January 4, 2017 | Morning Headlines
SNA, AU Forces Push Al-Shabaab Out Of Town In Southern Somalia
03 January – Source: Garowe Online – 117 Words
Somali National Army (SNA) along with African Union troops have seized control of a town in Bakool region from Al-Shabaab militants during a major offensive on Tuesday. General Hassan Baydhabo, a top commander of SNA in the front line said allied troops recaptured Mooro-Gabey, about 30 km south of Hudur town, after Al-Shabaab fighters fled the areas without resistance on Tuesday morning.
The SNA commander said the joint troops will step up their military operations to wipe out the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants from the few remaining pockets in Bakool region. “The Somali Federal government forces backed by AMISOM troops will keep on moving until they eradicate Al-Shabaab and its sympathizers from the entire Bakool region,” he added.
Key Headlines
- SNA AU Forces Push Al-Shabaab Out Of Town In Southern Somalia (Garowe Online)
- Somali Forces Remove 10 Roadblocks In Lower Shabelle (Goobjoog News)
- President Ali Returns Back To Puntland Region (Garowe Online)
- Somali President Affirms Electoral Process A Milestone At A Meeting With Uganda Army Chief (AMISOM)
- Former Puntland VP Denies Joining Somaliland Political Party (Garowe Online)
- Death Toll Rises To 9 In Twin Somali Bombings (VOA News)
- Why So Many Somali-Americans Celebrate Their Birthday On Jan. 1 (Minn Post)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Forces Remove 10 Roadblocks In Lower Shabelle
03 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 285 Words
Somali forces have dismantled a number of roadblocks in an operation aimed at easing transport and curtailing criminal networks which collect money from vehicles plying various routes in Lower region, military officials said on Tuesday. At least 10 roadblocks have been dismantled which have for a long time served as conduits for criminals conducting illegal taxation. The soldiers removed several illegal checkpoints in areas under Afgooye town, according to a military officer who spoke to Goobjoog News.
The officer, who asked anonymity said that the operations were intended to beef up the security of the roads connecting the whole region. “We have removed 10 roadblocks, in the process some the gunmen mounted the roadblocks tried to confront our soldiers but we have dealt them seriously,” he said. The drivers of transport vehicles in Afgoye district welcomed the federal government’s efforts to remove the illegal checkpoints along Mogadishu-Afgoye main road. Mohamud Ali Ahmed, who is among the drivers using Mogadishu-Afgooye road told Goobjoog News that the security of road is quite good compared to the previous weeks after a number of roadblocks were removed and motorists pass the road without disturbances.
Ali stated that the removal of the illegal roadblocks by government forces was an urgent requirement because it affected the owners of the public transport, passengers and residents. The removal of checkpoints from the road connecting Mogadishu-Afgoye allows people to move freely throughout the area without being interfered by the armed groups. Motorists who ply the region have severally complained from extortion by militias who man those illegal roadblocks. There have been attacks on public transport and army installations in most of this part of the region and the forces have been trying to address.
President Ali Returns Back To Puntland Region
03 January – Source: Garowe Online – 248 Words
The President of Somalia’s northeastern region of Puntland, Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gaas has on Tuesday arrived in the seaport town of Bossaso following a 19-day trip to the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
President Ali attended the National Leadership Forum (NLF) conference in Mogadishu that deliberated on key outstanding issues of the Somali electoral process. Speaking to the local media at the Airport, President Ali stated they [NLF leaders] have managed to keep the progress of the Somali election and expressed optimism for Somalia and Puntland in the upcoming Somali election.
But during the press conference, Ali opted not to comment on Somali Federal Parliament’s rejection of the NLF’s decision to expand Upper House seats. He extended condolences to the bereaved families of slain government officials, who were assassinated in Bossaso in December, whereas he commended the security officials for enforcing security in the city following surge of attacks against government officials.
Ali also highlighted on the persistent drought condition that is facing the region, and stated that he will visit drought-stricken areas in the coming days. Puntland people urged the government to intervene and provide the necessary assistance to hundreds of people affected by the harsh drought. Despite Puntland government forming a drought response committee to avert the worsening humanitarian situation, it failed to woo international support amid recurrent trips of Puntland leadership outside the region. Officials from drought-stricken areas, particularly Bandar Bayle district officials criticized government agencies for lack of action to assist affected nomadic families.
Somali President Affirms Electoral Process A Milestone, At A Meeting With Uganda Army Chief
03 January – Source: AMISOM – 299 Words
On a working visit to the horn of Africa nation Tuesday, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala paid a courtesy visit to Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and held talks with his counterpart Chief of the Somali National Army (SNA), Maj. Gen. Mohamed Adan Ahmed. The meeting took place at the presidential palace situated in the heart of the capital Mogadishu. President Hassan Sheikh described the country’s ongoing electoral process as a major milestone for Somalia, adding that the country last witnessed elections in 1969. “It is a journey that is going on. In 2020, the plan is to have one-person one-vote election and the elections will happen in constituencies and in districts far way,” President Mohamud stated.
