April 2, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Over 100 Al-Shabaab Militants Killed Hiiraan Region, Military Official Says
01 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 231 Words
Over 100 Al-Shabaab militants have been killed and dozens of training camps were destroyed, in operations conducted by Somali Army in Hiiraan region since mid-March, a military official said on Saturday. Hundreds of Somali troops, backed by AU forces have advanced towards several villages between Beledweyne and Bulaburde towns, in a bid to kick Al-Shabaab out of the region.
Ahmed Mohamed Teredicio, the commander of 52nd Brigade of Somali Army said, the military killed 120 Al-Shabaab fighters in fierce fighting with the militant group in Hiiraan region. The commander applauded the collaboration between the army and residents in the region saying the forces have been operating on tips off by locals. Gen. Teredicio pledged to lead the operations against Al-Shabaab till the forces fully take control of the region.
Hiiraan administration has stepped up its attempts to reopen and secure road linking Beledweyne and Bula-Burde towns. The governor of Hiiraan, Ali Jeyte Osman last week confirmed the recapture of several villages in the region. Osman noted that forces confiscated weapons and a vehicle following clashes with Al-Shabaab militants in Bardhere, Yabalyale and Afar-irdood villages.
In recent months, Al-Shabaab which once controlled large swarth area in south and central of the country, has been driven out from many towns and villages by allied forces. U.S government in collaborating with Somali government has increased aerial bombardment against the group in Southern Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Over 100 Al-Shabaab Militants Killed Hiiraan Region Military Official Says (Hiiraan Online)
- Speaker Jawari Says He Will Not Resign Denies Social Media Reports (Shabelle News)
- Security Forces Apprehend Several Al-Shabaab Suspects In Mogadishu (Halbeeg News)
- Al-Shabaab Kills Two District Officials In Mogadishu As AU Foils Attack (Xinhua)
- Recipe On How To Destabilize A Government (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Speaker Jawari Says He Will Not Resign, Denies Social Media Reports
01 April – Source: Shabelle News – 160 Words
The embattled speaker of Somalia’s Lower House chamber of Parliament, Mohamed Osman Jawari has vehemently denied reports on the social media, saying he wants to resign. The office of the speaker has released an immediate statement rejecting the claims as “baseless and propaganda”, calling on the public to disregard it.
This came amid deepening political tension in the country after more than 100 MPs tabled last month an impeachment motion against Jawari, accusing him of violating the constitution. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo) intervened in the standoff and stopped a parliament session scheduled to vote on the motion against House Speaker on Saturday.
The intervention followed a meeting between President Farmaajo, Speaker Jawari and his two deputies, chairman of the Senate Abdi Hashi Abdullahi, on Friday evening on the political crisis. The international community has condemned the deadlock situation in Somalia and called on the all country’s leaders to bring an end to the crisis and respect the draft constitution.
Security Forces Apprehend Several Al-Shabaab Suspects In Mogadishu
01 April – Source: Halbeeg News – 206 Words
Benadir Deputy Governor for Security affairs, Mohamed Abdullahi Tulah said security forces conducted operations aimed at tightening the security of the capital. The official noted that unspecified number of Al-Shabaab suspects, have been detained during the operations carried out in Shibis and Hamarweyne districts. “The forces conducted house to house operations, the target was Al-Shabaab and criminals, violating the peace of the city, several individuals are now under the custody of the security forces.
After the conclusion of the ongoing investigations, the government will release those found with no criminal records,” said Tulah. Recently, Somali police in collaboration with the other security agencies, have stepped up security inspections across the capital. Mid this week, the forces arrested four people in connection with illicit drugs, following well coordinated operation in Wadajir district. Two AK47 rifles, two pistols and bags of hashish were confiscated during the operation in the district.
Mr. Omar Abdullahi Hassan, Wadajir district commissioner said, the forces were operating on tips by the public, following an increase of drug abuse in the district. Mr. Hassan pointed out that they would arraign the suspects at court within 48 hours. The commissioner vowed to step up the fight against drugs, Al-Shabaab assassins and other criminals in Wadajir.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Kills Two District Officials In Mogadishu As AU Foils Attack
01 April – Source: Xinhua – 250 Words
Somali extremist group, Al-Shabaab, killed two district officials in the restive Mogadishu city on Saturday evening in the latest attack in the Horn of Africa nation. The insurgents in a statement posted on Sunday on its affiliated media sites said they killed Hassan Indha-Dhuh and Mohamud Moallim Hassan Fagase who were senior district administrators in Hamar-weyne District of the Banadir regional administration.
