February 19, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Al-Shabaab Denies Kenyan Claims Spy Chief Killed In Air Strike
18 February – Source: Toronto Star – 293 Words
An airstrike killed the head of intelligence of the Somali-based extremist group Al-Shabaab, who is believed to have been among those who planned attacks on Kenyans, Kenya’s military said Thursday. Al-Shabaab denied the claim. Mahad Karate, also known as Abdirahim Mohamed Warsame, was killed along with 10 mid-level Al-Shabaab members and 42 recruits in an airstrike 10 days ago in Nadris camp in Somalia’s south, military spokesman Col. David Obonyo said.
Al-Shabaab denied the claim, saying it was aimed at drawing attention from “significant losses” of Kenyan soldiers in a recent attack by Al-Shabaab in Somalia: “The claims by Kenyan government that it killed what they called the Al-Shabaab intelligence chief is a mere fabrication,” the online Al-Shabaab radio Andulus said. Karate had gone to the camp to preside over a graduation ceremony for an estimated 80 recruits into the Amniyat wing of Al-Shabaab, Obonyo said. Obonyo said suicide bombers deployed from the Amniyat took part last month’s attack on the Kenyan army base in El Adde, Somalia— believed to be worst defeat Kenyan forces have ever suffered in the battlefield. Al-Shabaab claims more than 100 soldiers died in the attack. Kenyan authorities have declined to release the official death toll.
The U.S State Department says Amniyat is Al-Shabaab’s intelligence wing, which plays a key role in the execution of suicide attacks and assassinations in Somalia, Kenya, and other countries in the region. The State Department in April designated Karate a terrorist, saying he played key role in the Amniyat, which was responsible for the April attack on Garissa University College in Kenya that resulted in nearly 150 deaths. Al-Shabaab wants to topple Somalia’s weak government and has launched extremist attacks on neighbouring countries that have sent troops to back Somalia’s government.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab Denies Kenyan Claims Spy Chief Killed In Air Strike (Toronto Star)
- President In Central Somalia After Dispute Disrupts Jowhar Convention (Garowe Online)
- Somali Regional Forces Foil Attempt To Assassinate Jubbaland Minister (Hiiraan Online)
- Kenyan De-radicalization Teacher On $1 Million Prize List (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Security Police Nab 300 Suspects In Operation (Xinhua News)
- U.S. Restricts Visa-Free Travel From Libya Somalia Yemen (Washington Examiner)
- Somalia Halts Campaign On Foreign Languages (Xinhua News)
- Fighting Foreign Languages Serves Not To Preserve Somali Language But Exposes A Leadership Bereft Of Ideas (Goobjoog News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President In Central Somalia After Dispute Disrupts Jowhar Convention
18 February – Source: Garowe Online – 137 Words
Federal Government of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has arrived in Hiran regional capital of Beledweyne on Thursday on a second visit within a month. Mohamud aims to reconcile Hiran and Middle Shabelle clan elders following a misunderstanding that brought to a halt the ongoing state formation convention in Jowhar.
Presidential sources indicate that the President is slated for meetings with community and traditional leaders in Beledweyne. Hiran clan elders pulled out of Jowhar convention to protest at nominees announced by Interior Ministry for the selection of delegates. Locals have not agreed to the government’s allocation, prompting the President’s intervention. Ministers and Members of Parliament failed to break this deadlock in Beledweyne over two weeks ago. Mohamud officially opened Hiran-Middle Shabelle state formation convention in Jowhar on January 12th.
Somali Regional Forces Foil Attempt To Assassinate Jubbaland Minister
18 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 231 Words
Security forces in the Somali port city of Kismayo foiled a plot to kill a regional minister of the Kismayo-based Jubbaland state, Maalin Mohamed Ibrahim. Responding to a security tip-off, the security forces moved swiftly to remove a bomb planted on the minister’s car before he boarded it.
Speaking to journalists after the operation, Mr. Ibrahim blamed Al-Shabaab for the attempt on his life. He vowed that the incident would not deter him from discharging his duties in government: “The people who planted the bomb on my car are the very ones whom we perceive as our close associates,” he said disclosing that the explosives on his car must have been planted at his home. Security officials say they have arrested the suspect behind the foiled assassination bid. By the time of going to the press, no group had officially claimed responsibility for the attempted murder of the minister.
Kenyan De-radicalization Teacher On $1 Million Prize List
18 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 223 Words
A Kenyan teacher, who offers lessons against violent extremism, is one of the ten finalists listed for $1m (£690,000) cash prize for the position of the world’s best teacher this year. Ayub Mohamud teaches at a school identified as a recruiting ground for Islamist militants. He told the BBC media outlet that he was excited and humbled by his nomination by the Varkey Foundation, which works to improve the education of underprivileged children.
Kenya has been hit by several large scale terror attacks in recent years. Last April, at least 148 people died when Al-Shabaab militants attacked a Kenyan university near the border with Somalia, where the al Qaeda linked group is based. It was also behind the four day siege in 2013 at the Westgate mall in the capital, Nairobi, in which 67 people were killed. Mr Mohamud teaches business and Islamic studies in the Somali dominated Eastleigh suburb of Nairobi, which is popularly referred to as “Little Mogadishu”.
