June 5, 2018 | Morning Headlines
US Says Airstrike In Somalia Kills 27 Al-Shabaab Extremists
04 June – Source: Washington Post – 109 Words
The U.S. military says it has carried out an airstrike in northern Somalia that killed 27 Al-Shabaab extremists. The statement issued Monday by the U.S. Africa Command said it assesses that no civilians were killed in the attack on Sunday about 26 miles southwest of Bosasso, the commercial capital of the semi-autonomous Puntland state.
The area has recently seen attacks on local forces by extremists aligned with the Islamic State group. The Trump administration approved expanded military operations against extremists in Somalia, including al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida and was blamed for the truck bombing in Mogadishu in October that killed more than 500 people.
Key Headlines
- US Says Airstrike In Somalia Kills 27 Al-Shabab Extremists (Washington Post)
- Al-Shabaab Kills Six Traders Burns 11 Trucks In Bakool Region (Hiiraan Online)
- Ex-Al-Shabaab Leader Robow In First Flight Out Of Country Since Defection (Radio Dalsan)
- Somalia Eyes December Date For New Constitution (The East African)
- 49 Killed 70 Others Still Missing After Tropical Cyclone in Somaliland (Xinhua)
- Somalia Still Not For The Fainthearted (The Observer)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Kills Six Traders, Burns 11 Trucks In Bakool Region
04 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 251 Words
Al-Shabaab militant group on Sunday killed six traders and burnt eleven trucks which were carrying commercial goods destined for Hudur town, the headquarters of Bakool region in Southwestern Somalia, a local official said. Deputy Governor of Hiiraan region, Abdirahman Mohamed Takoy, accused the militants of killing six local traders, who were transporting goods to Hudur town. The incident happened at Qura’a-Jome village, which is under the control of Al-Shabaab militants. “Al-Shabaab seized eleven trucks heading to Hudur town. They killed six traders and burnt the vehicles together with the commodities,” said Mr Takoy. “The trucks left from this town to Beledweyne town in Hiiraan region.”
It is said that the trucks belonged to individuals living in Beledweyne town and were used for business. In March, Al-Shabaab fighters shot and killed nine transport donkeys ferrying goods to government-controlled areas in Bakool region. The militants burnt the goods at Elboon town, 15 kilometres west of Wajid town. Al-Shabaab militants have isolated Wajid, Hudur and many other towns in Bakool, from other towns in the country, and have been blocking humanitarian assistance from reaching the vulnerable populations living there.
The Somali army, alongside the African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia, has been battling Al-Shabaab militants, which still controls rural areas in southern Somalia, and often attack military and civilian targets in the country. The Somali government and African Union Mission (AMISOM) have vowed to end the siege but, several towns in Bakool, Bay, Galgudud and Hiiraan regions continue to be surrounded by the militants.
Ex-Al-Shabaab Leader Robow In First Flight Out Of Country Since Defection
04 June – Source: Radio Dalsan – 146 Words
Former Somali militant group Al-Shabaab deputy leader Mukhtar Ali Robow made his first flight out of the country since defection on Monday evening, Radio Dalsan reports. Robow, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mansoor was spotted at the VIP section of the Aden Abdulle International Airport in the capital Mogadishu waiting to board a Jubba Airlines flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
An aide of the former militant confirmed to Radio Dalsan that Robow will be in Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah or Lesser Hajj. Robow defected to the government and denounced Al-Shabaab on August 13, 2017. It is most likely that Robow has not left the boundaries of Somalia since the ousting of the Islamic Courts Union from Mogadishu in December 2006 12 years ago. In June 2017 US removed Robow from it’s most wanted terrorists’ list allowing him to travel out of Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Eyes December Date For New Constitution
04 June – Source: The East African – 193 Words
Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo hopes to deliver a new constitution by the end of this year, but this could prove a major undertaking. Though the review timetable expects the new document to be ready by the end of 2019, President Farmajo, who came to power in February 2017 with a new constitution as one of his three key promises, is determined to complete the process ahead of schedule.
The country recently convened the first constitutional review conference in Mogadishu since the process started in Djibouti in 2000 to set up a roadmap for the review process. The constitutional review, into which the government has pumped $3 million, should be completed before 2020 when the country is expected to hold its first elections with universal suffrage since the 1980s. The three-day national constitutional convention was attended by 350 delegates, among them, MPs, religious leaders and representatives from federal member states and civil society.
The new constitution is expected to address a number of unresolved constitutional issues such the future status of Mogadishu, the structure of the Executive and the sharing of power and resources between the federal government and the federal member states.
