June 21, 2017 | Morning Headlines
UN: Famine In Somalia Averted, For Now
20 June – Source : VOA News – 344 Words
A senior United Nations official says famine has been averted in Somalia for now. He warns food shortages still loom and could result in a catastrophic situation if international support wanes.The United Nations reports Somalia, for now, has averted the worst but that the country remains fragile and famine continues to stalk its people.The World Food Program (WFP) country director in Somalia, Laurent Bukera, says 3.2 million people are in trouble. He says some 350,000 children are malnourished, including 70,000 severely malnourished.
Bukera says 700,000 people have fled their homes in search of food and water, and hundreds of thousands of livestock have died for lack of water and grazing land. He says more than 600 people died of cholera because they were too weak from hunger to fight off the disease.Despite the bleak picture, Bukera says aid agencies have been able to prevent the worst. Unlike 2011, when 250,000 people died of famine, he says aid agencies, supported by the international community, have managed to avert a famine.“Today, we have jumped into the window of opportunity,” he said. “We have scaled up and not necessarily responded in a reactive manner. We have an ability to sustain and to maintain the assistance as a community, but the risk of halting this assistance is dreadful. The risk of halting this is bringing us directly where we started the year into a risk of catastrophe.”
Bukera tells VOA the U.N. needs funding to continue providing people with essential relief, which has, until now, succeeded in averting famine.“At the moment, we are in need of close to $300 million for the next six months,” he said. “Without that, we will have to drop the assistance to 2.5 million people and that includes close to one million children and pregnant and lactating women.”
Key Headlines
- UN: Famine In Somalia Averted For Now (VOA News)
- Security Operations Kicks off To Nab Al-Shabaab Fighters In Lower Shabelle (Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Forces Destroy Al-Shabaab Bases In Elmadow (Garowe Online)
- Somaliland Calls For Talks With Somalia (African Business Magazine)
- Suicide Car Bomb Kills At Least 15 In Somalia (TRT World)
- Fighting Famine With The People of Somalia (Caritas)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Security Operations Kicks off To Nab Al-Shabaab Fighters In Lower Shabelle
20 June – Source : Goobjoog News – 149 Words
The local administration of Lego location in the Lower Shabelle is carrying out wide security operations in search of Al-Shabaab fighters in the locality. The Commissioner of Lego Abukar Abdullahi who spoke to Goobjoog News said the operations are aimed at against fighting with Al-Shabaab as well as illegal highway checkpoints. The general security situation has improved for the better in Lego and forces are currently engaged in operations across its surrounding areas. “Security officers have tightened their belts and the operations are well planned to eliminate all agents of insecurity.
The operation will continue for sometime and it’s going to target anyone who is threat to the general public be it Al-Shabaab and illegal checkpoint operators. Now the operation is on the outskirt of Lego’’ said Commissioner Abukar. Many illegal checkpoints are in Lower Shabelle region are manned by armed men who are attired in similar uniform with federal government soldiers.
Puntland Forces Destroy Al-Shabaab Bases In Elmadow
20 June – Source : Garowe Online – 211 Words
A military offensive carried out by forces in Somalia’s northeastern region of Puntland, was reported has successfully destroyed a base belonging to Al-Shabaab. Puntland Security Forces (PSF) launched a raid against Al-Shabaab base in Elmadow Mountain located southwest of Bosaso town, inflicting heavy losses including deaths and injuries, however, the exact casualties of the raid were not yet confirmed. “PSF conducted an anti-terror operation on Monday morning at a rebel-held areas belonging to Al-Shabaab group in Elmadow Mountain,” read a statement released by PSF on Facebook.
PSF officials said the operations were carried out according to the plan, which resulted in a complete destruction of the base and militants fleeing the area. So far Puntland government hasn’t released any conclusive statement to the anti-terror operations being carried out against Al-Shabaab group in Puntland. This coincides after recent visit by Puntland officials to military outposts in Bari region to assess the situation and boost the morale of the soldiers fighting Al-Shabaab group. Earlier this month, The terror group conducted a deadly raid against Puntland forces at Afurur outpost, killing at least 50 soldiers and civilians and injuring dozens others. Following the attack no official statement was released to confirm the causalities, but the government vowed to carry out counter offensive.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somaliland Calls For Talks With Somalia
20 June – Source : African Business Magazine – 526 Words
Somaliland wants to reopen talks with the newly elected government of Somalia on security, economic cooperation and development, according to the autonomous region’s foreign minister.Speaking at a conference in London to mark the 26th anniversary of Somaliland’s contested declaration of independence, Saad Ali Shire said that his government intends to capitalise on the February election of Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed by pushing for substantive talks on future collaboration. “We started talking to Somalia in 2012, and we’ve had a constant dialogue since then but with the exception of issues around aerospace we haven’t gone very far to achieving anything. We think the previous government were not very committed to talks. The present government says they are more serious so we hope we’ll be able to make progress.”
