January 16, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
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UN cleared Eritrea over ‘arming’ al Shabaab16 Jan – Source: Capital FM, Africa Review – 518 words Eritrea has been cleared of allegations that it was arming al Shabaab militants in Somalia late last year. A preliminary report by the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) concludes that the allegations were untrue. “The SEMG’s preliminary assessment is that these reports were incorrect and that the alleged deliveries to Baidoa probably did not take place,” part of the report states. |
Key Headlines
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SOMALI MEDIAPro-TFG militia officials rubbish their alleged arrest by Ethiopian troops in Beledweyne16 Jan – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 235 words Two pro-government militia officials in Beledweyne town on Monday refuted claims that they were kept behind bars by Ethiopian troops in the area following heavy fight between their two militia groups. The two officials, Adan Abdulle Awale of Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jama and Abdifatah Hassan Afrah of another pro-government militia group downplayed reports that they were arrested, saying they were not arrested at all. Parliament speaker: MPs aren’t ready for change16 Jan – Source: Shabelle – 145 words The Speaker of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden on Monday said that some MPs in the parliament are not ready for change in the country weeks after fist fighting crippled the sessions. Landmine blast hit Ethiopian troops in Gedo region16 Jan – Source: Radio Shabelle, Bar-kulan – 114 words Reports from the border region of Gedo inside Somalia said, huge remote-controlled landmine blast hit a convoy of Ethiopian troops traveling in Luq town near the Kenya. Reports from the town indicated on Monday that the explosion was enormous and targeted military water tanks possessed by the Ethiopian army, causing an unspecified number of soldiers and the convoys. Ethiopian troops arrest rival Somali leaders in central town16 Jan – Source: Somaliland Press – 320 words Ethiopian troops stationed in the central Somali town of Beledweyne in Hiiraan province arrested two Somali leaders on Sunday afternoon after refusing peace deals. The Ethiopians captured Adan Abdullahi Awale, the regional leader of Somalia’s Sufi paramilitary group Ahlu Sunna, an ally of the weak TFG, and Abdulfatah Hassan Jama, the president of Shabelle Valley administration, a self-style semi-autonomous region in central Somalia. REGIONAL MEDIAUN cleared Eritrea over ‘arming’ al Shabaab16 Jan – Source: Capital FM, Africa Review – 518 words Eritrea has been cleared of allegations that it was arming al Shabaab militants in Somalia late last year. A preliminary report by the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) concludes that the allegations were untrue. “The SEMG’s preliminary assessment is that these reports were incorrect and that the alleged deliveries to Baidoa probably did not take place,” part of the report states. Somali civilians killed in Kenyan air raids16 Jan – Source: ALJazeers News – 500 words Kenya acknowledges casualties, but says they were not a “direct result” of air strikes – blaming al-Shabaab instead. An air raid on a camp packed with displaced women and children has killed at least five people and wounded 45 others, including 31 children, according to the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The Kenyan military admitted carrying out Sunday’s attack on the town of Jilib, where the camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) is located, but said the raid targeted al-Shabab fighters who are linked to al-Qaeda and blamed for a string of kidnappings of aid workers and tourists on Kenya’s coast. INTERNATIONAL MEDIAKenya-Somali insurgent information war heats up over claims of dead children16 Jan – Source: Washington Post /Xinhua – 507 words An insurgent spokesman and residents in a southern Somali town said two Kenyan fighter jets apparently targeting a militant camp instead killed five children, as a Kenyan military spokesman said Monday that the jets hit an al-Shabab command center. The competing claims are typical in the monthslong battle between Kenyan troops and al-Shabab militants inside Somalia. Both sides use social networking sites to broadcast claims in the battle, but hardly any of those claims are verifiable by independent journalists. Eritrea: Panel finds no arms were sent to Somali rebels16 Jan – Source: New York Times – 200 words Eritrea did not airlift arms to Islamist militants in the Somali town of Baidoa late last year, a preliminary United Nations report has found. Kenya accused Eritrea in November of delivering weapons to the Shabaab, a Qaeda-linked rebel group battling to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed government. Eritrea repeatedly denied the accusation. The United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said that its “preliminary assessment is that these reports were incorrect and that the alleged deliveries to Baidoa probably did not take place.” Top UN official warns of continued risk of famine in Somalia16 Jan – Source: The Guardian – 653 words Mark Bowden, who leads the UN relief efforts in Somalia, says many people remain in a precarious position and would need assistance on a regular basis. Heightened military action in Somalia risks jeopardising fragile gains in dealing with the humanitarian crisis in the region, a top UN relief official said on Sunday. However, Mark Bowden, who leads the UN relief effort in the country, said the Kenyan incursion into Somalia against al-Shabaab insurgents has “not really had an impact”, although Somali refugees have stopped crossing the border. SOCIAL MEDIACULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS Kenya’s Foray into Somalia Sows Seeds of Backlash Back Home16 Jan- Source: Sahel Blog- 635 Words By most accounts, Kenya’s incursion into Somalia has succeeded militarily, as measured against Kenya’s goals of taking territory and inflicting casualties on the rebel movement al Shabaab. In some senses, the Kenyan advance has also succeeded politically: Kenya has gained some international legitimacy for its mission by moving to join the African Union forces there, a step the United Nations seems to be endorsing. But on other political fronts, seeds of a backlash are being sown. For one thing, there is the question of radicalization inside Kenya. A wave of minor attacks have occurred in Kenya this winter, and Britain warned earlier this month that more attacks are on the way. Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that a Kenyan Muslim organization now says it is officially representing al Shabaab in Kenya: |
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