49 Killed, 70 Others Still Missing After Tropical Cyclone in Somaliland
04 June – Source: Xinhua – 314 Words
At least 49 people were killed while 70 others are still missing following tropical cyclone Sagar that caused heavy rains and flooding in Somaliland, the UN humanitarian agency said on Sunday night. Citing estimates from Somaliland’s disaster management authority, NADFOR, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said nearly 168,000 people were directly affected and some 277 hectares of land have been destroyed in the affected villages.
“Key infrastructure, including roads, fishing boats, medical facilities, boreholes and water wells were damaged. Over 80 per cent of community shelters have been destroyed and 33 schools were affected,” said OCHA in its latest humanitarian bulletin. According to the UN, communities in the coastal areas of Somaliland and major portions of Awdal district, as well as some coastal communities in Puntland are still reeling from the impact of tropical cyclone Sagar.
The cyclone, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in Somalia, left an entire year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, according to SWALIM. “It left in its trail death, floods and strong winds, as well as the destruction of farmland and infrastructure. Thousands of livestock were killed and civilians displaced. The impact of the cyclone has affected communities that were still recovering from prolonged drought,” said the UN relief agency.
In Puntland, said the UN, flash floods in Bari left three people dead and damaged the road linking the town of Bossaso to areas in the south. “Humanitarians have reported that 3,600 families were affected. The worst-affected areas include the coastal towns of Bareeda, Caluula, Gumbax, Murcanyo, Xaabo and some parts of Qandala,” says the report, noting that houses and fishing boats were washed away. Agricultural land was also swamped. Cyclone Sagar which formed in the Gulf of Aden hit Somaliland, northern Somalia on May 19. It also affected the neighbouring country Ethiopia, where 188,000 people were reportedly displaced.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“It is a common sight of young boys moving around with guns. What is not easy, is telling whether the person with a gun is a soldier under the Somali National Army (SNA), a clan militia allied to AMISOM or an Al-Shabaab militant. “
Somalia Still Not For The Fainthearted
04 June – Source: The Observer – 1214 Words
Braying donkeys outside my makeshift accommodation unit woke me up from the deep sleep that had momentarily rested my fears of an attack by the Al-Shabaab militants. The sound of the waves on the Indian Ocean could clearly be heard as the Islamic call for prayer, Athan, for the morning prayer (Fajr) went off from different corners of Ceeljalle village, Marka district in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region. The makeshift shelter at Ceeljalle, the headquarters of the UPDF battle group 22, is the safest that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) could find for the team of 14 Ugandan journalists who were in Somalia to monitor the progress of the implementation of the UN security council resolution to have a gradual down-draw of the AMISOM troops in the war-torn nation.
Sandbags made a wall around our respective accommodation units, but a thought of the fact that we were within less than 10km from the Al-Shabaab base was enough to keep one worried. If you are to take a walk outside the camp, you must be wearing body armour and helmet, despite the scorching sun. A military escort was a must. The only ‘safe’ means of transport by road are infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) locally known as Mamba. “Forget your air-conditioned cars that you travel in Kampala; for your safety, we are to take you around in infantry fighting vehicles and you must keep your body armour and helmet on,” Maj Ceasar Otim Olweny, the spokesman of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia, said as he briefed our group upon arrival in Mogadishu on April 30.
Olweny and Kenya Defence Forces’ Col Richard Omwega, the AMISOM forces spokesman, gave several assurances for safety but there were security guidelines that had to be strictly adhered to. For instance, after checking in at the Leaf Camp hotel in Mogadishu, the manager, David Ndayisenga, took the group to the hotel’s bunker – the safest place just in case of a bomb attack. “In case you hear a bomb alert, kindly leave whatever you are doing and run to the bunker. There, you’ll not be affected,” Ndayisenga said. In Ceeljalle, about 75km south of Mogadishu, there were no bunkers and no thick walls surrounding the camp like at Leaf camp. Under a scorching sun with about 10 kilograms of a body armour and helmet on, we boarded the IFVs to Shalambood, a once-popular city built by the Italians in the 1920s.
Because of its nearly 3,000km-long coastline, Somalia once had well-built cities that brought in tourists as well as traders across the Indian Ocean. But the effects of the more than two decades of civil war has left the cities in ruins and the Somali coast a no-go area because of pirates. In fact, it is hard to find any semblance of a city, especially in the Lower Shabelle region. “Where we are seated is the site of a once luxurious Italian hotel but when the war broke out, it was razed to the ground,” Lt Col Fred Mwesigwa, the first infantry commander at Shalambood said. Mwesigwa tried to “reconstruct” the hotel by erecting two tents; one for his residence and another serves as his conference hall.