May 23, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Al-Shabaab Suicide Bomber Hits Somali Military Convoy: Police
22 May – Source: Reuters – 224 Words
A suicide car bomber from Somalia’s Islamist group al Shabaab hit a military convoy outside Mogadishu on Tuesday, causing an unknown number of deaths, a police officer and the group’s spokesman told Reuters. The attack targeting a passing military convoy occurred in Afgoye, a district about 30 km northwest of Mogadishu, police officer Major Abdiqadir Ali said.
“What we are sure (of) is a military vehicle was hit,” Ali said, adding there were casualties but the death toll had not yet been determined. Al-Shabaab’s military operations spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters they were responsible for the attack. The group, an ally of Al Qaeda, is fighting to topple the country’s western-backed central government and impose its rule based on its own interpretation of sharia law.
Al Shabaab also wants to force out an African Union-mandated AMISOM peacekeeping force that is helping defend the government of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. “One of our mujahideen (was) martyred after he rammed his car into a Somali military convoy,” Abu Musab said.
One military pick-up truck was destroyed while 12 soldiers were killed by the blast, he said and added that a second vehicle in the convoy was also damaged. The soldiers in the convoy were U.S.-trained Somali military commandos. Al Shabaab have targeted them on the same road several times in the past.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab Suicide Bomber Hits Somalia Military Convoy: Police (Reuters)
- Puntland Authorities Ban Civilians Travelling To Tukaraq (Hiiraan Online)
- Herders In Galgudud Restock Their Animals With Hopes Of Reviving Their Livelihoods (Radio Ergo)
- Somaliland Police Arrests 5 People Accused Of Producing Fake Passports (Halbeeg News)
- Man In Court Over Plan To Bomb Government Buildings (Daily Nation)
- OCHA Flash Update #2 – Tropical Cyclone Sagar (Relief Web)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Authorities Ban Civilians Travelling To Tukaraq
22 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 293 Words
The authorities in the semi-autonomous regional state of Puntland have issued a directive to ban civilian travel to the war zone, where Puntland and Somaliland forces are battling. Last week, hundreds of Puntland residents visited Tukaraq town, where Puntland forces and forces from breakaway Somaliland early this month were engaged in a battle. Both states in northern Somalia are amassing their forces near Tukaraq town, a move security experts say could flare up into full-blown fighting between the forces.
Puntland Parliamentary Defense Committee, in a statement directed the police to mount checkpoints in the outskirts of Garowe town to inspect vehicles from and to the town. The committee ordered the security agencies not to allow civilians to travel to Tukaraq town, which is 95 km away from the administrative capital of Puntland. “The committee directs the police not to allow private and public vehicles to move towards the frontline. The police should also stop the civilians from going to the war zone,” reads the statement.
The move comes just two days after the state declared new offensives against the breakaway Somaliland. Puntland Cabinet on Saturday announced, that Puntland state was preparing war to liberate villages and towns occupied by the Somaliland administration. Over twenty soldiers from both sides were killed and dozens wounded this month, after forces loyal to Puntland and Somaliland engaged in deadly fighting.
Somali Federal Government leaders have urged both sides to end the hostilities immediately and to engage in dialogue to resolve their dispute. Both Somaliland and Puntland have been in conflict over Sool and Sanaag regions with each claiming control. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1990, after the collapse of the country’s central government led by late Mohamed Siad Bare. Despite relative stability and commendable governance, the region has not yet got recognition from the international community.
Herders In Galgudud Restock Their Animals With Hopes Of Reviving Their Livelihoods
22 May – Source: Radio Ergo – 380 Words
Pastoralist families in Galgadud region, who lost their livestock in the drought, have started restocking their herds, bringing the livestock markets in this part of Somalia back to life. In Guriel market, Mr. Hassan Mohamud Jama sold his last remaining camel for $500. He used the money to buy 20 goats, hoping to make a fresh start for himself and his 16-member family after months of hardship. “We lost 370 goats and camels in the drought,” said Mr. Hassan, who keeps his goats at Biyo-Gaduud, 37 kilometers south of Guriel.
“Life in the rural areas is unbearable without livestock because the livestock provide us the lifeline we need including meat and milk. Now the long awaited rains have resumed, I plan to work hard and dedicate my time to re-establishing our livelihood,” he said. The family split up during the drought, after Mr. Hassan’s wife died, with eight of his children sent to stay with relatives in Guriel, earlier this year while the other children were left behind to rely on neighbours for food.
Mr. Hassan hopes to bring the family together again once the new herd starts to become productive. Livestock brokers in Dusamareeb told reporters that scores of pastoralist families have been visiting the markets to buy and sell. Mr. Mohamed Hassan Nur, a broker in Guriel, said some families are in need of quick cash to buy food. They bring their animals to the market for export or domestic sale. He estimated an average of 10 customers per day who each buy around 100 goats to stock in the rural areas. The prices of goats range from $20 to $35 in the region.
