May 7, 2018 | Morning Headlines

Somali Military Kills Three Al-Shabaab Fighters in Bay Region

06 May – Source: Hallbeeg News – 228 Words

Three Al-Shabaab fighters were killed and several others wounded in battle with Somali National Army (SNA) troops in Bay region. The fighting took place on Sunday along Baidoa-Daynunay roads after Al-Shabaab fighters attempted to carry out  ambush attack on aan SNA convoy heading to Daynunay village. Mohamed Edin Aliyow, SNA military officer who spoke to the media, said the soldiers came under attack  from armed Al-Shabaab fighters.

He pointed out that the fighting lasted for about half an hour leading to casualties on both sides. He noted Al-Shabaab fighters fled after soldiers repelled the attack. “Al-Shabaab tried to ambush Somali Defense Force convoy heading to Daynunay village, prompting heavy fighting which lasted for 30 minutes. The forces killed several Al-Shabaab fighters and more were injured. After their ambush was foiled, they fled the area leaving behind three bodies of their fighters,” said Aliyow. The officer confirmed that Somali forces also lost three soldiers in the fight.

The attack comes just a week after SNA started operations in some villages of Bay region. Military officials, who were leading the operations, said the forces will recover villages in the region from Al-Shabaab fighters. The Federal Government of Somali has declared war on Al-Shabaab early this year as it initiates plans to take over the security responsibility from African Union Mission in Somalia  (AMISOM) before their mandate comes to an end in 2020.

Key Headlines

• Somali Military Kills Three Al-Shabaab Fighters in Bay Region (Halbeeg News)
• UN Expert Calls For End Of Child Soldiers In Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
• Delegation Led by Somali Deputy PM Reach Flood-hit Bardhere Town (Halbeeg News)
• Despite Violence Somalia Eyes A Clean Energy Future – UN (The Star Kenya)
• Uhuru Says Kenya Cannot Be Safe If Somalia Is Unstable (Daily Nation)

NATIONAL MEDIA

UN Expert Calls For End Of Child Soldiers In Somalia

05 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 264 Words

A UN expert has called for an end to the use of minors in armed conflict in Somalia. Agencies to protect children have severally accused Al-Shabaab militant group of forcefully recruiting children. The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, in a statement called for the protection of all children in Somalia to prevent them from getting involved in armed conflict. “The abduction of children by Al-Shabaab group, their recruitment and use by government security forces in the armed conflict constitute a grave violation of the children’s rights,” Nyanduga said.

The expert also called on the government to build rehabilitation centres to address the plight of children associated with Al-Shabaab. Nyanduga commended Somali government for measures taken so far to rehabilitate children in combat and for recognizing that such children were victims. In January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Al-Shabaab militant group of recruiting more children to fight in their ranks.

In a report, HRW said the terrorist group has been stepping up recruitment drive since September last year. The militants ordered elders and community leaders to provide hundreds of children. “Al-Shabaab’s ruthless recruitment campaign is taking rural children from their parents so they can serve the militant armed group,” Laetitia Bader, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. “To escape that cruel fate, many children have fled school or their homes,” she added. HRW called on Somali government, with the help of international donors, to identify Al-Shabaab recruitment drives, including their location, scale, and use of educational institutions and use that information to inform protective measures.

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Delegation Led by Somali Deputy PM Reach Flood-hit Bardhere Town

06 May – Source: Hallbeeg News – 166 Words

A delegation led by Somali Deputy Prime Minister, Mahdi Mohamed Guled, arrived in Bardhere town to assess the damage caused by floods. Bardhere town in Gedo region has been inundated with heavy floods after River Jubba broke its banks. Guled who is the chairperson of Flood Respond Committee is scheduled to hold talks with the local authorities and residents.

The delegation is expected to visit areas damaged by the heavy floods. The visit of the delegation comes barely a day after crocodile attacks were reported in the town, where a man was allegedly attacked while wading through the flooded waters. The crocodiles are swimming upstream into the flooded areas of the town. A number of crocodiles were spotted this week when River Jubba broke its banks, sweeping villages on the away of Bardhere town. At least 7 people, including four children, have been killed by floods and another 200,000 have been displaced by heavy rains in several parts of the country.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Despite Violence, Somalia Eyes A Clean Energy Future – UN

05 May – Source: The Star, Kenya – 612 Words

Providing clean energy to Somalis, including those uprooted from their homes in the conflict-torn country, could both improve lives there and provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs, the U.N. envoy to Somalia said. Despite persistent violence, Somalia is “slowly sorting its problems out”, with efforts underway to rebuild the state, raise more tax revenue and improve security, said Michael Keating, the highest United Nations official in the Horn of Africa nation. “That image of Somalia that is dominated by bombs and hunger is really out of date,” Keating said on the sidelines of a conference on energy access in Lisbon this week. “The issue is: How can energy contribute to moving the country forward?”

As the population grows, climate change and environmental degradation are contributing to the “many problems” faced by Somalis, who are competing for natural resources such as land, wood and water, Keating said. That, in turn, is fuelling tensions. “People are drifting into cities where they can’t sustain themselves,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“Kenya is very much committed to Amisom and has used every opportunity to canvass with development partners not to cutback their assistance.”The President did this as late as last month at a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the margins of the Commonwealth summit,”

Uhuru Says Kenya Cannot Be Safe If Somalia Is Unstable

06 May – Source: Daily Nation – 1411 Words

The Kenyan government has warned that the activities of foreign powers seeking to undermine the government in Mogadishu are a threat to regional security. In what appears to be renewed efforts to support the administration of President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo”, Kenya last week took an indirect jab at countries engaged in military or trade deals with Somaliland and Puntland, arguing such agreements could weaken the government in Somalia.

It was Kenya’s first direct comment on a raging battle between Gulf powers, led by the United Arab Emirates, which have engaged in a series of manoeuvres aimed at weakening the Farmajo administration. Officials who spoke to the Sunday Nation say Kenya wants international partners to focus on direct engagement with Mogadishu and support the role of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) in its efforts to train Somalia’s security forces.

The first hint of the message was delivered last week when President Uhuru Kenyatta suggested some foreign entities were damaging the foundation Amisom had laid in Somalia. “The region is not at peace. Somalia remains troubled, largely by foreign agents who weaken its government, who divide its people, and who threaten to reverse the gains we have so painfully won under Amisom,” he said in his State of the Nation address on Wednesday. “Through it all, we remember that if our brothers and sisters in Somalia prosper, we prosper; if they are safe, so are we. “It has been our policy, then, to help them regain the peace and prosperity they once knew.”

The clash between Gulf powers in Somalia is an extension of a battle pitting Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain on the one hand and Qatar and Turkey on the other. The Saudi bloc imposed a blockade on Qatar last year and embarked on a lobbying campaign to force countries to align with its decision.

Somalia was one of the targets of this effort but the Farmajo government decided to remain neutral. This triggered a series of clashes with the UAE in particular. The Emiratis have sought to cultivate direct ties with Somaliland and Puntland and reach deals with them for management of ports and security training initiatives, which are seen as undermining the government in Mogadishu.