April 20, 2018 | Morning Headlines.
Waddani’s Irro Calls For Resignation Of Bihi, Prosecution Of Silanyo For ‘Betrayal’
19 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 256 Words
Former Somaliland speaker Mr. Abdirahman Irro, has called for the resignation of President Muse Bihi, and prosecution of his predecessor Mr. Ahmed Silanyo for what he termed as betrayal of the ‘nation’. Mr. Irro who vied for Waddani party and lost to President Bihi during the November presidential elections said, both President Bihi and former president Silanyo betrayed Somaliland, by not signing the Berbera deals following the revelations by UAE state minister for foreign affairs Mr. Anwar Gargash said that, former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf Somaliland.
Mr. Irro did was not specific on which agreements, but only referred to it as Berbera agreements. Somaliland has since signed Berbera Port deal with UAE’s DP World and the Berbera Naval Base pact, with the Emirati government. “Mr. Silanyo violated the constitution and must be prosecuted and President Bihi was party to this since he was also in Kulmiye party,” said Mr. Irro. “President Bihi must resign and seek forgiveness from the people or we shall sue him.”
Waddani had strongly opposed the naval base agreement and voted against last year. In an interview with BBC Somali Wednesday, Mr. Gargash said both UAE and former Somalia administration signed a development and humanitarian support agreement for Somaliland. “We had a memorandum of understanding with the former government and it was very clear,” said Mr. Gargash. “We did not have a consulate or embassy in Somaliland so there was no formal relationship.” Somaliland has however maintained agreements with UAE were sanctioned by its government.
Key Headlines
- Waddani’s Irro Calls For Resignation Of Bihi Prosecution Of Silanyo For ‘Betrayal’ (Goobjoog News)
- Many Foreigners Are Illegally Staying In The Country Says Immigration Director (Jowhar.com)
- SNA Forces Launch Operations to Secure Jowhar-Bal’ad Road (Halbeeg News)
- AU Mission Seeks Increased Coordination To Fix Humanitarian Challenges (Xinhua)
- KDF Troops Offer Free Medical Care To Residents Of Somalia Town (The Star)
- Al-Qaeda Raids In Somalia Scuttle Africa’s Plan To Withdraw (Bloomberg)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Many Foreigners Are Illegally Staying In The Country, Says Immigration Director
19 April – Source: Jowhar.com – 126 Words
Somalia’s Director for Immigration and Naturalization, Mohamed Adan Jim’ale (Koofi) said there are many foreigners illegally staying in the country. Mr. Koofi said that some of them are criminals who have committed crimes in their native countries entering the country from the borders. He added some of them have established families and got unregistered children in the country.
He stated they are now in the process of launching a special registration exercise for such people and warned that those found to have crimes in their records will be handed over to the security agencies. Since the collapse of the previous central government, a number of foreigners illegally entered the country with some of them joining the ranks of Al-Shabaab and other criminal groups in the country.
SNA Forces Launch Operations to Secure Jowhar-Bal’ad Road
19 April – Source: Halbeeg News – 166 Words
Somali forces backed by African Union Mission in Somalia on Thursday started operations to oust Al-Shabaab fighters from areas along Balcad-Jowhar road in Middle Shabelle region. Colonel Ali Alasow, the commander leading SNA operations in Middle Shabelle region, has confirmed the offensives against the group saying the forces have launched operations to secure and capture villages controlled by the group. “The forces have entered the villages from two directions, a sector from Jowar town, and another one from Bal’ad town. We are committed to liberate all villages under the control of this group,” Mr. Alasow said.
The commander pointed out that Somali military wrested number of localities from Al-Shabaab Fighters. “Having heard the offensives by government forces, Al-Shabaab fighters withdrew from several villages including Qordhere, War-Isa, Qab-Dua, Wararahley and Qarah-Madoobe areas,” he confirmed. The operations comes just hours after five Somali army soldiers were killed and four others injured after Al-Shabaab fighters ambushed military vehicle from Jowhar that was heading to Bal’ad in Middle Shabelle region.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU Mission Seeks Increased Coordination To Fix Humanitarian Challenges
19 April – Source: Xinhua – 222 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Thursday called for increased coordination to help address humanitarian challenges in the Horn of Africa nation. Abdul Diabagate, AMISOM’s Senior Humanitarian Liaison Officer, also expressed the need to increase humanitarian facilitation activities and interaction with communities in areas undergoing acute crises and natural disasters.
