October 17, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Take Part In Suicide Missions Instead Of Sending Foot Soldiers, Former Shabaab Leader Tells Group
16 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 201 Words
Former Al-Shabaab leader Mukhtar Robow has dared the group’s leaders to participate in suicide missions instead of sending their foot soldiers if they hold true to their convictions. Reacting to Saturday’s terror attack which has so far claimed 276 lives and more than 60 others still missing, Robow condemned the attack and urged Al-Shabaab adherents to desist from their actions. “To young suicide bombers, you have the repentance doors open now before it is too late. If your mission is correct then let your leaders or their sons come and carry out the action,” said visibly angry Robow after donating blood in Mogadishu.
Robow who surrendered to government in August after falling out with Al-Shabaab in 2013 described the Saturday attack as horrendous adding the group was responsible for the attack though it is yet to claim responsibility. “What happened here was barbaric massacre and I cannot be comprehended. I told them about 10 years ago you guys stop this [suicide bombs] in the country. They fought me. Same happened in Shamow hotel, Skins and Hides factory, a mosque in Bakara market. This is not the way to heaven,” said Robow. Al-Shabaab has remained muted despite claiming credit in previous attacks.
Key Headlines
- Take Part In Suicide Missions Instead Of Sending Foot Soldiers Former Shabaab Leader Tells Group (Goobjoog News)
- 15 Primary School Children In A Bus Perished In Saturday Terror Attack (Goobjoog News)
- Eiffel Tower To Dim Lights For Mogadishu Victims (Garowe Online)
- Hope Fades As Mogadishu Residents Seek Missing Loved Ones (Daily Mail)
- Al Shabab Silence Suggests Miscalculation Over Mogadishu Bombing (The National)
- How Technology Helped Save Lives Right After Somalia’s Deadliest Attack Ever (The Quartz)
NATIONAL MEDIA
15 Primary School Children In A Bus Perished In Saturday Terror Attack
16 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 149 Words
A school bus carrying 15 primary school children Saturday afternoon was trapped in the deadly bomb explosion killing all the children, medical sources have said. Aamin Ambulance which has been operating round the clock ferrying the injured to various hospitals and transporting the dead told Goobjoog News the children whose school is yet to be identified perished in the attack.“I can confirm to you that all the 15 primary school children who were in a bus heading home were killed,” said Dr. Abdulkadir Aden.
The explosion which has been described as the deadliest ever has so far claimed 276 lives and destroyed property running into millions of dollars. More than 300 people were injured while 40 others were airlifted to Turkey Monday for further treatment. Pictures from the scene showed mangled wreckage of vehicles while in some, passengers were trapped inside as fire consumed buildings in massive scale.
Eiffel Tower To Dim Lights For Mogadishu Victims
16 October – Source: Garowe Online – 99 Words
The Eiffel Tower will dim its lights in solidarity with Somalia and in mourning for more than 300 people killed in the country’s deadliest-ever attack. The tower management tweeted Monday: “I will turn myself off at midnight to pay homage to the victims of the Mogadishu attack.” Normally the Paris monument stays lit later into the night. The Paris mayor has increasingly asked the tower to dim its sparkling lights to honor victims of extremist attacks around the world. Somalia’s government is blaming Saturday’s truck bombing on the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab, Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group, which has not commented.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Hope Fades As Mogadishu Residents Seek Missing Loved Ones
16 October – Source: Daily Mail – 714 Words
Tears streamed down Abduweli Osman’s cheeks as he stood in the sticky heat outside a Mogadishu hospital, his last stop in the search for his brother who he now believed was dead. The last he and his family heard, Abdukadir Ahmed had decided to pass by a popular commercial district in the Somali capital on Saturday known as KM5, before heading home. But he never arrived. Instead, there came news that the area had been flattened by a truck bomb.
In addition to inflicting a toll that would rise to 276 dead and 300 injured, the blast destroyed some 20 buildings, including a hotel, restaurant and pharmacy, and incinerated the stores of street vendors selling fruit and jerricans of fuel that only intensified the blaze. Like dozens of devastated residents of the capital, Osman went from hospital to hospital to search for his relative, before finally giving up hope.
