stop only to be found loaded with IEDs, AK 47 rifles, mobile phones and uniforms.In the Bula Marer incident, the soldiers, who were manning a roadblock in an operation to neutralize suspected Al-Shabaab insurgents in the area, opened fire on a speeding vehicle after it failed to adhere to repeated warnings to stop, killing its four occupants.
The SRCC said a board of inquiry had been set up to handle all incidents involving AMISOM troops, police and the Somali population: “AMISOM is open to scrutiny. We want to be as transparent as possible. If we don’t respect human rights and human life, what will be the difference between us (AMISOM) and Al-Shabaab?” he said. The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG), Raisedon Zenenga, who was also present at the ceremony, said the workshop was aimed at deepening an understanding of human rights issues and to exchange views.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Somalis have made some progress on food security, but over 65 percent of the population depends on livestock and more than 731,000 people are estimated to be severely food insecure, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.”
Somalia Needs Urgent Aid To Avoid Famine Disaster, NGOs Say
26 April – Source: International Business Times – 440 Words
Nearly two dozen non-governmental organizations working in Somalia appealed Tuesday for urgent aid to the drought-racked country. The pleas came ahead of meetings held by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva to discuss key issues on preparing and responding to the devastating impact of El Niño.
The 23 humanitarian groups called for immediate action to avoid an even worse disaster than the famine that struck Somalia between 2010 and 2012 and left more than a quarter of a million people dead, according to Agence de Presse Africaine: “At this time, we can best mitigate the impact of the drought crisis on affected populations by ensuring a concerted and collective effort from all actors (government, donors and humanitarian etc.) to avoid a repeat of the 2011 famine tragedy,” Abdikadir Mohamud, Mercy Corps Somalia country director, said in a statement issued from Nairobi.
U.N. member states were invited to partake in two consecutive panel discussions Tuesday morning as part of the world body’s Global Call for Support and Action on El Niño, which impacts rainfall patterns and temperatures around the world, but most intensely in the tropical regions of Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Some 60 million people in southern and eastern Africa are threatened by drought caused by the ongoing climate system, according to U.N. figures.
Somalia is no stranger to heatwaves, and drought is becoming more frequent and severe in parts of Africa as climate change worsens. But that, combined with this year’s El Niño, is taking a deadly toll on locals. River beds have dried up, leaving millions of farmers and herders without water to quench their crops and livestock.