21 Nov 2011 – Morning headlines
Key Headlines:
- President extends amnesty to 70 inmates in Mogadishu (Source: Radio Mogadishu SONNA SNTV)
- Somali patients in Turkey return home (Source: Radio Mogadishu)
- AU troops foil al Shabaab attacks (Source: Radio Shabelle Kulmiye)
- U.S. Special Envoy to Somalia visits Puntland (Source: Garowe Online Somaliweyn)
- Norwegian refugee council staff killed in Galka’yo (Source: Radio Bar-Kulan)
- Recent developments offer unique opportunity to consolidate security in Somalia: Council (Source: Ethiopian News Agency)
- Kenyan troops step up al Shabaab operation (Source: Africa Review)
- Ethiopian troops said to enter Somalia opening new front against militants (Source: New York Times)
- UN reports three areas in Somalia have emerged from famine (Source: UN )
- Prime Minister visits Bakara market for the first time (Source: Radio Bar-kulan Radio Mogadishu and Radio Shabelle)
- Somali embassy in Kenya donates vehicles to people with disabilities (Source: Radio Mogadishu SONNA)
- Somali Premier asks businessmen in Mogadishu to pay tax (Source: Radio Mogadishu)
- AU supports Kenyan troops joining AMISOM force (Source: Radio Bar-Kulan)
- Somali govt forces arrest a number of Islamists in capital (Source: Radio Shabelle)
SOMALI MEDIA
Prime Minister visits Bakara market for the first time
20 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Radio Mogadishu, and Radio Shabelle – 151 words
The prime minister today visited Bakaara market in Mogadishu and stopped by Hormuud communication company stall, a prominent telecommunication company.
President extends amnesty to 70 inmates in Mogadishu
20 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA, and SNTV – 126 words
The President has today pardoned more than seventy inmates, mostly civilians as a part of ongoing reforms in the Somali jail system.
Al Shabaab attack Kenyan warships on Somali coast
20 Nov – Source: Shabelle – 124 words
A group of armed al Shabaab militia on four speedboats reportedly launched a massive attack on a fleet of Kenyan naval warships, burning one the warships, according to reliable sources on Sunday.
http://shabelle.net/article.
Somali embassy in Kenya donates vehicles to people with disabilities
19 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA – 177 words
The Somali embassy in Kenya has donated money and vehicles to people with disabilities who have been victims of the war that has rocked Somalia since the withdrawal of the Somali government in the year 1991.
Ethiopian, ASWJ officials discuss Shabaab removal in central Somalia
20 Nov – Source: Diirad Online, Shabelle, and Kulmiye – 84 words
Ethiopian and Ahlu Sunna wa Jamaa officials reportedly met on Saturday in Galgudud region, central Somalia and to discuss the removal of al Shabaab from the region, reports say. http://www.diirad.com/news-in-
Somali Premier asks businessmen in Mogadishu to pay tax
20 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 125 words
Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the prime minister, who visited Bakara market for the first time, asked traders to pay tax.
Somali PM: We will take legal action against soldiers harming IDPs, aid
19 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Mareeg Online – 120 words
The Prime Minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali on his visit to one of the largest IDP camps in Mogadishu stated that the government would take action against soldiers harming internally displaced people and looting aid.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
AU supports Kenyan troops joining AMISOM force
19 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 134 words
The African Union Peace and Security Council supports Kenya’s offer to send troops to join AMISOM forces in Somalia to bolster its force protecting the embattled Somali government against Islamist rebels in Somalia.
Somali patients in Turkey return home
19 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 96 words
The Health Ministry has reported that most of patients and relatives who were receiving treatment in Turkey following the suicide attack on 4th October in Mogadishu have returned home, officials said.
TFG forces urged to stop looting aid
18 Nov – Source: Shabelle – 257 words
Officials of the Transitional Federal Government on Friday urged government to prevent soldiers from looting humanitarian aid intended to for displaced people in the capital, Mogadishu.
http://www.shabelle.net/
AU troops foil al Shabaab attacks
19 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye – 205 words
The African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces in Mogadishu on Saturday said that they have foiled attacks by Islamist rebels on their military bases in Mogadishu.
U.S. Special Envoy to Somalia visits Puntland
19 Nov – Source: Garowe Online, Somaliweyn – 210 words
A delegation led by U.S. Special Representative to Somalia, H.E. Ambassador James C. Swan, arrived Saturday in Garowe, capital of Puntland State of Somalia.
http://www.garoweonline.com/
Shabaab militias loot 75 sacks of maize from businesswoman in Jowhar
19 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 105 words
Shabaab militia in Jowhar have looted 75 sacks of maize from a businesswomen operating in Jowhar commercial market. The militants forcefully took the sacks of maize from the woman claiming that the maize was owned by WFP as the stickers had WFP seals.