Mr. Mohamed Salaad, who lives in Benyo-ad 22 kilometers southeast of Guriel, lost 150 goats and camels in the drought. On 12 May, he sold his 10 surviving healthier goats for $380. He topped up with a $450 loan from his relative and bought 40 younger goats for $830. He plans to restock his herd. Mr. Mohamed, a father of six, told reporters, there were many destitute families roaming around the rural areas in search of people to give them livestock to restart their way of life.
Somaliland Police Arrests 5 People Accused Of Producing Fake Passports
22 May – Source: Halbeeg News – 185 Words
The police in Somaliland on Tuesday, raided several apartments in Hargeisa and arrested five people suspected of making fake passports. Officials said, police officers acting on a tip-off from members of the public, carried out the raid and arrested the five, whom they said will be arraigned in court.
Residents in the area confirmed hearing gunfire during the operations to hunt down the suspects. Witnesses said the suspects operated a firm that deals in computer graphics, where they printed fake materials including ID cards and passports. They were found with several passports and other documents, which the witnesses said would require a “hawk-eyed” individual to detect their fakeness. According to reports, the suspects were led to a police station in Kodbur neighbourhood in Hargeisa.
The police officials declined to give further details on the suspects saying investigations will be launched into their cases. Late last year, Somaliland authorities detained six people in connection with fake passports. A week later, a court in Hargeisa town has acquitted the suspects after they were found not guilty of charges leveled against them.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Man In Court Over Plan To Bomb Government Buildings
22 May – Source: Daily Nation – 273 Words
A suspected member of the Al-Shabaab terror group has been charged in the Kenyan Capital of Nairobi with planning to attack the Milimani Law Courts among other government buildings. Francis Macharia Karishu was on Tuesday arraigned before senior resident magistrate Hellen Onkwani.
He denied three counts of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and supporting a terrorist group by allegedly forging a national identity card bearing the name of Jirma Huka Galgalo, a member of the terror group who had been killed earlier. Mr Karishu was accused of plotting to carry out a terrorist act in Kenya on February 15, 2018, He was accused of assembling a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED).
During an ambush by police at Merti in Isiolo County, one suspect aboard the vehicle was shot dead while two others escaped into Somalia. Assorted weapons, including five AK 47 rifles, 36 hand grenades, and seven projecticle bombs were found in the vehicle. Mr Karishu was arrested after the police placed his photograph in the media.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In addition, the cyclone has worsened the humanitarian situation in the two states and disputed regions, which have experienced protracted drought dating back to 2015, leaving them particularly prone to flash flooding in the direct aftermath of massive downpours.”
OCHA Flash Update #2 – Tropical Cyclone Sagar
20 May – Source: Relief Web – 799 Words
On 19 May, the tropical cyclone Sagar, which had formed in the Gulf of Aden – between Yemen and Somalia made landfall in north-western Somaliland and Djibouti three days after it formed. Heavy rainfall, strong winds and dangerous flash floods that hit coastal areas of Puntland and Somaliland resulted in the loss of lives, crops and livestock as well as the destruction of property and infrastructure. In Somaliland, the largest concentration of fatalities were reported in coastal Galbeed and Awdal, where the cyclone made landfall.
Houses were destroyed, and livestock washed away. The heavy rains and subsequent flooding are hindering humanitarians’ ability to access some of the areas affected by the cyclone to assess the extent of the damage and provide assistance. In Puntland, severe weather conditions also resulted in fatalities, livestock loss and the destruction of farms, property and infrastructure including fishing boats.
Authorities and humanitarians in the two states continue to assess the damage caused by the cyclone and provide response where possible. Meanwhile, forces from Puntland and Somaliland have been engaged in an armed standoff in Sool that had displaced almost 10,000 people prior to the cyclone’s arrival, further complicating an already complex humanitarian picture. By the morning of 20 May, meteorological authorities were reporting that Sagar was beginning to weaken into a tropical depression. The tropical depression itself has remained over parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti and north-west Somaliland, about 140 kilometres from Hargeisa.
Tens of thousands of people have been affected by flooding, displacement and the destruction of infrastructure in Sagar’s wake. Due to the dispute over the regions of Sool and Sanaag and lack of access to some affected areas after the destruction of roads, the situation of affected populations and impediments caused by blocked roads and failed communications, the extent of the damage is yet to be fully confirmed. In addition, the cyclone has worsened the humanitarian situation in the two states and disputed regions, which have experienced protracted drought dating back to 2015, leaving them particularly prone to flash flooding in the direct aftermath of massive downpours.