For the last five years, he has been discussing deradicalisation in his religious education classes. In a leaked report from 2013, Kenya’s National Intelligence Agency reportedly said that Al-Shabaab militants had been recruiting at Mr Mohamud’s school, Eastleigh High. The teacher told the BBC’s Abdinoor Aden that he believes teachers can contribute to global efforts against terrorism. He said that if teachers gave students critical thinking skills and confidence they would “be able to reject extremists’ demands”.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Security Police Nab 300 Suspects In Operation
18 February – Source: Xinhua News – 245 Words
Somali security forces on Thursday arrested 300 suspects in a swoop conducted in the capital of Mogadishu and its environs to clear the city of criminals, government officials said. The security operation was carried out by Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) in Helliwa and Yakhshid districts of Mogadishu.
Spokesman of Benadir Regional Administration, Abdifitah Omar Halane, said the operation aimed to ensure adequate security in the city and wipe out militants who have been hiding inside the capital to wage attacks on the government: “The operation was carried out by NISA in two districts of Yakhshid and Helliwa. It began last night and concluded this morning, the forces arrested about 300 suspects,” Halane said in Mogadishu.
He said some of the suspects have been released after interrogations while the remaining 26 are being treated as suspects and will be arraigned in court soon: “This is very productive and successful operation against terrorist elements here in the capital,” Halane added. The security operation comes after several deadly terrorist attacks in Mogadishu early this month where a suicide bomber attacked an airline at the international airport.
In January, the insurgents who are allied to Al-Qaida network used vehicles loaded with explosives and suicide bombers to attack military bases belonging to Kenyan troops, killing an unknown number of troops and captured others. They also staged a daring attack at Lidos Beach Hotel in Mogadishu killing several revellers..
U.S. Restricts Visa-Free Travel From Libya, Somalia, Yemen
18 February – Source: Washington Examiner – 137 Words
Travelers who have spent time in Libya, Somalia and Yemen over the last five years won’t be able to travel to the United States without a visa, under a new regulatory interpretation of a January law that puts limits on the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. The three countries join Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria as countries subject to restrictions under the program.
“The addition of these three countries is indicative of the department’s continued focus on the threat of foreign fighters,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday. The department announced the new limits as part of its continuing implementation of a law Congress passed last year in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, and news that some of the perpetrators had spent time with the Islamic State in Syria and elsewhere.
Somalia Halts Campaign On Foreign Languages
18 February – Source: Xinhua News – 207 Words
The administration of Mogadishu in Somalia said Thursday it is temporarily stopping the campaign on removal of signage written in foreign languages in order to give traders time to implement the order. A local government spokesman, Abdifitah Halane told Xinhua the campaign was still on course but that the mayor had given traders an additional ten days to carry out the exercise on their own.
He noted that the move was not aimed at hampering trade in the city. Halane said there was need to preserve and promote the Somali language which is facing competition from other foreign languages: “We started this exercise in order to preserve our language. This came after we realised most of the traders were using English in outdoor advertising and signage,” said Halane.
City officials this week went round the central business district of Mogadishu bringing down boards with foreign languages while other traders decided to paint out sections which had foreign languages. Somali and Arabic are official languages in Somalia but the return of Somalis from diaspora has led to proliferation of other languages which the mayor notes is detrimental to the existence of the local language. Government offices still use English in official documents and communication besides Arabic and Somali.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“For traders in Mogadishu, only two options are at hand either replace foreign words with Somali equivalent or drop it all. But how does this contribute to preserving and protecting our “Afka Hooyo? (Mother tongue)”
Fighting Foreign Languages Serves Not To Preserve Somali Language But Exposes A Leadership Bereft Of Ideas
17 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 411 Words
Mogadishu mayor this week hit headlines for what would constitute, by any standard, wishful thinking. The mayor declared that a “foreign enemy” was descending into the city and that all his energies must now be channeled to expunging this newfound enemy from Mogadishu. The enemy in the corridors of the Mogadishu mayor’s office is foreign languages darting the streets of the capital city.
Yusuf Jima’ale claims foreign languages on signage is killing Somali language. Contrary to what we are forced to believe, Afsoomaali is doing well in both Soomali inhabited areas from Djibouti, Somali region of Ethiopia, Northeastern Kenya and the Republic of Somalia unless those behind these baloney are alluding to something I can’t comprehend now. Whenever an issue of national interest is raised, whether political or social, Somali national leaders are quick to pass a verdict and transform myths into new realities.
Facts are overridden by conspiracies, real analysis are overtaken by hullabaloos and so on. The Banadir governor now thinks fighting criminal elements and putting in efforts to making Mogadishu an investment hub are of less importance than the new found “enemy” – foreign languages. His brief however does not specify what languages qualify as foreign. Some Twitter users were quick to note that Arabic is equally foreign as English is. For traders in Mogadishu, only two options are at hand either replace foreign words with Somali equivalent or drop it all.