January 4, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somalia Government Urges AU To Scale Up Anti-Terrorism Fight To Flush Out Militants
03 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 232 Words
The Somali government says it wants to pool resources with the African Union to boost military operations against the Al-Qaeda militants group in Somalia, which continues attacks against the government and African Union forces. Led by the African Union forces (AMISOM), the multi-pronged offensive in areas still under Al-Shabaab control was halted mid last year, allowing Al-Shabaab more time to organize guerrilla attacks and even recapture towns and villages across Somalia that they had initially lost to the allied forces.
Following high level security talks with the incoming AMISOM force commander, Gen. Mohammedesha Zeyinu, Somalia’s Defence Minister Abdiqadir Sheikh Ali has expressed the government’s commitment to resume the anti-militants offensive aimed at flushing out the militants from the areas still under their control within this year: “The operation aims to oust the anti-peace elements from the country in a very shortest time possible,” Ali told reporterson Sunday.
Earlier, the offensive dubbed ‘Indian Ocean’ was halted after Al-Shabaab fighters launched multiple attacks on the African Union military bases a few months ago. The attackers also looted the bases. The offensive, which saw the AMISOM troops recapture several strongholds from Al-Shabaab, was halted despite the adoption of the United Nations Security Council 2014 resolution that provided logistical and funding for additional troops to be deployed in January this year to bolster AMISOM forces. The latest move will enable the joint forces to launch fresh operations to kick out members of the terror gang. This year, 2016, is crucial in the political calendar of Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Government Urges AU To Scale Up Anti-Terrorism Fight To Flush Out Militants (Hiiraan Online)
- NISA Soldier Executed By Firing Squad In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Ethiopia Flies Troops To Kismayo To Aid Anti Militants’ Offensive (Hiiraan Online)
- Prominent Clan Elder Passes Away While Mediating In Dispute (Garowe Online)
- Somalia Launches Transparency Initiative To Stamp Out Corruption (Hiiraan Online)
- US Shuts Down Drone Base In Ethiopia That Was Used To Target Islamic Extremists In Somali(Associated Press)
- Election 2016 Update: Donald Trump Discounts Al-Shabaab Recruitment Video Featuring His Anti-Muslim Remarks (International Business Times)
- AMISOM Donates Scholastic Materials To Students (AMISOM)
- Somalia Calls For Expansion Of Economic Cooperation With Iran (Islamic Republic News Agency)
- Happy New Year…A major challenge ahead of Somalia in 2016 (Garowe Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
NISA Soldier Executed By Firing Squad In Mogadishu
03 January – Source: Shabelle News – 118 Words
A soldier serving Somalia’s National Security and Intelligence Agency (NISA) has been executed by a firing squad in the capital of Mogadishu for killing a civilian, a military court judge ruled. Blindfolded and tied to a pole at General Kahiye police academy, Mustaf Mahiye Diyow, 29, was shot dead in front of a curious crowd by a firing squad, normally composed of several military personnel. According to military court judge, who spoke to reporters at the execution site, the NISA official was convicted of killing Mohamed Qasim Borow, a civilian on 10th February, 2015 in Mogadishu’s Deynile district. Despite international human rights condemnations of such executions, the Somali Military Court has in the recent past carried out numerous executions against soldiers found guilty of killing innocent civilians.
Ethiopia Flies Troops To Kismayo To Aid Anti Militants’ Offensive
03 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 318 Words
Ethiopia has deployed hundreds of troops and tanks in the port city of Kismayo as part of an AU-led effort to flush out Al-Shabaab militants from regions still under their control, military officials said on Sunday. Ethiopian forces officially joined the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia in January last year after an approval by the United Nations Security Council, which authorized an additional force of over 4000 troops to bring the number of AMISOM peacekeepers in Somalia to over 22,126.
Two helicopters that airlifted the troops and their military hardware from Ethiopia touched down at the town’s airport as local officials received their lead commanders. The two sides discussed a new military strategy aimed at routing Al-Shabaab fighters from the areas still under their control, according to officials who attended the meetings. Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, the Vice President of Jubbaland, a regional administration that controls the Jubba regions, said that the troops were deployed in response to a request from the public to assist the administration in restoring peace and stability in the region.
The region experiences a deadly guerrilla war waged by Al-Shabaab fighters, who continue to launch attacks on AMISOM and local troops, thereby preventing troops from advancing further into the rebel-held territory. Col. Tesfaye, the lead commander of the Ethiopian troops deployed in the town vowed to help ‘liberate’ the region, through coordination with local forces and AU forces from Kenya and Burundi.