The neighbours have had an uneasy relationship since Somaliland’s 1991 bid for independence. Yet while Shire insists that a diplomatic offensive to win over the international community is steadily gaining support, he hopes that the issue of independence will not be an impediment to enhanced relations with Somaliland’s troubled neighbour.“Eventually we’d like to see an independent Somalia and Somaliland – two independent countries that collaborate on many issues. There are many issues that we can talk about – security, aviation, other economic issues, and cooperation on social development and health. I’d urge the international community to put pressure on the Somali government to make sure talks are productive.”
The region remains high on policymakers’ agendas following the inauguration of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who is attempting to catalyse humanitarian aid and longer-term development support while quashing the Islamist militants of Al-Shabaab. In May, the UK hosted a major international conference on Somalia attended by the Somali government and foreign donors. Shire warned that Somaliland, which did not attend the conference, was often unfairly overlooked by the international community because of its relative security and political stability.
Suicide Car Bomb Kills At Least 15 In Somalia
20 June – Source: TRT World -257 Words
At least 15 people were dead and several others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in Somalia’s capital, police said on Tuesday.Police said an explosive-laden vehicle that appeared to be a milk delivery van was detonated at the Wadajir district headquarters in Mogadishu.The death toll may rise, as some of the wounded were badly hurt in the explosion, Captain Mohamed Hussein said.Most of the dead were civilians, Hussein said. “More than 10 persons died, 20 others were wounded. The explosion destroyed the building of Wadajir District headquarters. More than 10 cars were destroyed in the explosion,” Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesman for the Mogadishu mayor, said.
The Al Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab extremist group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack via its Shahada News Agency, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant groups.The blast comes less than a week after Al Shabab gunmen carried out an overnight siege on a popular restaurant in the Somali capital, killing at least 31 people.
The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu, including hotels, military checkpoints and areas near the presidential palace.The group has vowed to step up attacks after the recently elected government launched a new military offensive against it.Al-Shabaab last year became the deadliest militant group in Africa, with more than 4,200 people killed in 2016, according to the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies.The extremist group also faces a new military push from the US after President Donald Trump approved expanded operations, including air strikes, against Al Shabab.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“During the 2011 famine, 260,000 people died in Somalia. There are fears that history will repeat itself. Caritas is focusing on simply saving lives of starving children and mothers with the money it has, but severe underfunding means that plans it has to prevent famine from spreading are on hold,”
Fighting Famine With The People of Somalia
19 June – Source : Caritas – 623 Words
Somalia is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis with 6.7 million people in need of urgent assistance as severe drought sweeps across East Africa. Caritas is able to save lives but funding means not enough can be done to prevent the food crisis from deepening . The epicentre of the food crisis is around south-central Somalia and the capital Mogadishu, where thousands of people are seeking survival in makeshift camps with unsanitary conditions. In the Shanties Dhuyuleh Internally Displaced Persons Camp, Caritas member Trócaire gives food ration cards.“We expect the situation to get quite bleak,” said Paul Healy, Somalia director of Caritas partner, Trócaire. “There are 6.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, up from 6.2 million in the past couple of months. Of these 2.5 million will be at crisis phase 5 or famine soon. Critical large-scale assistance is needed to address the crisis.”
Somalia has been struck by severe drought due to two consecutive seasons of poor rainfall. Areas such as central and southern Somalia have registered only a third of their usual seasonal rainfall this year.“There was some rain but below average in most of the country,” Healy said. “Dry conditions are persisting and most livelihoods have been compromised. The majority of animals have died.”
Among the worst-affected areas is Gedo in the south-central region of the country. Healy said most agricultural communities have lost their livestock and crops. The drought is forcing thousands of people to leave their homes while humanitarian access is limited in some areas due to activity by armed militants from Al-Shabaab and other opposition groups.“The outlook is bleaker than it was in 2001-2004 when we had the last food crisis,” he said. Healy and his team are seeing growing numbers of children and lactating mothers with severe or acute malnutrition.“There is no sign that this is going to abate or be resolved until significant rains come later in the year,” he said. “The instances of children suffering from severe or acute malnutrition has tripled in the last few months.”
Drought-related diseases, such as cholera, have also been creating huge challenges particularly when families are uprooted.“In the month of May our centre treated over 19,000 people for cholera and malnutrition,” Healy said. “We have treated 5,000 cases of cholera in the past two months.“We have managed to address the cholera – cases are down to about 80 a day to 4 or 5 admissions, except in Dolow where numbers are still fluctuating. The spread of cholera has been contained and we are managing rapid intervention very successfully.”