“For the last 24 hours we have been looking for my brother … and finally we are convinced he is dead because we found his student ID card,” he said. “It is painful when you simply lose someone you love in a tragedy and you don’t even get his dead body to provide proper burial,” sobbed the grocer, who is in his thirties. Inside the hospital is overcrowded, with visitors using handheld fans to cool themselves as they rush between wards, or huddle around injured loved ones suffering burns, shrapnel wounds and broken bones.
Al Shabab Silence Suggests Miscalculation Over Mogadishu Bombing
16 October – Source: The National – 518 Words
Somalia’s Al Shabab militants are suspected of carrying out the lorry bombing that killed more than 300 people in Mogadishu on Saturday, even though the extremist group has been uncharacteristically silent after the attack.
Al Shabab, whose name translates as “the youth”, controlled most of the Somali capital before being forced out by an African Union (AU) force in 2011 and is believed to have had about 9,000 fighters at its peak. Diminished since then by the AU’s continuing campaign, US air strikes and internal divisions, the group has still managed to stage frequent attacks in Mogadishu, although none on the scale of Saturday’s bombing.
Although it has not claimed responsibility, the attack was probably an attempt by the group to take advantage of recent political instability that has left the UN-backed government more vulnerable than it has been in years. The political rift originates from differences between some Somali regions and the central government over the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt over allegations that Doha supports terrorism.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Plagued by violence for decades, Somalia was one of the last countries in the world to go online in 1999. Since then, the country has become a global leader in mobile money and leapfrogged on its way to becoming a cashless society. Internet penetration, however, remains low with less than 2% of the entire Somali population having access to the internet.”
How Technology Helped Save Lives Right After Somalia’s Deadliest Attack Ever
16 October – Source: Quartz Africa – 717 Words
Over 300 people were killed and more than 300 others injured when a truck exploded on Saturday (Oct. 14) at a busy intersection in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The bombing, the single deadliest attack in Somalia’s history, shook the nation and reverberated around the world. Collapsed buildings, burned out cars, and body parts lay strewn at the K5 junction, while a huge plume of smoke rose. Journalists, doctors, humanitarian workers, a Somali father of three from Bloomington, Minnesota, and even a doctor who was due to graduate this week, are among those killed when the bomb was detonated.
And though the exact target of the attack remains unclear and no one has taken responsibility, the blast “severely damaged” the Qatari diplomatic mission in Mogadishu and a hotel frequented by government officials and diaspora visitors. The Horn of Africa nation is currently facing a “national disaster,” with president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo announcing three days of mourning and ordering flags to fly at half mast.
Yet, amid the chaos, the country’s nascent tech sector has stepped in to help in the relief efforts. Young Somalis, both in and out of the country, have been using social media sites to track and identify dead or missing people, share the names and locations of those injured, appeal for global attention, and seek financial support. These grassroots, tech-based initiatives have come in handy in a country still reeling from the effects of over a two-decade war.
“Technology can help save lives, especially in a country like Somalia,” says Stockholm-based Abdi Addow, who established a 100,000 Swedish krona ($12,300) GoFundMe campaign on behalf of Aamin Ambulance, a fleet of secondhand ambulances considered Somalia’s only free ambulance service. Addow previously co-founded Caawi Walaal (“help a brother or sister” in Somali) and Abaaraha (“drought” in Somali), two platforms that were dedicated to mapping and reaching Somalis affected by drought. Addow says they chose to support Aamin because “they are helping thousands who are in a difficult situation. Helping Aamin Ambulance is a huge investment.”
Plagued by violence for decades, Somalia was one of the last countries in the world to go online in 1999. Since then, the country has become a global leader in mobile money and leapfrogged on its way to becoming a cashless society. Internet penetration, however, remains low with less than 2% of the entire Somali population having access to the internet. Social media use has however increased, with the government and ordinary citizens all using Twitter and Facebook for discussions, self-promotion, and campaigning.
The downside, of course, is that al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab has also been using social networking sites like YouTube and Twitter to promote its messages and live-blog about attacks—only to have Twitter suspend its accounts. On Twitter and Facebook, Gurmad252 (meaning “support” or “backup” in Somali along with the country code) sprang to help search and identify victims, coordinate relief and blood donation efforts, and spread the word about the latest government directives.