January 21, 2016 | Morning Headlines
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Blames ‘Disintegrated Forces’ For Escalating Insecurity
20 January – Source:Wacaal Media – 116 Words
President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has blamed Somalia’s escalating insecurity on lack of coordination among forces of the different federal member states. Speaking in Baidoa, where he attended the inauguration of the Interim South West Administration (ISWA) state’s Parliament, the President stressed the need for a synchronised national force, “that can jointly face its enemies”.
He added that it was incumbent upon the Federal Government, which he leads, as well as the federal states to urgently come up with plans to give Somalia an integrated national force. The President appealed for support from the Defence ministry, which he noted was already progressing towards this initiative.
Key Headlines
- President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Blames ‘Disintegrated Forces’ For Escalating Insecurity (Wacaal Media)
- Somalia President Wraps Up Training Of Commandos (Horseed Media)
- Sporting Activities At Benadir Stadium Suspended (Wacaal Media)
- AU Convoy Repulses Al-Shabaab Attack In Somalia (Xinhua)
- Interim South West Administration Inaugurates Regional Parliament In Baidoa (UNSOM)
- Muslim Man Dies After Protecting Christian Bus Passengers From Al-Shabaab Terror Attack In Kenya(The Independent)
- School Is Back In Session In Garissa For Now (Foreign Policy)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia President Wraps Up Training Of Commandos
20 January – Source: Horseed Media – 285 Words
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud on Wednesday presided over the closing ceremony of a training of Somali commandos in the capital of Mogadishu. Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, Federal Government officials, UAE ambassador to Somalia, dignitaries from the, the United Nations and the international community, are among those who gathered at a military academy to participate in the ceremony marking the graduation of the commandos.
The train-and-equip mission, part of a long-term, multi-lateral UAE-Somalia partnership to promote security and stability in the country, will assist the Somali government in its ongoing efforts to deal with militant groups like Al-Shabaab, according to military officials. During the ceremony, President Mohamoud explained the significance of the training for the nation. He encouraged the newly-trained commandos to take up their responsibilities: “We are expecting all of you to eliminate terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab from our midst and execute the necessary duties assigned to you.’’He thanked the UAE government for supporting Somalia in terms of humanitarian and military aid.
On his side, UAE ambassador Mohammed Ahmed Osman Al Hammadi pointed out that his government will continue to support Somalia as it recovers from the ruin of over two decades of civil war. Somalia’s national army has been torn apart by decades of clan rivalries and the absence of an effective central government to serve. In the past few years, UAE has established several humanitarian and development projects in the country. It has also provided military aid to the federal government and regional administrations.
Sporting Activities At Benadir Stadium Suspended
20 January – Source: Wacaal Media – 90 Words
The Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has suspended sporting activities at Mogadishu’s Benadir stadium. Announcing the directive, the assistant minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Osman Adan Dubow said the move comes after the ministry realized financial misappropriation and unofficial levies. He said his ministry was not aware of any collections at the stadium, even as spectators complained of exorbitant entrance charges. He emphasized the need to regulate activities in the country’s biggest football pitch. The Stadium will however be reopened after the necessary measures are put in place.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU Convoy Repulses Al-Shabaab Attack In Somalia
20 January – Source: Xinhua – 197 Words
A convoy of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) has repulsed an ambush by Islamist group Al-Shabaab Wednesday morning, a local official said.The AMISOM convoy was travelling from the Somali capital of Mogadishu to the port city of Barawe in Central Somalia when the attack took place, Hussein Barre, the governor of Barawe town, told Xinhua by phone.”They (Al-Shabaab militants) attempted to lay ambush on the AMISOM convoy but were easily overpowered. The troops opened fire on the militants who immediately fled the area,” said Barre, adding there were no casualties.
A witness told Xinhua there were sounds of heavy gunfire in the area.”We heard heavy gunfire in Golwayn village which is not far from the town and we learnt Al-Shabaab had attacked an AMISOM convoy,” said Abdullahi Jimale, the witness.The attack came barely a week after Al-Shabbab stormed an African Union (AU) military base in El-Adde, southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab claims to have killed 100 Kenyan soldiers in the attack but the exact number of casualties are yet not known.Al-Shabaab was flushed out of Barawe late 2014 by a joint operation between the Somali army, AMISOM and the U.S. military.
Interim South West Administration Inaugurates Regional Parliament In Baidoa
20 January – Source: UNSOM – 358 Words
The regional parliament of the Interim South West Administration (ISWA) has formally inaugurated in Baidoa today. ISWA President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan outlined the tasks ahead for the regional parliament. “The immediate tasks to be undertaken by the new parliament include reconciliation in south west regions and the whole of Somalia, liberation and reconstruction of the remaining areas in south west, and (enacting) legislation,” he stated.
