12 Oct 2011 – Morning headlines
Key Headlines:
- TFG officials visit recently seized areas in Mogadishu
- Al Shabaab cuts off Afgoye road
- Somali man who was behind the kidnapping of two French intelligence officers was arrested in Hargeisa
- Peacekeepers vow to push out al Shabaab remnants
- US UK forces free Italian ship from Somali pirates
- The tears of Somalia
SOMALI MEDIA
TFG officials visit recently seized areas in Mogadishu
11 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Radio Mogadishum Risaala-142 words
TFG officials have yesterday toured parts of the Somali capital, where TFG and AU troops have seized area from al Shabaab following Monday’s clashes in the north of the city. Led by state Minister for defence Mohamud Maalim Noor, the officials visited most of the areas fled by the rebel group, showing to the press defected al Shabaab fighters.
Al Shabaab cuts off Afgoye road
11 Oct- Source: Somalia report- 41 words
Al Shabaab has cut off the road leading from Mogadishu to Afgoye and Elasha Biyaha, erecting defences amid apparent concern that the pro-government offensive that saw new areas of Mogadishu taken from the insurgents could spread outside the city.
Somali man who was behind the kidnapping of two French intelligence officers was arrested in Hargeisa
11 Oct- Source: Radio Risaala, Somaliareport- 42 words
One of the kidnappers of the two French secret agents two years ago was caught in Hargeysa of Somaliland administration. The suspect was said to have been carrying large sums of money and was part of the disbanded group of Hizbul Islam.
TFG officials reach in Galgudud region for talks
11 Oct- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 132 words
Senior TFG officials along with the top senior commander of the Transitional government’s national army has spent two days of trip to talk the elders and other Somali politicians in the Galgudud region and see how the situation of the security is developing in the area.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Peacekeepers vow to push out al Shabaab remnants
11 Oct- Source: Daily Nation- 165 words
The guns thundered for the second successive day in Northern Mogadishu on Tuesday when the TFG forces and the peacekeepers serving the African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom, attacked positions at the peripheries of city held by remnants of al Shabaab, the radical group.
Instability in Somalia affecting regional tourism – Kenyan tourism minister
11 Oct- Source: Standard- 191 words
Tourism minister Najib Balala has called for intervention from the international community in war-torn Somalia as its conflict was affecting neighbouring countries. Balala told an international tourism conference in South Korea yesterday that instability in Somalia was impacting negatively on countries such as Kenya by posing security risks.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US, UK forces free Italian ship from Somali pirates
11 Oct- Source: AFP- 495 words
British and US commandos raided a hijacked Italian vessel off the coast of Somalia yesterday, capturing the pirates and freeing the carrier’s crew of 23, the Italian government said. “The vessel has been freed… thanks to the joint intervention of two ships from the United States and British navies” operating as part of NATO’s anti-piracy operations, Ocean Shield, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The tears of Somalia
12 Oct – Source: Nation News (Pakistan) – 1,089 words
Somalia is suffering from the most severe drought and famine in the last 60 years, which has already resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and endangers the lives of 750,000 more Somalis. This crisis tests the notion of civilisation and our modern values.