The Somali police confirmed the two deaths, saying investigation is underway to arrest the militants who managed to escape from the scene after committing the heinous act. Meanwhile, African Union forces repulsed Al-Shabaab attack on an army base in southern Somalia on Sunday. Isse Mohamed, a military commander said the militants launched an ambush at the forward operating base for the AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) troops in Bulamarer in Lower Shabelle region but faced resistance from the AU forces.
“They (Al-Shabaab) tried to attack an AMISOM base but they failed after they were stopped by the forces,” Mohamed told reporters. The official did not, however, state casualties. Local residents said they heard twin explosions followed by sustained exchange of gunfire but did not confirm the number of casualties.
Aweys Mohamed, a resident, told Xinhua that the attack which happened at midday caused a scare among locals. “We heard a huge explosion followed by gunfire from the area where AMISOM are located. Everyone scampered for safety.” AMISOM could not immediately be reached for comment. Al-Shabaab has in the past conducted similar raids in AMISOM bases killing scores.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The real tragedy about Somali politics is that every time that you think things might be heading in the right direction and the fractured system of governance is on the mend, an implausible drawback like this impeachment comes along that puts at risk everything else that has been achieved in the recent past.”
Recipe On How To Destabilize A Government
30 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1177 Words
It is becoming political calamity in the Somali national banter to witness once again the disruptive season of politics epitomized in the debate of disrupting impeachment to overthrow the heads of the state, which relentlessly edges the country into a crisis mode. These past weeks the news was inundated with the heated debate to table a motion that would see the Speaker of the House Parliament, Mohamed Osman Jawari ousted from office, propelling the country into further political turmoil.
The current political crisis is doing a huge damage to the country’s path towards stability. The saga of Somali leadership failure continues to galvanize the entire conversation, instead of finding solutions for other paramount problems, such as finding sustainable security and economic development. Neither the government nor the parliamentarians have issued any concrete guidance on how to resolve this political gridlock, instead of viciously campaigning behind the scenes.
In lieu of this latest political calamity, the government needs to clearly weigh in the political risks of calling for impeachment of the Speaker, which might backfire in the long run. While there’s still slight popular support for President Farmajo and Prime Minister Kheyre’s government, albeit perhaps the desire for less corrupt government than in the past, how this government fares in the end will depend on the outcome of this latest impeachment of the Speaker.
In fact, Speaker Jawari’s political path has always been smoothed by the staunch support that he received from the International community, which is the true engineer of Somalia’s current political resurgence from the civil war. No wonder, most of the International community recently denounced this latest political instability of Somalia’s government, warning this latest contentious impeachment process as it has the potential that it could further throw back the country’s democratic future into the towel.
Dozens of lawmakers are demanding the embattled Speaker Jawari to resign, but he declined to follow through and is asking for an up and down vote. Thus, Speaker Jawari’s recent claim that the current government is behind his impeachment because he would not sign ominous documents that would have put the country in real jeopardy. Most people assume this is linked in some strange way to the recent ruling of the Somali parliament to banning the Dubai-based DP World Company from operating in the country.
Nevertheless, there’s no doubt whatsoever that the government is deeply involved in this latest impeachment of the Speaker and thus sponsoring many of the MP signatories, including several notable ministers who are also members of parliament. The truth is obvious; however, this is the season of Somalia’s cash-strapped MPs to make some money out of allegedly minor disagreement between the Speaker of the Parliament and the Prime Minister.
A parliament vote to impeach the Speaker requires a simple majority of 184 votes. Given the untested allegiance of the current members of parliament and of course that might split into two groups of pro and con of the impeachment, which is far from certain. And since no one knows when that could happen, many political analysts say the government should focus on a definite opportunity they’ll have to remove Speaker Jawari from office – the 2020 country-wide elections. Though, most of the ardent MPs pushing hard of this latest effort to impeach the Speaker have failed to clearly articulate the main reason of his impeachment.