Gen. Wamala also visited a contingent of African Union troops whom he saluted for their contribution to the country’s electoral process. “Our highest appreciation of what you have been able to do especially in managing the electoral process. I think this is a milestone. It’s something which has got to go down in records that this was achieved,” Gen. Katumba told troops during a meeting, at the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) headquarters today.
The army chief noted that the peace dividends currently being enjoying in Somalia, were a result of improved security in the country. He called on international partners to support AMISOM to further consolidate these achievements. “Many lives have been lost on this land, but this should not go in vain. It is our way of helping our African brothers gain back their country,” he told the troops. Gen. Katumba also presided over a handover ceremony between the outgoing Ugandan contingent commander Brigadier Sam Okiding and incoming commander Brigadier Kayanja Muhanga. The handover ceremony took place at the AMISOM Sector One headquarters in Mogadishu.
Former Puntland VP Denies Joining Somaliland Political Party
03 January – Source: Garowe Online – 144 Words
Former Puntland Vice President Abdisamad Ali Shire, who is on a visit to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland administration, has denied recent media reports that he is planning to join the Somaliland political opposition party Waddani. The reports surfaced following a meeting between former Vice President Shire and chairman of Waddani opposition political party in Hargeisa during this week.
In an interview with Garowe Online, Shire dismissed the allegation and said his visit was for medical purposes. He however said that he is on good terms with officials from Somaliland government and the political parties, adding that this was not the first time he visited Hargeisa. In the interview, Shire stated he will travel back soon to Puntland region after concluding his visit to Hargeisa. Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, but it has not yet attained international recognition.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Death Toll Rises To 9 In Twin Somali Bombings
03 January – Source: VOA News – 449 Words
The death toll in Monday’s twin suicide car bombings near Mogadishu international airport has risen to nine after rescue workers Tuesday found two bodies under the rubble of the Peace Hotel targeted by one of the bombers. Regional officials told VOA’s Somali service that the bodies of a man and a woman were found after the hotel’s security cameras showed them standing near a wall at the impact of the explosion. At least 21 people were injured in the attacks.
The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. This was the second time the group used the tactic of back-to-back suicide vehicles, with the first meant to provoke panic and the second meant to cause maximum casualties. The first of the two explosions targeted a checkpoint manned by Somali national security forces about midday local time. Immediately after the first explosion, a second car drove at high speed through the checkpoint and detonated outside the Peace Hotel opposite the airport, residents said. Both explosions took place near Medina Gate, one of the main entrances of the airport.
Officials said the explosions also destroyed about 10 houses in the area. They said families had contacted rescue workers to report missing children, but none of those bodies have been found.
“First I heard gunshots, then a car explosion and then we took a duck,” said a witness who could not be named for security reasons. “When we came out to help the wounded, we saw a big truck drive through it [checkpoint], and it exploded.” The second explosion was caused by a truck bomb, and it exploded at the road between the airport and the Peace Hotel, witnesses said.
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“For Somalis, there are also historical reasons for the lack of accurate dates of birth. In the early 1960s — when Somalia gained its independence — more people migrated to cities and town across the country for access to education, transportation and employment. As a result, many in the country began to rely on the Western calendar system for work and school schedules as well as for holiday vacations.”
Why So Many Somali-Americans Celebrate Their Birthday On Jan. 1
04 January – Source: Minn Post – 1,075 Words
When Mohamed Cali lived in Somalia, he sometimes saw people blowing out candles on cakes in the Hollywood movies he watched, but he didn’t understand what the practice actually meant. He wasn’t aware that birthdays mean so much in Western countries that people celebrate them every year — a ritual that is uncommon in the East African nation. “If you don’t celebrate your birthday every year, then it’s tough to remember it,” said Cali, founder and president of a Minneapolis-based Somali-language radio station, KALY 101.7-FM.
But then, in the early 1990s, the U.S. government extended its refugee resettlement program to displaced Somali families fleeing clan-based warfare and droughts that brought them to crowded Kenyan refugee camps. And it was in one of these camps where Cali filled out his first application to enter the United States, which the federal government requires of refugees entering the country. He had the right answers to most of the questions on the document, except one. “I knew the year I was born,” said Cali. “But I didn’t know the date and month. [In Somalia], nobody asks your date of birth or your home address or Social Security information to get something.”
To complete the immigration papers, a resettlement official from the United Nations gave Cali Jan. 1 as his legal birth date. As it turns out, that date is a popular one among refugees worldwide — and in Minnesota, where Cali not only shares his official birthday with many other Somali-Americans, but with many immigrants from places that don’t typically have official birth date records, including countries in East Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. All of which is why thousands of foreign-born Minnesotans turned one year older on New Year’s day, a phenomenon now so common that it draws waves of inside jokes this time of year on social media among the state’s immigrant communities.