April 19, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
Blast at TFG military base in Mogadishu wounds 3 people
18 Apr – Source: Shabelle/Bar-kulan/Hiiraan Online – 128 words
An explosion at Somali government military bases in the chaotic Mogadishu on Wednesday injured at least three people, mostly innocent civilians, security officials said. Sabriye Abdulla Aden, a TFG military officer said a man carrying explosive devises hidden in a plastic shopping bag detonated his explosives near the Villa Baidoa base in Mogadishu, injuring at least two passerby civilians and the attacker seriously. The second blast which was used a hand grenade took place at Madina hospital, few meters away from the army base, casusing an unconfirmed loss.
Key Headlines
- Somali government plans to end the transition period (Source: Hiiraan Online)
- Suicide blast in Somalia kills 2 soldiers (Source: UPI)
- Puntland finally gets new constitution (Source: Bar-Kulan)
- Kenya can turn the Dadaab refugee camps into an asset ( Source: the Guardian)
- Somalia’s difficult road to the Olympics (Source: Al Jazeera)
- Sierra Leone: Army dismisses al Shabaab threat (Source: Africa News)
- Puntland blames anti-piracy task forces on airstrike in Bari region (Source: Raxanreeb)
SOMALI MEDIA
Blast at TFG military base in Mogadishu wounds 3 people
18 Apr – Source: Shabelle/Bar-kulan/Hiiraan Online – 128 words
An explosion at Somali government military bases in Mogadishu on Wednesday injured at least three people, mostly innocent civilians, security officials said. Sabriye Abdulla Aden, a TFG military officer said a man carrying explosive devices hidden in a plastic shopping bag detonated his explosives near the Villa Baidoa base in Mogadishu, injuring at least two civilians passing and the attacker seriously. The second blast which involved a hand grenade took place at Madina hospital, few meters away from the army base, casusing an unconfirmed loss.
Puntland finally gets new constitution
18 Apr – Source: Bar-kulan – 184 words
Puntland has finally adopted a new constitution after delegates meeting in Garowe town unanimously endorsed the proposed document. Several Somalia government officials and international diplomats attended a ceremony held in Garowe where the constitution was officially endorsed.
Out of 478 delegates attending the assembly aimed at passing the document, 472 voted in favour of it while six delegates voted against.
Somali government plans to end the transition period
18 Apr – Source: Hiiraan Online – 514 words
International Development Law Organization (IDLO) facilitated a Town hall Meeting on the ending of the transition. The day-long debate about the way forward for Somalia was led by the Minister of Constitutional Affairs Abdirahman Hosh Jibril and the Minister of Planning and International relations Abdullahi Godah Barre on the transition.
This consultation meeting was unique as it brought together leading Somali personalities from politics, academia and civil society.
Somali Soccer referees arrive in Djibouti for FIFA course
18 Apr – Source: Somaliweyn – 187 words
At least 30 Somali Football Referees from across the country have on Tuesday morning arrived in the neighbouring Djibouti where they will sit for FIFA level refereeing course on Wednesday morning according to Somali Football Federation Secretary General Abdi Qani said Arab who talked to reporters in Djibouti upon arrival.
Elders call for cessation of hostilities in Mataban district
18 Apr- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 157 words
Elders in central Somalia region on Wednesday called on all those parties to the renewed conflict in Mataban district to express peace and immediately halt the escalating hostilities.
Speaking at a meeting in Dusamareb district, the elders condemned yesterday’s clashes in Mataban district where six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when two rival clans clashed in the area.
Puntland blames anti-piracy task forces on airstrike in Bari region
18 Apr- Source: Raxanreeb- 250 words
Puntland officials have blamed the western anti-piracy task forces in Somali coast for the air raid which two local fishermen were wounded on Tuesday in Gumbah district east of Bosasso, RBC Radio reports.
An air raid carried by two war planes wounded two local fishermen in the coastal district of Gumbah, 200km east of the commercial port town of Bosasso.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Sierra Leone: Army dismisses al Shabaab threat
18 Apr- Source: Africa News- 247 words
A senior military officer attached to the Sierra Leone ministry of defense has said that the recent threat by al Shabaab does not come as a surprise to them.
The officer who was speaking on condition of anonymity at the Defense headquarter in Freetown said the threat by al Shabaab is just part of their media propaganda strategy to scare off the opposing forces.
Somalia’s difficult road to the Olympics
18 Apr- Source: Aljazeera-1115 words
With just 100 days until the London Olympics’ opening ceremonies, one country must cope with overcoming the emotional loss of its sporting figurehead.
The death of the president of the Somali Olympic Committee (SOC), Aden Yabarow Wiish, along with the head of the Somali Football Federation, Said Mohamed Nur, in a suicide attack in early April shocked Somalia’s sporting community.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya can turn the Dadaab refugee camps into an asset
18 Apr – Source: the Guardian – 858 words
Over the past few weeks, Kenyan government ministers have made persistent calls for the country’s Somali refugees to be “resettled” insideSomalia. These calls echo the sentiments of President Mwai Kibaki, who said at February’s London conference on Somalia: “Kenya can no longer continue carrying the burden.” But is the refugee presence in Kenya really a burden?
Suicide blast in Somalia kills 2 soldiers
18 Apr – Source: UPI – 132 words
A suicide bomber blew himself up in a bar near a U.N. building in southern Somalia, killing at least two soldiers, officials said. One of the soldiers died at the scene in the town of Baidoa Tuesday, while the other died later at a hospital, Radio France International reported.
The al-Qaida-backed terrorist group al-Shabaab immediately took responsibility for the bombing.
Abdulaziz Abu Musab, a spokesman for the group, claimed the blast killed five Somali soldiers and three Ethiopian troops.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“In the eyes of many in the international community, Somalia is a lawless country with a slight chance of hope. In the eyes of some of my friends and people I am surrounded with daily, Somalia is a pirate infested country. All of these maybe true. But to me, and many other Somali students studying in almost every prestigious university around the globe, Somalia is a candle in a dark room that is in need of a light source. That light source today are the Somali youths scattered all over the globe.”
A Glimpse of Hope for Somalia
18 Apr – Source: Somali Youth Blog – 1011 Words
A British gentleman who worked for the UNHCR’s office in Nairobi once told me that the Somalis living in the diaspora have an opportunity to rebuild their homeland. “There are only two kinds of people you will find almost everywhere you travel to in this world —a Jew and a Somali. You and many Somalis around the world today have an opportunity to better your lives and the lives of your people,” he said. At the time, I did not really pay much attention to the gentleman but his words stuck with me a year or so down the road, when I eventually moved to the United States.