December 16, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Bomb In Teashop Explodes In Somalia’s Capital, Killing 6
15 December – Source: Associated Press – 245 Words
A bomb hidden inside a teashop in Somalia’s capital exploded Thursday, killing four soldiers and two civilians, a Somali military official said. The attack followed a suicide car bomb that detonated in Mogadishu earlier in the day, killing the driver. Military official Ahmed Ali said the soldiers were gathered at the teashop near a checkpoint when the blast, thought to be remotely controlled, occurred. Two other people were injured. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. They come before Somalia holds a presidential election Dec. 28. In the earlier blast, police said a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a restaurant during a high-speed chase near the presidential palace, killing himself and injuring three others. The blast occurred in a heavily guarded area where there are key government institutions, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.
The exact target was not clear, but Hussein said he believed the bomber was trying to ram his vehicle into a car carrying a senior police commander. The commander’s bodyguards were injured in the attack, he said. Somalia’s Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab frequently carries out such attacks. A surge in Al-Shabab attacks could further delay the country’s presidential elections, which have been postponed several times.Al-Shabab opposes the elections. Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in south and central Somalia, al-Shabab continues to launch deadly guerrilla attacks against the Somali government and African Union forces across large parts of the Horn of Africa nation.
Key Headlines
- Bomb In Teashop Explodes In Somalia’s Capital Killing 6 (Associated Press)
- Puntland’s SIEIT Rejects Nullification Of Parliamentary Seats (Garowe Online)
- Deputy Police Commander of Puntland Wounded In Boosaaso (Goobjoog News)
- One Dead As Militia Fight Pro-govt Army Near Abudwak (Shabelle News)
- Somali Militants Cut Off Hands Of Two Accused Thieves: Al-Shabaab (Reuters)
- Al Shabaab Planning Major Attack Mandera Leaders Warn After Masts Destroyed (The Star Kenya)
- Somalia: Vetting Is Not A Game (Immigrationreform.com)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland’s SIEIT Rejects Nullification Of Parliamentary Seats
15 December – Source: Garowe Online – 265 Words
State-level Indirect Electoral Implementation team (SIEIT) has dismissed recent decision made by Federal dispute electoral body to nullify election results for several seats from the Lower House election carried out in Somalia’s regional states. Yesterday, the Independent Electoral Disputes Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM) released a statement, demanding the state-level electoral bodies to discard the results and redo re-election for a total of 11 seats from Jubaland, Galmudug, Puntland, Hirshabelle and Southwest. However, the chairman of Puntland’s SIEIT, Khalif Aw Ali, stated the decision is intended to disrupt the forthcoming presidential election scheduled at the end of this month, and noted the parliamentary elections in Puntland were carried out according to the rules of the electoral process.
He also refuted claims of dispute for parliamentary seats elected in Puntland state and criticized the IEDRM for breaching the rules set for the commission. According to article 14, the concerned sides of the case should be present at the hearing procedures. IEDRM didn’t comply with the rule, added Ali. He said the decision is politically motivated, and described the act of the commission as “black market”. They also attempted to disrupt the Lower House election in Puntland region when it commenced in November 1, said Ali. Additionally, state-level electoral body for Southwest state has also rejected the decision to nullify the seats for 6 MPs elected in Baidoa town. This comes amid the conclusion of parliamentary election in regional states, as the new MPs are set to take part in the swearing-in event in the capital Mogadishu to prepare for the election of new Speakers of both Houses and new President.
Deputy Police Commander of Puntland Wounded In Boosaaso
15 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 94 Words
Reports from Boosaaso the capital city of Bari region confirmed that men armed with pistols injured the deputy police commander of Puntland, Jama Sahardid. Reports added that Sahardiid was in coffee shop, in Bosaso, at the time of attack. Eyewitnesses confirmed that two men armed with pistols shot the man several times and run away. Mr. Sahardiid was famous for his criticism against Al-Shabaab attacks in Puntland and he was one of the Puntland commanders who fought in Qandalla against IS. No individual or group has claimed the responsibility for the attack yet.
