December 19, 2017 | Morning Headlines
US Forces Kill Eight In Somalia Strike
19 December – Source: Daily Mail – 128 Words
US forces in Somalia have carried out another air strike against Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militants, killing eight, military officials said Monday. The December 15 strike occurred about 30 miles (50 kilometers) outside the southern coastal city of Kismayo, the US military’s Africa Command said in a statement. “We assess no civilians were killed in the strike,” the statement read.
The Al-Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow successive internationally backed governments in Mogadishu since 2007 and frequently deploys car and truck bombs against military, government and civilian targets. The United States which supports Somalia’s fledgling army as well as carrying out its own operations against the Shabaab and a separate self-proclaimed Islamic State group in the north of the country has increased the frequency of airstrikes targeting jihadist leaders.
Key Headlines
- US Forces Kill Eight In Somalia Strike (Daily Mail)
- Minister Islow: No Meeting Can Take Place Without A Permit (Goobjoog News)
- MP Abdisabir Denies Attorney General’s Claims As Baseless (Shabelle Media)
- Somali President Vows Extra Efforts After U.S. Suspends Aid To Military (Reuters)
- Canada To Give $10.4M In Humanitarian Assistance To Somalia (Radio Canada International)
- Aamin Ambulance Offers Free First Aid In Response To Terror Attacks In Mogadishu (Capital News)
- Somalia’s First Post-civil War Memorial Could Be Erected To The Victims Of Its Deadliest Ever Attack (Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Minister Islow: No Meeting Can Take Place Without A Permit
18 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 146 Words
Federal security minister Mohamed Abukar Islow has announced today that no gathering of people can take place without prior arrangement with his ministry or Banaadir administration to secure a permit. Briefing the media on the arrest of Abdirahman Abdishakur, he categorically stated the illegality of holding a meeting without having a permit. “We want to make clear here that no meeting can take place without a permission. It can be done only by getting a permit from the security ministry or the Banadir administration” he said.
The minister called on the public to be humble in following orders especially from government officials or the security agents and to be cooperative with them. “We request from the Somali people to work with the security organs. Similarly to be in submissive to the security officers and follow orders or laws released by the attorney general” added Minister Islow.
MP Abdisabir Denies Attorney General’s Claims As Baseless
18 December – Source: Shabelle Media – 119 Words
Abdisabir Nur Shuriye, a member of Somalia’s House of the People of the Federal Parliament has distanced himself from treason charges by the Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir. Shuriye denied Dahir’s claims as a baseless and politically motivated move. On Sunday, Somalia’s Attorney General Dr. Ahmed Ali Dahir said that his office seeks charges against two lawmakers who are accused of conspiring against the state and asked for the Somali Parliament to strip their immunity.
The two MPs, Hassan Moalim Mohamud and Abdisabir Nur Shuriye had been accused of receiving funds from foreign countries to oust the current Federal government. The Attorney General has also requested from the parliament to strip immunity from lawmakers accused of treason for prosecution.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali President Vows Extra Efforts After U.S. Suspends Aid To Military
18 December – Source: Reuters – 271 Words
The government of Somalia will do all it can to pay salaries and buy equipment for its soldiers as it begins to lose international support, the country’s president said on Monday. The statement came several days after Reuters reported that the United States was suspending food and fuel aid for most of Somalia’s armed forces over corruption concerns. That announcement was a blow to the military, who will begin losing the support of African peacekeepers when they start to withdraw this month. Islamist insurgents are striking with ever-larger and more deadly attacks in the capital and major towns.
“I hereby certify that if a thing is halted, as a government we shall put effort five hundred percent so that the suspension does not affect anyone, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said in an address to military officials at the defence ministry that was broadcast on local radio. “Whether it is salary or equipment, the government will bring what it can, he said. “I am telling you that we should depend on ourselves. We thank the foreigners who were supporting us. If they mentioned criticism, we are required to rectify.”
The president did not mention a specific donor’s support, but added: “If you have someone who is ready to lend you a hand, you have to avoid things that can bring suspicion.” Reuters reported that the U.S. has grown frustrated that successive governments have failed to build a capable national army. Documents seen by Reuters paint a stark picture of a military hollowed out by corruption, unable to feed, pay or arm its soldiers, despite hundreds of millions of dollars of support.