Prominent Clan Elder Passes Away While Mediating In Dispute
03 January – Source: Garowe Online – 114 Words
Prominent clan elder Ugas Abdirahman Ugas Khalif Ugas Rooble has died while mediating in a dispute between two clans in Hiiraan’s regional capital of Beledweyne, central Somalia. Relatives and government officials announced the death of Ugas Rooble on Sunday after he succumbed to what doctors described as “sudden illness” at a local hospital. The key traditional leader has resolved many disputes involving local clans in Hiiraan region, with the latest being renewed clan clashes that claimed lives of over a dozen people. In a press statement from his office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud regretted the loss of Ugas, whom he described as a great patriot.
Somalia Launches Transparency Initiative To Stamp Out Corruption
03 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 345 Words
Having lately topped the world’s most corrupt nations index every year, the Somali Government now aims to clean her record and has accordingly launched a new transparency act. The move is aimed at denying authorities opportunity to abuse the system for own selfish interests. The initiative, the first of its kind in decades, may give ordinary citizens access to the government’s budgets and running information on laws and critical decisions as well as allow public participation in the running of government affairs.
Launching the new initiative on Saturday, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said his government would put emphasis on transparency in an attempt to restore public confidence in the government. Somalia’s Finance Minister Mohamed Aden Ibrahim, who proposed the initiative to the cabinet, said it would enable ordinary citizens to use the government’s public records in a ‘constructive’ way and grasp the state system even better.
Encouraged by the increasing number of internet user across the country, Mr. Aden says it’s time for the government to start sharing its data with the people online: “This is an indication that Somalia is moving to the right path, the path for rebuilding and better governance.” He said at a press conference in Mogadishu. The development comes two months after Somalia’s government proposed the establishment an anti-corruption body which would target transparency and accountability in a country which continues to top the world’s most corrupt index every year.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US Shuts Down Drone Base In Ethiopia That Was Used To Target Islamic Extremists In Somali
03 January – Source: Associated Press – 124 Words
A United States official says his government has shut down its drone operation base in southern Ethiopia. U.S. Embassy Spokesman in Ethiopia David Kennedy told The Associated Press by email that a decision has been reached that the facilities in Arba Minch, 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of Addis Ababa, are no longer necessary.
Ethiopian media reported about the base when it was set up in 2011 but the U.S. has never publicly confirmed the existence of the base. A security expert in Addis Ababa said the base was used to attack Islamic extremists in Somalia. Ethiopia is a staunch U.S. ally in East Africa and has sent hundreds of troops to Somalia to counter the Islamic extremist rebel group, Al-Shabaab.
Election 2016 Update: Donald Trump Discounts Al-Shabaab Recruitment Video Featuring His Anti-Muslim Remarks
03 January – Source: International Business Times – 459 Words
Republican front-runner Donald Trump tweeted a response to an Al-Shabaab recruitment video featuring the presidential candidate’s anti-Muslim remarks, saying the Somali terrorist group is “not ISIS” — the Islamic terrorist organization also known as the Islamic State Group. During the last Democratic presidential debate, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said ISIS was using Trump’s remarks in recruitment videos. There has been no evidence such videos exist.
“Al-Shabaab [sic], not ISIS, just made a video on me,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “They all will as front-runner & if I speak against them, which I must. Hillary lied!” SITE Monitoring reported the existence of the Al-Shabaab videoSaturday. It shows Trump saying Muslims should not be allowed into the United States and then shows a clip of radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, saying Muslims in the United States will be forced to choose between leaving and fighting the West at home.
Al-Shabaab seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and replace it with its version of Shariah law. The group also has links to al Qaeda: “Look, there’s a problem,” Trump said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I bring it up. Other people have called me and say, ‘You have guts to bring it up because frankly, it’s true, but nobody wants to get involved. Now people are getting involved. “People that are on different persuasions than me right now, John, are saying, you know maybe Trump isn’t wrong. We want to examine it.” Trump brushed off concern about being used in the recruitment video, saying: “They use other people, too. What am I going to do? I have to say what I have to say. And you [know] what I have to say? There’s a problem. We have to find out what is a problem. And we have to solve that problem.” Trump has raised outrage — as well as support — with over-the-top remarks on a variety of subjects. In addition to suggesting the U.S. block Muslims’ entry into the country, the real estate mogul also has claimed he saw television clips of hundreds of Muslims celebrating the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in Jersey City, New Jersey. No such videos exist, although there were celebrations elsewhere in the world.
