April 6, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

SRCC Ambassador Francisco Madeira In Inaugural Visit To Baidoa, Meets With ISWA Leadership

05 April – Source: AMISOM – 315 Words

The Special Representative of the African Union Commission Chairperson for Somalia, (SRCC), Ambassador Francisco Madeira today made his inaugural visit Baidoa, the capital of Interim Southwest Administration (ISWA) since his appointment as head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). SRCC Madeira held meetings with ISWA leadership to formally present himself to President Shariff Hassan Sheikh Adan and discuss matters of mutual interest.

In his brief to the media after the meeting, SRCC Madeira stated that discussions largely focused on security and inter-agency cooperation between AMISOM and ISWA security structures. “I came here today to formally present myself as the Head of AMISOM to ISWA President Shariff Hassan Sheikh Adan. Secondly, I held meetings with the President, Sector Commander and heads of various security structures to identify progress made on security, challenges on the same and what needs to be done,” said the SRCC.

He added, “We also discussed training of SNA, logistical support, the need to carry out joint operations to de-mine the roads, flush out and degrade Al Shabaab, and how to implement these plans. There are challenges to such missions and we will engage the Federal Government and the international community.”

Key Headlines

International Community Welcomes Landmark Agreement On 2016 Electoral Process (Shabelle News)
Ethiopian And Somali National Forces Seek To Capture Aadan-yabaal Town (Wacaal Media)
ISWA In Efforts To Liberate Waajid District From Al-Shabaab (Wacaal Media)
Kenyan Trainer Sheikh Mansur Among Six Al-Shabaab Killed In Somalia (The Star)
‘We Are Hostage To Illegal Immigrants’: Locals Furious After 100 Somali Protesters Bring Sardinian Port Of Cagliari To A Standstill As They Demand To Be Allowed To Leave (Daily Mail)
Thousands May Die In Parched Somalia UN Warns (PBS)
U.S. Pounds More Al-Qaeda Franchises (Foreign Policy)

NATIONAL MEDIA

International Community Welcomes Landmark Agreement On 2016 Electoral Process

05 April – Source: Shabelle News – 290 Words

The international community welcomed the decision of the Puntland Government to participate fully in the electoral process that will choose a new federal parliament later this year.
Yesterday’s agreement between the Federal Government of Somalia led by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke and the Puntland Government led by President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali “Gaas” is a very positive step for Puntland and all of Somalia.

“This landmark agreement is highly significant,” said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia Michael Keating. “The people and leaders of Puntland deserve special commendation for their political maturity. Puntland has acted in the interest of the whole of Somalia. That is encouraging for the future of the whole country. “The agreement marks a decisive move away from the 4.5 model,” noted SRSG Keating. “2016 is an important stepping stone towards a one-person, one-vote election in Somalia in 2020. That election, in 2020, will not use the 4.5 model. Planning for 2020 must begin now.”

The international community will closely monitor the 2016 electoral process with a view to ensuring maximum fairness and transparency. International partners agreed to provide the necessary political, financial and technical support to enable universal suffrage elections in 2020, including how to conduct civil voter registration and help build electoral institutions.
The agreement was guaranteed in the Puntland capital of Garowe by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) led by the Ethiopian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the IGAD Council of Ministers Tedros Adhanom and witnessed by SRSG Keating, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Francisco Madeira, the European Union Special Envoy to Somalia Michele Cervone, the IGAD Special Envoy to Somalia Mohamed Affey and other representatives of the international community.

Ethiopian And Somali National Forces Seek To Capture Aadan-yabaal Town

05 April – Source: Wacaal Media – 102 Words

Reports reaching us from Aadan-yabaal town indicate there is tension in the area after it has emerged Ethiopian and Somali National Forces were on their way to the town. Local residents have started moving out of the town early today for fear of being caught in the crossfires.

Speaking to the media, a section of the fleeing locals expressed fears of civilian casualties but said they hoped to return as soon as the situation normalizes. The incident comes in the wake of announcements by Federal government officials that they will clear Al-Shabaab from the remaining areas of Middle Shabelle including Adan-yabaal town.

ISWA In Efforts To Liberate Waajid District From Al-Shabaab

05 April – Source: Wacaal Media – 64 Words

The Interim South West Somalia Administration has announced plans to dislodge Al-Shabaab militants from Waajid district of Bakool region. Waajid deputy district commissioner Adow Abdirahman told the local media they were ready to launch offensives to clear roads leading to and from the district.