Canada To Give $10.4M In Humanitarian Assistance To Somalia
18 December – Source: Radio Canada International – 270 Words
Canada will provide $10.4 million for humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities in Somalia struggling to cope with consecutive seasons of poor rainfall and water shortages that have resulted in near total crop failures, federal officials announced Friday. According to United Nations, more than three million Somalis cannot meet their daily food requirements and require urgent humanitarian assistance, with 800,000 of them on the brink of famine.
An estimated 388,000 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, including 87,000 who are severely malnourished and face a high risk of disease and death, according to the World Food Programme. In addition to draught and other natural disasters, Somalia faces the effects of nearly three decades of conflict and insecurity. “While Somalia has taken great steps in recent years toward peace and stability, the country remains vulnerable to both natural disasters and conflict,” Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen, a former Somali refugee, said in a statement.
“Canada stands in solidarity with Somalia and the millions of Somalis requiring humanitarian assistance in the face of drought and insecurity.” The new funding will be allocated to the World Food Programme ($5.25 million), UNICEF ($2.5 million), the United Nations Development Programme ($1.7 million) and the American Refugee Committee ($950,000), officials said. Since 2015, Canada has allocated $89.3 million to address drought- and conflict-related humanitarian needs in Somalia, according to Global Affairs Canada.
Aamin Ambulance Offers Free First Aid In Response To Terror Attacks In Mogadishu
18 December – Source: Capital News – 560 Words
Mogadishu based medical emergency service provider Aamin Ambulance Service has launched a free first aid training in Mogadishu to train the citizens on first aid and emergency response. Aamin is further seeking partnerships with corporates and International nongovernmental institutions in its mission to ensure that more people are trained to respond to emergencies that look to be common in the country which has been facing internal strife for three decades.
Already Aamin has in collaboration with the ministry of Education initiated a joint collaboration on first aid and emergency response training in schools and universities in Banadir region. Chairperson and founder of the ambulance service Abdirahman Abdikadir, stated that the students play a pivotal role in the society and it is important they are equipped with knowledge of how to handle emergencies.
In the programme the educational institutions will be provided with the phone contacts of the ambulance provider for easy communication any time their service is needed. First aid and emergency kits will also be offers for free. “Most of our financial supporters are teachers and students especially those in the tertiary level. Now we have the ministry as our partners and we are grateful to help them the way we can,” he stated.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Degan’s vision of the site, which he has called “Oct. 14,” is rooted in the semblance of peace that has enveloped Somalia in recent years. As open fighting has subsided, Somalis in the diaspora are coming back, establishing businesses and taking part in major development projects,”
Somalia’s First Post-civil War Memorial Could Be Erected To The Victims Of Its Deadliest Ever Attack
18 December – Source: Quartz Africa – 517 Words
It’s been two months since a deadly blast ripped through a busy intersection in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing more than 500 people and injuring over 300. The Oct. 14 truck bombing, the deadliest attack in Somalia’s history, turned buildings into heaps of debris and death, and left Somalis across the world stunned and frustrated. The country is now considering dedicating its first memorial since the start of the Somali civil war in 1991 to the victims of the bombing. Italian-born Somali architect Omar Degan’s proposed design imagines an open, gravel-filled space marked with large rectangular shapes representing each victim.
Surrounded by plants and blocks of concrete, the central feature of the landmark would be two walls inscribed with the names of the 512 people who died. A third wall in the middle would detail what transpired on the day of the attack. Degan, 27, specializes in emergency architecture, which deals with rebuilding communities affected by disasters, conflict, and poverty. He thought about designing a memorial immediately after the attack. At the time, he was in Nairobi and about to embark on his first trip back to Somalia since his parents left the country.
In a country where deadly terrorist attacks are the norm, talking about the trauma of war or the unseen wounds of violence has often proven difficult. Despite the fact that Somalia’s gruesome war, which only ended in 2011, has shaped the country, there is nothing that pays homage to the war’s victims. And most of the monuments erected by the former dictator Siad Barre’s government in the 1970s and 1980s have been stolen or destroyed, while only a few, like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, have been renovated.
Degan wanted to do something that would make Somalis reflect. “We have enough of these tragedies but at the same time, we need to remember this event strongly and go forward,” Degan told Quartz. The memorial, he added, “obliges the visitors to walk and feel the pain somehow.”