AMISOM Donates Scholastic Materials To Students
03 January – Source: AMISOM – 294 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Kenyan Contingent, has donated an assortment of scholastic materials to students of Ganane Primary and Secondary School in Kismayo. The team from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) led by the Sector Kismayo Commander Lt. Colonel John Kipya, donated items that included books, pencils, pens, and chalks to the school.
The AMISOM officials were welcomed to the school by the teachers and students, who expressed gratitude to AMISOM and the Kenyan contingent for the generous gesture. Lt Colonel Kipya said, “Let me take this opportunity first of all on behalf of AMISOM and in particular Kenya Defence Forces to thank the people of Somalia for choosing to work with AMISOM. I want to thank the administration, the leadership of Jubbaland for supporting Kafaalo School. From our assessment here today, there are other areas we shall continue to work together. We also want to thank the children for choosing education as a key in their life.”
Ms. Qamar Dek Kalif, the Minister of Women Affairs and Humanitarian in the Interim Jubbaland Administration (IJA) said, “We as Jubbaland Administration and AMISOM are working to support the people, especially women. Our efforts towards developing women will continue. We knock at doors and encourage women and girls to go to school. We are engaged in motivating the children especially women and girls because they hold the key to the future of Somalia.” Ms. Fahima Mohamed Kahiye, a student at the school said, “I know that education is really important, and without education one cannot go anywhere or do anything. We thank AMISOM and Jubbaland administration for encouraging us to be who we are and get educated. We are our country’s future and we believe we will have a better future in Somalia.”
Somalia Calls For Expansion Of Economic Cooperation With Iran
02 January – Source: Islamic Republic News Agency – 133 Words
Somalia’s Ambassador to Iran Khalif Kadieh Musa on Saturday called for expansion of economic cooperation with Iran.Speaking to a working group in charge of export of non-oil products in Markazi province, he said Somalia is now regarded as the entrance gate to African continent and in case of establishing economic cooperation with Iran some 500 million people can take advantage of Iranian products and services.
Many of African countries are not in good financial and industrial status, and establishment of economic relations between Iran and Somalia could prepare grounds for expansion of cooperation with all African states, he said. Somalia is eager to broaden all out economic cooperation with Iran and welcomes Iranian investors in the country, he said. Somalia’s economy is totally depends on sea products, agriculture, animal husbandry, mining and tourism and the country is willing to broaden cooperation with Iran in all these fields, he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“What’s the most major challenge for Somalia in 2016? Every Somali has his own problem in mind but my New Year message is quite simple. The more you meddle in most appropriate election model, the worse political debate will get. Happy New Year! “ – Abdirashid M. Dahir
Happy New Year…A major challenge ahead of Somalia in 2016
02 January – Source: Garowe Online – 457 Words
Al Hamdulilah (Praise be to Allah). 2015, in fact was both a good and period full of political turbulence for Somalia if you look at different dimensions in economy and politics from a realistic perspective. To be honest, there is a huge challenge ahead of Somali people this year. On the first day, I am glad to wish you a happy New Year. One needs to say that Somalia is recovering more than what analysts penned in various pieces in 2015.
I see recovery because Somali political leaders are today able to give at least, even if we deem it a lip service, some hope to the extent ‘democracy is debated’. Let it be…healthy transition will have to be maintained for the months to come through August when Somalis expect of a lot of effort to yield major breakthrough in the country’s fluctuating landscape.
Before going into details the most major challenge…let me raise a question—will they never let us be? Yet if they do so, are we strong enough to walk down the aisle and pursue ideals based on unity and definitely free of polarization. Spoilers will keep winning as long as Somalia languishes in the climate of tension and polarization as this host of challenges happens to be thorny matter that can again impede a glimmer hope in a peaceful transition later this year.
The tension should be sorted out clearly; what will be the best thing that can subdue the political polarization? Days when elites obsessed with power turn people against each other on tribal grounds are gone; accountability is binding at least according to IGAD special envoy to Somalia Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Afey who fired a rare salvo at Galkayo conference. Demagogic presidents in Somalia are few and far between warned of repercussions of their ugly pursuit for egocentric agendas—not only are they ill-vested with a sense of self-delusion but they are valued in a macho political culture, only practiced in Somalia.