July 20, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Ethiopian Troops Lead Big New AU Offensive Against Al-Shabaab In Somalia; Heavy Fighting Raging
19 July – Source: Mail & Guardian, Africa – 396 Words
African Union troops said Sunday they had launched a new offensive against Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab rebels in southern Somalia, vowing to flush the insurgents out of rural areas. The African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, said “Operation Jubba Corridor” was launched on Friday in the Bay and Gedo regions south of the capital Mogadishu along with Somali government troops. Officials and witnesses confirmed heavy fighting was raging near the Al-Shabaab strongholds of Dinsor and Bardhere, and said the militants hit back with a suicide car bomb attack against a convoy of Ethiopian troops, who are leading the offensive. “The operation will ensure that all the remaining areas in Somalia will be liberated and peace restored,” AMISOM said in a statement. A Somali military official in the region, Mohamed Osman, confirmed heavy fighting between AMISOM and Somali troops on one side and the Al-Shabaab on the other. “There are heavy clashes going on between our forces and Al-Shabaab militia along the road that leads to Dinsor. The militants ambushed a military convoy,” he said. Witnesses who live close to the battleground said a suicide attacker struck the convoy with a car bomb loaded with explosives. There were no immediate reports on casualties.
The offensive was launched days after Kenyan government reports that a US drone strike in the region killed at least 30 Al-Shabaab rebels, among them several commanders. It also comes several weeks after last month’s Al-Shabaab assault on a AMISOM base which left dozens of Burundian soldiers dead in one of the single deadliest incidents since AMISOM soldiers arrived in Somalia eight years ago. The Al-Shabaab, meaning “youth” in Arabic, emerged out of a bitter insurgency against Ethiopia, whose troops entered Somalia in a 2006 US-backed invasion to topple the Islamic Courts Union that was then controlling the capital Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab rebels continue to stage frequent attacks, seeking to counter claims that they are close to defeat after losing territory in the face of repeated African Union and Somali government offensives, regular US drone strikes against their leaders and defections.
Key Headlines
- One Dies As Somali Forces Clash With Ahlu-Sunna Fighters In Hananbuur (Goobjoog News)
- Uneasy Calm Returns In Ufurow Following Takeover By Government And AMISOM Forces (Wacaal Media)
- Somalia Government Puntland and Jubaland Agree Joint Communiqué (Garowe Online)
- Somali Cabinet Emergency Meeting Cuts Salary And Increase Member of Parliament Tax (Radio Dalsan)
- Coalition Forces Advancing To Al-Shabaab Stronghold City Of Bardere (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Extends Amnesty For Al-Shabaab Fighters (Mareeg Media)
- Uganda Sending Helicopters To Join Fight Against Al-Shabaab In Somalia Ahead Of President Obama’s Visit To Kenya (International Business Times)
- Ethiopian Troops Lead Big New AU Offensive Against Al-Shabaab In Somalia; Heavy Fighting Raging(Mail & Guardian Africa)
- Shoppers Businesses Return To Nairobi’s Westgate Mall (wpxi.com)
- Somali Community Leaders Push Voter Initiative (Press TV)
- A Joyous Eid In Somalia: Ugaaso Abukar Boocow’s Instagram Photos Capture The Celebrations In Mogadishu (Huffington Post)
- The (Im)possibility Of The Ethiopian Somali Pt. I (Maandeeq.com)
PRESS STATEMENT
AMISOM And Somali National Army Launch Military Offensive Against Al-Shabaab In Bay And Gedo Regions
19 July – Source: AMISOM – 187 Words
A military offensive against Al-Shabaab in the Bay and Gedo regions of Somalia, codenamed ‘Operation Jubba Corridor’ is underway with the aim of flushing out the terrorist group from the rural areas. The operation being undertaken by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali National Army (SNA) troops follows recent successful operations that have seen the militants pushed out of most regions of the country. AMISOM and SNA troops started the operation in Qansax Dheere and Fafadun on Friday. The operation will ensure that all the remaining areas in Somalia will be liberated and peace restored.