The newly elected Speaker of the regional assembly, Abdukadir Sharif Sheikhuna, promised good results. “I wish to announce and pledge before you, in the presence of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Speaker of the Federal Parliament, that we will work diligently to uphold the federal and regional constitutions. As a parliament, we will do our best to be united, collaborative and strive to bring law and order in Somalia,” said the Speaker.
The ceremony was also attended by Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the Speaker of the Federal Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari , President of Interim South West Administration Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister and Chairman of the InterGovernmental Authority on Development Council of Ministers Tedros Adhanom, the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General (DSRSG) for Somalia, Raisedon Zenenga, and the Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Lydia Wanyoto, among others.
“The United Nations is very pleased to join you in marking a major milestone in the implementation of federalism in Somalia, and in reaching a new milestone today with the inauguration of the regional assembly,” said Mr. Zenenga. The DSRSG lauded ISWA for allocating 30 seats in the regional parliament for females.
Muslim Man Dies After Protecting Christian Bus Passengers From Al-Shabaab Terror Attack In Kenya
20 January – Source: The Independent – 491 Words
Kenyan man who was shot while shielding Christians from an attack by Al-Shabaab militants has died of his injuries in hospital. Salah Farah was among a group of Muslim bus passengers who refused to be separated by the al-Qaeda linked terrorists last month.Knowing that the Christians would be massacred as soon as they were identified in a horrific pattern repeated in many recent attacks, the group told the gunmen to kill everyone or leave.The Islamists let the bus go on its way to Mandera but not before killing two of those on board and injuring three others.Mr Farah, a father-of-five, was taken to a local hospital with bullet wounds and then flown to Nairobi for specialist treatment on Christmas Day.
Officials told The Star newspaper he died on Sunday of complications to the injuries.Cleopa Mailu, the cabinet secretary for Kenya’s ministry of health, said doctors had done everything in their power to save his life so he could live as a “teacher of being a brother’s keeper”.Mr Farah’s brother, Rashid, said he hoped his example would encourage Kenyans to live as one community and promote religious harmony.At the time, Mr Farah told the Daily Nation that gunmen stopped the bus and ordered Christians and Muslims to separate.“We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone,” the teacher and deputy headmaster said. “As we argued, they shot me and the boy. One man who also came out of the bus and tried to escape to the bush was shot.”
Speaking to the Voice of America earlier this month, he said he wanted “people to live peacefully together”.“We are brothers,” Mr Farah added. “It’s only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians so that the Christians also take care of us…and let us help one another.” Joseph Boinnet, the Inspector General of Police, told the Standard Mr Farah was a “true hero” and that the government paid to fly his body home to his family in Mandera for burialJust a year before, Al-Shabaab stopped another bus in Mandera in 2014, divided passengers by religion, and shot the 28 non-Muslims dead.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Whether Garissa University can have a successful rebirth — and whether it can persuade students to come and sleep in the same dormitory where more than 100 of their classmates were gunned down — ultimately comes down to whether Kenya can guarantee security in the region. To do that, the government needs locals on its side — and so far, every step forward on this front seems to be followed by two steps backwards.”
School Is Back In Session In Garissa, For Now
19 January – Source: Foreign Policy – 1310 Words
Teaching finally resumed last week at Garissa University, the northeast Kenyan college where Al-Shabaab killed 148 people last April.The attack by the al Qaeda-linked group, which over the last five years has morphed from a Somali insurgency into a regional terrorist threat, was the largest on Kenyan soil since the U.S. Embassy bombing in 1998, and it reinforced the deep and widening rift between Kenya’s marginalized northeast and the rest of the country: The students and teachers who fled Garissa after the attack were just the latest in a long line of educated or professional Kenyans who have abandoned this isolated, conflict-torn region.
But the reopening of the university — which ends nine months of uncertainty about its fate and puts to rest rumors that it might be shuttered or turned into a security installation — reflects the cautious optimism, at least among locals, that the northeast has been brought back from the brink.
After years of heavy-handed police and military operations against Al-Shabaab that eroded the trust between residents and the security services, the Garissa attack catalyzed a total rethink of Kenya’s strategy in the region. The result was a plan to make locals a part of the counterterrorism effort rather than view them as potential suspects.
The biggest change involved putting Mahmoud Saleh, a former provincial police commissioner who hails from the region, in charge of all police operations in the northeast. Saleh helped end a period of rampant banditry and violence here around the turn of the millennium by working with locals to track criminals’ movements. His ability to cultivate human intelligence is legendary, and he is lionized by locals both because of his previous record of success and because he is a native son of the region.