July 25, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Military Takes Full Charge Of Mogadishu Security After Attacks
24 July – Source: Garowe Online – 272 Words
After series of Al-Shabaab attacks in Mogadishu that included car bombings at the Presidential Palace in this month, the military has taken control of security in the capital. Sources say that Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo ordered the military to take full charge of the city’s security after Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire’s new plan proved ineffective.
Hundreds of soldiers from the 14th October battalion have been deployed in most parts of the capital on Monday, taking over the security responsibility from the Mogadishu Stabilization Forces. The 14th Oct brigade, made up of new recruits, was formed following last year’s truck bomb at the Zoobe junction in Mogadishu, the deadliest in Somalia’s history, which left more than 500 people dead.
The joint force, drawn from Police, Military and Intelligence soldiers, was established on the eve of the last Holy month of Ramadan, with a view to restore peace and stability in the city. The Mogadishu Stabilization Forces have been manning various security checkpoints set up in the city since May. They had blocked several city roads thereby hampering public and private transport, as well as civilian movement. over the past two months.
The military take over of Mogadishu’s security follows President Farmaajo’s ordered to security agencies to reopen major roads in the capital. He similarly challenged his top security officers to come up with a new national security strategy following attacks outside Villa Somalia, the Presidential Palace. Mogadishu, located in Banadir region on the Indian ocean, has over the years endured high levels of violence. Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked group, has carried out deadly bombings trying to topple the western-backed Somali government.
Key Headlines
- Military Takes Full Charge Of Mogadishu Security After Attacks (Garowe Online)
- International High-Level Conference Of Education Opens Today In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Sacked Puntland Official Escapes With Government Vehicle Weapons (Hiiraan Online)
- Shabaab Again Assaults Base Where US Soldier Died (Long War Journal)
- No Girl Should Be Dying For Virginity – As A FGM Survivor I Understand The Brutality Too Well (Metro UK)
NATIONAL MEDIA
International High-Level Conference Of Education Opens Today In Mogadishu
24 July – Source: Goobjoog News
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia, Mahdi Mohamed Guled, has today opened an international conference on higher education, focussing on the higher education sectors among communities adversely affected by conflict.
The conference, which is held annually, is organized by the Somali National University and was attended by the Minister for Education and Planning, members of the Federal Parliament, ambassadors, academicians from both local and international universities. The outcome of the conference is expected to have a positive impact on the education sector including helping to develop higher education systems in the country.
The deputy Premier thanked the chairman of the Somali National University, who organized the meeting, and encouraged participants at the three days conference to make favourable contributions that will help to develop a better higher education system in the country.
Sacked Puntland Official Escapes With Government Vehicle, Weapons
24 July – Source: Hiiraan Online – 145 Words
A senior Puntland government official has reportedly disappeared with a government vehicle, six AK 47 rifles and five pistols, from the presidential palace in Garowe. The official escaped with the government property soon after receiving information regarding his impending dismissal.
Abdifatah Yemeni, who worked at the presidential palace as a senior aide, fled to his hometown of Balli-Busle near Galkayo in Mudug region. Elders from the area however managed to recover the stolen vehicle which had been sold to a local businessman at $40,000. The vehicle is among a fleet of 60 vehicles donated to the Puntland government by the United Arab Emirates.
Disappearance of the government property came as the Puntland administration threatened to deal firmly with those found looting government property. Sacked officials often fail to return government vehicles in their possession. The Puntland administration is yet to comment on the incident.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Shabaab Again Assaults Base Where US Soldier Died
24 July – Source: Long War Journal – 396 Words
Almost two months after a US Special Forces soldier was killed in a Shabaab assault in southern Somalia, the very same base has again been targeted by the al Qaeda branch. Earlier on Monday, two suicide truck bombs detonated near the base perimeter just outside of the town of Bar-Sanguuni near the port city of Kismayo. A fierce firefight then ensued following the explosion, as the militants attempted to enter the base.
However, local sources report that the attackers were repelled. Other sources have also said that the truck bombs were stopped before getting near the base. Via its Shahada News Agency, Shabaab did confirm the use of two suicide truck bombs.
Somali officials have stated that nearly 100 militants were involved in the raid and that 87 of them were killed. Shabaab further claimed that 30 soldiers were killed in the assault. While both sides appear to be inflating numbers, more independent sources have placed the number of fatalities at 12. This number reportedly includes four Somali soldiers and eight Shabaab militants.
The joint Somali-Kenyan-US base in Bar-Sanguuni is the same base in which a US Special Forces soldier was killed in early June. The base was targeted by Shabaab after joint US-Somali special forces raids hit various jihadist targets near Kismayo the previous night. AFRICOM also said that “a large force consisting of approximately 800 forces from the SNSF and KDF were conducting a multi-day operation approximately 350 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu when the attack occurred.” The soldier was the first US soldier to be killed in Somalia since last year.
The base was again the target of another Shabaab raid just a day after the initial assault. That attack also saw the utilization of a suicide truck bomb to strike the base. Somali sources reported that a subsequent assault team was neutralized following the detonation of the truck bomb, which was stopped at a checkpoint outside the base by security forces.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“No girl deserves that. Girls should be treasured, girls should be nurtured. Girls are the future; they should be given education, and be nurtured into becoming whoever they want to be. But right now, girls’ genitals are ripped apart and they are made to die just for virginity.”
No Girl Should Be Dying For Virginity – As A FGM Survivor, I Understand The Brutality Too Well
24 July – Source: Metro UK – 984 Words
When I read the story of the 10-year-old girl who bled to death in Somalia after female genitalia mutilation (FGM) – not only bled to death but she also caught tetanus – I cannot imagine the pain she was going through for two days. The emotions she was going through. Everything about her collapsed that day, just like it did for me.
Everyone you trusted you no longer trust; everyone you thought loved you, you see them not loving you. The agony of her death, it aches my heart. What she went through tears me apart. Why? Why do the parents do that? I come from Somalia where 98% of girls were cut, especially in my age group – I’m 49-years-old now.
All I saw as a child was that we weren’t seen as girls. We weren’t treasured as human beings – we were just seen as commodity, as belongings. You know you’re going to grow up and be a beautiful wife – nothing more than that. You belonged to your father and now you’re going to belong to another man.
You were nothing but someone’s belonging. Having FGM means being mutilated just to make you stay a virgin. It seals you up to the point where, when you go to urinate, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes. And when you get periods, you’re in such a lot of pain. In some cases, it causes a lot of infections and you can’t even have children afterwards.
It takes away the most important part of you as a woman, which is being able to have a child if you want to. That choice has been taken away. To be caused so much damage, for what? Because I was born a girl. A 10-year-old died and her father says it’s OK because it’s part of our culture and FGM is accepted. Where is the parental responsibility? Where is the love for his daughter? He says there is nobody to be held accountable but that’s not true.
Yes there is accountability – he is responsible for her death, his wife is responsible for her death, the cutter is responsible for her death. Death is such a social norm in our community – it’s accepted. Women dying and girls dying are accepted because we are valued less. Our lives are less. If it was a boy who died, goodness, this man would be fuming. He would be after blood. He would want to kill people.
He would want to know why his son was killed. But his daughter? It’s OK. There’s no one to be held responsible for her. This is because of our gender. Women and girls are nothing; we’re not valued and our lives mean nothing. She was just 10-years-old, and she suffered for two days. I was suffering for 14 days and the pain still aches my heart. This bloodshed and death has to end.