One Dead As Militia Fight Pro-govt Army Near Abudwak
15 December – Source: Shabelle News – 145 Words
At least one soldier was killed, and two others wounded in a heavy fighting between fighters loyal to Ahlu Sunna militia group and the semi-autonomous Galmudug state forces in central Somalia on Thursday. The fighting started after armed Ahlu Sunna fighters attacked Galmudug state army base in an area located south of the central town of Abudwak in Galgadud region, according to local residents. Local elders have intervened in the battle and began mediating the sides, to bring an end to the conflict. Many residents in the area reportedly fled their houses due to the battle. Abudwak has been beset by recurrent skirmish between Galmudug and Ahlu Sunna group who are in deadlock over the city’s control. Both sides have fought several times in the past in the town. Galmudug state and Ahlu Sunna are yet to comment on the latest clashes in Abudwak district.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Militants Cut Off Hands Of Two Accused Thieves: Al-Shabaab
15 December – Source: Reuters – 229 Words
Al-Shabaab militants cut off the right hands of two alleged thieves in a region of Somalia controlled by the Al-Qaeda affiliated group, a senior Al-Shabaab official said on Thursday. The Islamist movement has been fighting for years to drive out African Union peacekeepers, topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government and impose its brand of sharia (Islamic law) in the Horn of Africa country. Two men, Farah Bile Mohamud and Quri Osman Abdi, confessed at a trial for stealing money from a shop and a judge ordered the right hands of both to be cut off, the Al-Shabaab governor of the Galgadud region, Sheikh Hassan Ali, told Reuters. The order was carried out on Wednesday, he said. In areas under its control, Al-Shabaab has carried out executions, floggings and single-limb amputations after summary trials on charges including theft or espionage. Al Shabaab once held large swathes of Somalia including Mogadishu before being ousted from the capital in 2011 and losing further ground, though they continue to pose a formidable threat with bombings in Somalia and neighboring Kenya. Kenya’s military forms part of the African Union peacekeeping force that props up Somalia’s central government. Al Shabaab has sought to disrupt Somalia’s protracted parliamentary elections – part of efforts to rebuild the fractured nation after decades of civil war. The three-month vote is due to end on Dec. 29.
Al Shabaab Planning Major Attack, Mandera Leaders Warn After Masts Destroyed
15 December – Source: The Star, Kenya – 316 Words
Mandera leaders have raised concern that Al-Shabaab’s destruction of communication masts in the county could be an indication of a major pending attack.The team led by Mandera Governor Ali Roba said the vandalism denoted economic sabotage and attempts to cut the county off while an ambush is planned.“The terrorists are cutting Mandera from the other parts of the country. They have crippled economic activities and now the isolation plan has moved a level higher,” he told a meeting of all of the county’s legislators on Wednesday. Roba warned that the Al-Qaeda linked terror group based in Somalia was successfully isolating the county from the rest of Kenya.
“With the communication network down, Al-Shabaab will be moving around the county and it will only be a couple of days before anyone notices there is a problem,” he said. The leaders asked the government to urgently take action and stop responding “casually” to their concerns.“No action has been taken since the masts were vandalised. I do not understand how, after the first attack, sufficient security has not been provided to protect all the masts in this county,” said the Governor. He said Mandera’s security needs to be overhauled for the sporadic attacks by Al-Shabaab to end.
OPINION , CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“In short, there is no reliable method for determining whether Somalis are who they claim to be; thus, there may be no way to determine what derogatory information may exist with regard to a particular applicant,”
Somalia: Vetting Is Not A Game
14 December- Source: Immigrationreform.com – 411 Words
The Conservative Review recently reported that the United States has admitted even more refugees from Somalia than it has from Syria: 3,014 for FY17 and 8,000-10,000 per year for the last two decades. According to Lifezette.com, Somali refugee resettlement is up 250 percent under the Obama administration, totaling almost 100,000 Somali refugees since 9/11. The unrestrained admission of Somali refugees is part of a disturbing trend in U.S. immigration policy: prioritizing the resettlement of refugees ahead of the security interests of the American public. As FAIR has previously noted, successful vetting of any aliens is dependent upon access to information that is reliable and verifiable. Problems arise when attempting to vet people from countries that are unwilling to share information or have few reliable public records. Somalia is one of those countries.
A troubled country located on the horn of Africa, Somalia has long suffered from corrupt government, civil war and militant extremism. Due to the lack of any functioning government, Somalia has become a safe haven for terrorists. The principal extremist threat in Somalia comes from the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab, although other Islamist terror groups are known to operate freely within the country . In 2009, the Norwegian body that monitors refugee crises reported that, “Although a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has been established in Somalia, no agencies have been mandated to issue personal documents. Furthermore, there are no registries containing information which can establish the identity of individual citizens.”