“Humanitarian challenges call for increased coordination and dialogue between AMISOM and partners operating in the recovered areas,” Diabagate said during a day-long training for partners in Jowhar, the administrative capital of HirShabelle state. The training was convened to familiarize AMISOM partners with the Somalia Country Specific Humanitarian Civil-Military Guidelines, which guides the interaction between partners and the Mission.According to a statement from the AU mission issued after the meeting, the training was aimed at fostering partnerships between AMISOM civilian liaison officers and the partners.
It also sensitized participants on the importance of observing the International Humanitarian Law, humanitarian principles and International Refugee Law.Diabagate stressed the need to foster greater coordination between the Mission, state authorities and partners, in the area of humanitarian facilitation. During the one-day training the hosts also shared the 2017 Somalia Civil-Military Working Group Report, which was launched September 2017. The report details the working group’s achievements, best practices and strategic partnerships that contributed to the alleviation of suffering among drought-affected populations and displaced civilians.
KDF Troops Offer Free Medical Care To Residents Of Somalia Town
19 April – Source: The Star – 174 Words
Kenyan troops carried out free medical checks for residents of Busaar town in Somalia on Wednesday. The soldiers in the AMISOM peacekeeping mission attended to the children, pregnant women and the elderly. The beneficiaries are among people most affected by a ban by terror group al Shabaab, against harammedical care.
Sheikh Mustafa Haji, who spoke on behalf of the residents, said they were grateful and will continue supporting the troops. Mustafa lost his pregnant second wife after the militants prohibited him from going to a clinic set up by the soldiers.
“The traditional midwife sent for me after it had taken a while for the baby to [be delivered]. When I put my wife on a cart to rush her to the clinic, a group of armed militants beat me up. That’s how I lost my wife and child,” he said. Al Shabaab doesn’t want the people to receive treatment from the military and international groups. Families have also suffered due to drought and the heavy rains that followed, leading to risky living conditions.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Without Amisom, the insurgents are “capable of easily retaking the reins of power,” he said. Many Somali officials agree 2020 isn’t feasible. The chief inspector of police, Hassan Mohamed Nur, said by phone that the army won’t be able to take over without increased capacity, an organizational overhaul and a comprehensive training program.”
Al-Qaeda Raids In Somalia Scuttle Africa’s Plan To Withdraw
18 April – Source: Bloomberg – 688 Words
African troops battling an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia for the past decade stand little chance of withdrawing by their deadline in two years as the government remains fragile and a spike in militant violence has drawn in U.S. forces. The longest-running African Union peacekeeping mission, known as Amisom, operates in a shattered country whose lawlessness has bred regional violence — al-Shabaab has staged attacks in Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti — and piracy that plagued global shipping in the early 2000s. Over the past year, the U.S. has boosted cooperation with the Somali army, targeting al-Shabaab and an Islamic State faction. The U.S. Africa Command said al-Shabaab controls about a fifth of Somalia, mainly in the south.
Assaults on Ugandan peacekeepers this month show the challenge still facing the mission that deployed in 2007 as al-Shabaab stepped up its violence. Since October, Somalia has suffered its deadliest attack in three decades of civil war, debate in parliament threatened to turn violent and the federal and regional governments have been at loggerheads.Amisom officials still talk as if departure is imminent and say 1,000 troops from about 22,000 uniformed personnel will leave this year. Yet in March they asked the United Nations to repeal a resolution to trim the force, which also includes Kenyan, Ethiopian, Djiboutian and Burundian soldiers.
A 2020 exit is “extremely unrealistic,” said Richard Cole, a former adviser to Somalia’s army. Talk of leaving is based on the “war-weariness” of the troop-contributing countries rather than “the situation on the ground, where al-Shabaab has not been decisively defeated and remains a constant threat,” he said. U.S. forces have conducted 12 strikes against al-Shabaab so far this year, according to the U.S. Africa Command.
Amisom’s deputy head of mission, Simon Mulongo, said it “will most likely stay longer than 2020-21 because of challenges to statehood development, despite significant gains registered.” Without Amisom, the insurgents are “capable of easily retaking the reins of power,” he said. Many Somali officials agree 2020 isn’t feasible. The chief inspector of police, Hassan Mohamed Nur, said by phone that the army won’t be able to take over without increased capacity, an organizational overhaul and a comprehensive training program.
Political disputes among Somali officials are the Achilles’ heel of government forces, said Hussein Sheikh Ali, a former national security adviser. Amisom is undermined by a “lack of commitment” to finish the job and “constant clashes” between international donors, he said. The spokesman for the Internal Security Ministry, Abdulaziz Ali Ibrahim, said the current priority is solving splits in the government. The speaker of Somalia’s parliament this month stepped down ahead of an impeachment motion brought against him by more than 100 lawmakers.