August 16, 2016 | Morning Headlines
US Confirms Operation In Southern Somalia, Declines Its Forces Were Involved
15 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 131 Words
The US State Department has confirmed an undercover military operation in Sakow, Middle Jubba, in Somalia’s southern regions but claimed its forces were not involved. The US reaction follows emerging reports that top Al-Shabaab leaders may have been killed in the Saturday operation.
BBC Somali service quoted a statement from the State Department on Monday evening adding that US troops alongside Somali elite forces came under attack on 10th of this month on the outskirts of Sakow town but managed to repulse the attackers killing three of them.
The statement also noted the US will release details of the operations later. Sources in Sakow confirmed to Goobjoog News that there were major military operations at the close of last week, suspected to have resulted in the killing of Al-Shabaab militias including the group’s leader Abu Ubeida and spokesman Abu Muscab. Details are however still scanty.
Key Headlines
- US Confirms Operation In Southern Somalia Declines Its Forces Were Involved (Goobjoog News)
- Somaliland President Makes Fourth Cabinet Reshuffle In Less Than A Year (Goobjoog News)
- National Union Of Somali Journalists Condemns Arrest Of Media Worker (Mareeg Online)
- Jailed Somali Pirates Face Grim Life Conditions In Kenyan Prison (Goobjoog News)
- Report Says East African Countries Face Increasing Threat From Al-Shabaab (The Washington Post)
- Government Forces Capture 4 Locations From Al-Shabaab In Somalia (Xinhua News)
- UNHCR Steps Up Repatriation Of Somali Refugees From Kenya (Xinhua News)
- A Welcome Somali Voice At The Minnesota State Capitol (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somaliland President Makes Fourth Cabinet Reshuffle In Less Than A Year
15 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 185 Words
The President of the breakaway region of Somaliland, Ahmed Silanyo, has announced a new cabinet reshuffle dropping eight ministers with several new faces taking up different portfolios. In a statement issued late Sunday, President appointed Farhaan Aadan Haybe as Aviation minister in the new shake-up while Yasiin Haji Mohamud has appointed as Interior Minister.
The reshuffle comes just a few months to the general elections in 2017. It is the fourth the President has made since January. There was no official communication, however, on the reasons for the reshuffle.
Somaliland had earlier announced it will hold presidential elections in 2017, amid political uncertainty over the current President’s controversial term extension last year, which sparked uproar countrywide. Somaliland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia, has largely remains calm have survived Somalia’s two decades of civil war
National Union Of Somali Journalists Condemns Arrest Of Media Worker
15 August – Source: Mareeg Online – 234 Words
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has condemned “in the strongest terms possible” the arrest of a Somali journalist in Beledwein, the capital of Hiran region, located around 340 km North of Mogadishu.
The arrest of Ali Dahir Herow on Saturday evening was reportedly ordered from the Governor of Hiiraan region’s office, Yusuf Ahmed Hagar (Dabageed). Ali was arrested from his home by members of the Regional Intelligence Service and is now being held at an Intelligence Detention Center in Beledwein.
”We ask the Administration of Hiiraan region to unconditionally release the journalist and we call upon them to respect the media. Freedom of expression and freedom of opinion are among the most fundamental freedoms and rights in any democratic society.” Said Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, Secretary General of NUSOJ.
The arrested journalist spoke on the phone with Moalimuu confirming to him that he still did not know the reason behind his arrest. He however suspected that the arrest was related to his remarks in an online chat room, where he expressed his views on the current regional governor’s behavior.
Ali used to work as a reporter with Bar-Kulan, a radio station associated with AMISOM and funded by the United Nations. He has recently been appointed the media coordinator for the Federal Ministry of Information. Ali is one of the 14 journalists arrested in different parts of the Somalia over the last three months.
Jailed Somali Pirates Face Grim Life Conditions In Kenyan Prison
15 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 327 Words
About 70 Somalis are being held in dire conditions in prisons in Kenya, according to one of the detainees. The Shimo la Tewa maximum security prison holds more than 100 Somalis convicted of piracy activities, jailed after being captured in the middle of piracy activities in the high seas.
Abdirahman Hassan Ali, who spoke to VOA Somali service, said they lack sufficient food, water and medical treatment, He claimed they were fishermen and not pirates as accused by Kenyan authorities: “We are fishermen who are jailed in Mombasa for a long time. We were kidnapped from the sea on the Somali side without committing any crime,” said one of the men.
He called on Somalia’s Federal government intervention: ‘’We urge our government and authorities to obtain our release as soon as possible. We want to leave this country.’’ Kenya is one of a few countries that prosecute pirates, alongside Seychelles and Mauritius. But the cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute and take a long time to conclude.
Somali pirates used to terrorise the Indian Ocean, seizing ships every month and secured hundreds millions for ransom, until the European Union sent an anti-piracy force that ended the boundless piracy attacks in high seas. Hundreds of pirates were arrested and are now serving long jail terms in different countries and in prisons in the northern Somali semiautonomous region of Puntland and the neighbouring breakaway region of Somaliland.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Report Says East African Countries Face Increasing Threat From Al-Shabaab
15 August – Source: The Washington Post – 427 Words
Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants pose a rising threat to nations across East Africa, which are among the continent’s fastest-growing, according to a report released Monday by a regional bloc of eight countries.
The report by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development notes that Al-Shabaab, like the Islamic State militant group, has been able to recruit young men and women from countries beyond its power base. The report also includes new details about terrorists who “exploit weaknesses to operate across the region’s borders.”