Adow added ISWA forces in collaboration with their AMISOM colleagues will soon launch offensives in all settlements under Waajid district.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Kenyan Trainer Sheikh Mansur Among Six Al-Shabaab Killed In Somalia

05 April – Source: The Star – 250 Words

Six Al-Shabaab commanders including Kenyan trainer Sheikh Mansur were killed on Tuesday in Lower Shabelle, Somalia. Amisom identified some of the six as Aden Bale (commander of Leego), Sheikh Mohammed who was second in command in Janaale and Mohammed Abribao (Al-Shabaab judge in Janaale). The others were named as Hassan Ali, chief Amnyat of lower shabelle region, and yemeni IED expert Abu Islam.

Sector One commander, Brigadier General Sam Okiding said the deaths bring to seven the number of commanders killed by the allied forces in one week. “The Mission and the the Somali National Army have intensified the war against Al-Shabaab. The are more frequently resorting to hit and run tactics to avoid direct contact with Amisom and remain relevant,” said Okiding.

He said operations to open the main supply route to Janale, and clear improvised explosive devices, have extended into the town. “The clearance activities are meant to ease the movement of the population and goods,” he said. The forces killed Al-Shabaab commander Abdirashir Bugdube in Janale on April 2.

‘We Are Hostage To Illegal Immigrants’: Locals Furious After 100 Somali Protesters Bring Sardinian Port Of Cagliari To A Standstill As They Demand To Be Allowed To Leave

05 April – Source: Daily Mail – 321 Words

Residents of Cagliari have reacted with fury to a protest held by migrants that blocked traffic and left the city in a standstill. The Eritrean and Somali migrants, who are living on the island after having been rescued off the Libyan coast last month, want to be allowed to leave to travel further into Europe. According to Breitbart, the protesters marched through the streets before occupying the city centre for seven hours.

Daniele Caruso, a local politician, told the website: ‘Cagliari is hostage to illegal immigrants. Yet another street protest forces us to confront a public policy problem that can no longer be underrated.’ The protest last night eventually ended when they were talked down and sent back to their shelter outside the city. The anti-immigration Northern League’s Matteo Salvini said: ‘I am sick and tired of these immigrants. They want to leave, so let’s weigh them and ship them back home.’

The boats on which the migrants arrived had left Libya late last month but ran into trouble while crossing the Mediterranean. At the time, the Italian coastguard said it had rescued more than 1,500 migrants in 11 separate operations in the Strait of Sicily in the space of a few days.
It comes as several dozen migrants being detained at a holding camp on the Greek island of Lesbos today also protested, shouting: ‘We want freedom!’

Thousands May Die In Parched Somalia, UN Warns

05 April – Source: PBS – 172 Words

Severe droughts are stifling northern Somalia and forecasts of little rain this year will make things worse, particularly in northern Somalia where people are dependent on livestock for food, the United Nations recently said. On March 31, Peter de Clercq, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, appealed for $105 million in aid to provide life-saving assistance to nearly 2 million people affected by the severe drought in the autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. The funding would help the country’s malnourished through September, he said.

“Without access to emergency health services, water and sanitation, thousands of people could face death due to preventable causes,” he said in a statement. “The time to fund is now, to come back from the tipping point, avoid a greater crisis and avert loss of lives.” The water shortage also reduces grasses for livestock and makes the animals more susceptible to disease. The loss of livestock means the loss of a means of income to support their families.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

The strikes follow a massive assault in early March on an al-Shabab training camp by American warplanes and drones that killed an estimated 150 fighters. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, called the American bombing runs “self-defense ai strikes,” a new point of emphasis for the Pentagon as it portrays the new round of attacks on al-Shabab as heading off imminent attacks on U.S. and African Union forces operating in the country.

U.S. Pounds More Al-Qaeda Franchises

05 April – Source: Foreign Policy – 720 Words

U.S. aircraft carried out two airstrikes in Somalia that hit Al-Shabaab forces “who posed imminent threats to U.S. and partner nation forces,” a Pentagon spokesman said Monday evening. The strikes, which occurred on April 1 and April 2, came just after the March 31 drone hit that took out Hassan Ali Dhoore, an Al-Shabaab militant who had a hand in planning several attacks that resulted in the deaths of at least three U.S. citizens. U.S. officials also said he was plotting attacks targeting U.S. citizens in Mogadishu.

The strikes follow a massive assault in early March on an Al-Shabaab training camp by American warplanes and drones that killed an estimated 150 fighters. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, called the American bombing runs “self-defense ai strikes,” a new point of emphasis for the Pentagon as it portrays the new round of attacks on Al-Shabaab as heading off imminent attacks on U.S. and African Union forces operating in the country.

We reported yesterday on some early, sketchy reports out of Syria that Russian, Syrian, or American aircraft had taken out Firas al-Suri, a spokesman for al Nusra, the al Qaeda affiliate in northern Syria. But later in the day the Pentagon claimed the hit. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook went to great lengths to describe al-Suri as an al Qaeda leader, as opposed to a Nusra operative, in keeping with the American reluctance to open up a new front against Nusra in Syria.