Government forces repel al Shabaab attacks in Mogadishu’s Karaan district
19 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Risala – 136 words
Heavy fighting in Mogadishu’s northeast district of Karaan pitting al Shabaab and the TFG backed by AMISOM forces rekindled on Friday night. Al Shabaab extremists launched attacks on government positions in Karaan but the government forces repelled the Friday night attacks.
Norwegian refugee council staff killed in Galka’yo
19 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 102 words
A Norwegian refugee council staffer was last night killed in Gal kayo, Somala’s semi- autonomous state of punt land where he was shot several times and killed by unknown gunmen after attending evening prayers at Mohamed Rasulah mosque.
Somali govt forces arrest a number of Islamists in capital
20 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle – 172 words
A number of al Shabaab suspects have reportedly been arrested in a security operation in Deynile district, Mogadishu.
Al Shabaab fighters injured taken to Kismayo
20 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 100 words
According to reports from Lower Juba 25 members of the Shabaab militia were yesterday injured in fighting between the group and Raskamboni group augmented by the Kenyan forces in between Badade district and Kulbiyow location.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Recent developments offer unique opportunity to consolidate security in Somalia: Council
20 Nov – Source: Ethiopian News Agency – 292 words
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union said the recent developments in Somalia, in particular the forced withdrawal of al Shabaab from Mogadishu and the operation being undertaken by Kenya, offer a unique opportunity to consolidate security across Somalia.
http://www.ena.gov.et/
Video – Bullahawa town reels from al Shabaab reign
19 Nov – Source: NTV – 3:42 min
In Mandera security has been stepped at the border following frequent incursions by al Shabaab. Kenya military and Somalia’s transitional government forces are patrolling the border at several points. NTV’s Ferdinand Omondi visited the town of Bulahawa inside of Somalia and reports on the scars left behind by fleeing al Shabaab fighters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Risks and opportunties in Kenya’s intervention in Somalia
19 Nov – Source: Daily Nation – 351 words
Kenya’s decision in October to send thousands of troops in to Somalia’s Jubba Valley to wage war on al Shabaab is, without doubt, the biggest gamble the country has taken since independence to advance its security interests. In militarising its foreign policy, Nairobi is signalling a historic policy shift designed to align its geostrategic aspirations with its political, military, diplomatic and economic clout.
Kenyan troops step up al Shabaab operation
19 Nov – Source: Africa Review – 330 words
Kenyan troops have intensified their military operation in Somalia in the last five days. Speaking during the weekly briefing on the progress of Operation Linda Nchi, Military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) had made significant inroads into al Shabaab controlled areas in the last one week and thanked local Somalis for volunteering information on the militants’ possible hideouts.
Al Shabaab repelled after attempted raid
20 Nov – Source: Daily Monitor – 389 words
The battle continues. Reports have it that at least eight Kenyan soldiers have been killed by al Shabaab since the incursion into Somalia last month. Ethiopian troops are also reported to have crossed the Somali border to join the fight against the al Shabaab.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/
Police arrest 60 Shabaab suspects
19 Nov – Source: Daily Nation – 451 words
Police have arrested 60 suspected al Shabaab militants who were headed to Somalia to join the terror group being pursued by Kenya’s military. Internal Security Permanent Secretary Francis Kimemia said the militants had entered the country from Uganda en route to southern Somalia.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Ethiopian troops said to enter Somalia, opening new front against militants
20 Nov – Source: New York Times – 846 words
Witnesses along the drought-stricken Ethiopia-Somalia border reported Sunday that hundreds of Ethiopian troops had crossed into Somalia with armoured personnel carriers, heavy artillery and tanks, opening a new front in an intensifying international offensive against the Shabaab militant group.
Ethiopian troops cross into Somalia
19 Nov – Source: AFP – 260 words
Several hundred Ethiopian troops crossed on Saturday into southern and central Somalia, local elders said, but Addis Ababa dismissed the reports as “absolutely not true.”
Officials: Ethiopia may join Somalia conflict
19 Nov – Source: AP – 799 words
East African officials are considering having Ethiopian troops join the war in Somalia to create a third front against al-Qaida linked insurgents, officials said Friday, as around 400 Kenyan soldiers moved to the border to push toward a key Somali town.
Kenya: Respect law in Somalia military operations
18 Nov – Source: Human Rights Watch – 471 words
The Kenyan government should ensure that its forces in Somalia abide by the laws of war and avoid harm to civilians, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Kenyan minister of state for defense. The government should also promptly and impartially investigate recent incidents in which Kenyan forces may have violated international humanitarian or human rights law.
UN reports three areas in Somalia have emerged from famine
18 Nov – Source: UN – 360 words
The United Nations reported today that three areas in Somalia which were declared to be in a state of famine earlier this year have emerged from the dire food crisis as a result of scaled-up relief delivery, but warned that the situation remains critical for millions of people in the Horn of Africa country.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/