Al-Shabaab “is clearly no longer an exclusively Somali problem, and requires a concerted international response,” according to the report, titled “Al-Shabaab as a Transnational Security Threat.” The report’s conclusions underscore a shift in assessments about Al-Shabaab, which has shown resilience in the face of setbacks in recent years. Until recently, the governments of East African nations had played down the regional threat posed by the al-Qaeda affiliate, rarely sharing intelligence or coordinating counterterrorism campaigns.
After emerging in Somalia in 2006, Al-Shabaab captured a large swath of the country through years of withering guerilla warfare. In recent years, though, many of those territorial gains were lost after a campaign by 22,000 African Union troops and U.S. drone strikes.
Al-Shabaab, however, maintained its ability to carry out spectacular attacks inside and outside Somalia. In 2013, fighters attacked an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, killing 67. In 2015, they attacked a university in northern Kenya, killing 148. Over the past 18 months, Al-Shabaab has been behind a slew of bombings in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, but it has not launched any major attacks elsewhere in the region. That led some to question whether Al-Shabab’s regional ambitions or abilities have waned.
The new report suggests that is not true. It said the group has a presence in five countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Uganda. It said the group maintains “safe houses” in Kenya “within which they can securely meet, plan, and execute operations. Al-Shabaab is also “actively developing new external operations in Ethiopia,” according to the report.
Government Forces Capture 4 Locations From Al-Shabaab In Somalia
15 August – Source: Xinhua News – 126 Words
Somali National Army (SNA) backed by African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) on Monday captured four locations near Bardhere town in southern Somalia’s Gedo region from Al-Shabaab militant group. Somali Army Commander in the area, Osman Sheikh, told journalists in Mogadishu that the operation was aimed at liberating key areas where the militants were hiding and planning terrorist activities in the region.
“SNA’s 9th Division carried out the operation against militants in Matano, Anole, Tubako and Qutaley locations about 30kms south of Bardhere town. We are now in full control of all the four regions. However, the terrorists escaped during the operation but we shall pursue them,” Osman said. The Al-Shabaab militant has often carried out roadside attacks against AU and Somali government administration in the region.
UNHCR Steps Up Repatriation Of Somali Refugees From Kenya
15 August – Source: Xinhua News – 441 Words
The UN refugee agency has voluntarily repatriated 2,272 Somali refugees from the Dadaab camp in northwest Kenya between July 16-31. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its bi-monthly report received in Nairobi that some 1,272 returnees were supported to voluntarily return to Somalia.
“Some 1,061 returnees were transported by road, while 211 persons returned to Mogadishu by flight,” the UN refugee agency said on Monday: “In total, as of July 31, 19,523 Somali refugees had returned home since December 8, 2014, when UNHCR started supporting voluntary return of Somali refugees in Kenya, out of which 13,322 were supported in 2016 alone,” it said.
During the reporting period, 1,581 individuals also visited the Return Help Desks where they received return-related information or were processed for repatriation, adding that there has been a sharp increase of refugees visiting the return help desks. Kenya,in collaboration with the UN refugee agency, is working on a program that will ensure a smooth and voluntary repatriation of over 500,000 refugees living in five camps at the Dadaab refugee camp after Nairobi announced the closure of the camp.
Kenya, which hosted protracted negotiations that culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government of Somalia, says the refugee situation continues to pose security threats to Nairobi and the region apart from the humanitarian crisis. Nairobi believes Somali militants, Al-Shabaab, who killed 148 people at Garissa University in April 2015, are behind a spate of insecurity that has hit several parts of northern, Nairobi and coastal regions.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Now, members of the East African community can communicate directly at the State Capitol through future state Rep. Ilhan Omar, and their voices will not need to be interpreted or translated. That is a true measure of inclusion” — Abdi Warsame is a member of the Minneapolis City Council.
A welcome Somali Voice At The Minnesota State Capitol
13 August – Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune – 703 Words
While I supported and campaigned for Mohamud Noor in the recent DFL primary election in Minnesota House District 60B, I wholeheartedly welcome Ilhan Omar’s victory. It truly is a historic moment for the Somali diaspora and all Minnesotans. For Minnesota’s Somali community to have the first Somali legislator in the country is amazing. And it is even better that that person is a woman.
Almost three years ago, my election to the Minneapolis City Council was heralded around our city, our country and even throughout the Somali world. At every moment since, I have felt a special responsibility to act as the voice of a people who have become refugees and severely dispossessed. I’m sure Omar is already receiving the same and perhaps even greater attention.
This is wonderful news for a community in great need. I soon will have a partner from the community in the Legislature and I look forward to the day when that voice will be heard in St. Paul. As the Sixth Ward council member, my first obligation is to my ward. And the Sixth Ward is home to many people, most of whom are not East Africans. In my two and half years on the City Council, I have been able to see the streets in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood rebuilt and those same streets renamed to honor the East African community.
Cedar-Riverside is the East African equivalent of Ellis Island. We also formed a sister-city relationship with Bosaso, Somalia. And although some would consider this a mere symbol, it is anything but. Just this week Mayor Betsy Hodges welcomed Bosaso’s mayor to Minneapolis, an event that promises friendship, hope and opportunity to a part of the world that desperately needs all three.
The job of a council member required that I work to improve our parks, adding a new pool at Phillips Community Center and helping to adopt the 20-year park plan that will bring dramatic improvements to Sixth Ward parks like Currie, Matthews, Phillips and Eliot — and do so through a requirement that racial equity be a central aspect of the plan. Many times I have been called to address state issues that affect East African day care providers or language interpreters, as well as special projects affecting the East African community. I was honored to try to help, and I found key supporters like Rep. Phyllis Kahn and Sen. Kari Dziedzic were very effective advocates who helped kill bills that would have crippled East African businesses.