AMISOM Deputy Force Commander Operations and Plans Major General Mohammedesha Zeyinu says the aim of the operation is to eliminate Al-Shabaab in the few rural areas it still occupies. “This operation seeks to clear Main Supply Routes to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid to the population and flash Al-Shabaab from all the said areas, ensuring full control by the Federal Government of Somalia,” he said. Maj. Gen. Mohammedesha emphasized AMISOM’s commitment in offering support to the Somali National Army and ensuring peace is fully restored in Somalia.
NATIONAL MEDIA
One Dies As Somali Forces Clash With Ahlu-Sunna Fighters In Hananbuur
19 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 207 Words
At least one person was killed when fighting erupted between Somali National Army (SNA) and moderate Islamist group Ahlu-Sunna Wal Jama’a in Landheer locality of Hananbuur district on Sunday. The clash between the two sides is the first one since the formation of Galmudug state which Ahlu-Sunna rejected. Abdiweli Tohow says fighting between the two started in the morning and lasted for up to an hour resulting in the death of one person. Somali government forces and Ahlu-Sunna fighters have on several occasions engaged in gun battles resulting in casualties on both sides. Ahlu-Sunna took control of DhusaMareb town, the administrative would be capital of the newly formed Galmudug state in June this year when the state formation conference was ongoing in Adado and announced it had nominated its own president for areas under its rule. On 10th july, Ahlu-Sunna Wal Jama’a, declared that its delegates would vacate the conference within 24 hours. Speaking to Goobjoog News, its leader Sheikh Ibrahim Gurre who was among the signatories to Somali central state formation conference put blame on Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdirahman Odawa. Somali government however tried to incorporate Ahlu-Sunna in the Adado state formation conference to no avail.
Uneasy Calm Returns In Ufurow Following Takeover By Government And AMISOM Forces
19 July – Source: Wacaal Media – 111 Words
Somali troops and AMISOM forces took over Ufurow town from Al-Shabaab after launching an offensive in the area. Hussein Abdi Harun, an official with Somali forces said that they were in control of the town which has now seen uneasy calm return. Harun added that they will now embark on an operation to liberate Diinsoor in the next few days. The district is the largest stronghold of the militants in Bay region. Reports indicate that combined forces of Ethiopian and Somali troops were already on their way to the area. Ufurow lies 80 km to Diinsoor. The offensive places more pressure on Al-Shabaab which has been losing grounds to the allied forces.
Somalia Government, Puntland and Jubaland Agree On A Joint Communiqué
19 July – Source: Garowe Online – 178 Words
At the end of week-long talks in Puntland capital of Garowe, Somalia Federal Government, Puntland and Jubaland agreed a joint communiqué on Sunday, Garowe Online reports. The four-point communiqué underlines the need for respect for Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC), safeguard of unity, relations between national government and federal member states and nation-wide healing. Somalia Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Puntland President, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and Jubaland President Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) stressed that federalism policy needs to go hand-in-hand with the constitution. On national unity, parties acknowledged inclusive opposition to elements trying to harm togetherness and stability of Somali people.
“The two administrations of Puntland and Jubaland shared their views on the completion of federal member states in line with the agreed upon constitution,” read the tripartite communiqué. Somali leaders called for reconciliation and national healing across the country. Prime Minister Sharmarke and President Madobe arrived in separate visits to Puntland last week. Relations between UN-backed Federal Government and Federal Member States have been shaky, with Jubaland’s ties to Mogadishu remaining suspended since June 6.
Somali Cabinet Emergency Meeting Cuts Salary And Increase Member of Parliament Tax
19 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 109 Words
Somali government has announced increase of tax on members of parliament and cut salary on grade A civil servant workers. The decision was reached after an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Sunday’s meeting comes after World Bank and government signed a five years agreement on salary payment to civil servants in Somalia last week. It is not immediately clear what triggered the move but it is contrary to economic improvement in the country for the past years since Al-Shabaab was pushed from Mogadishu and other key areas across the country. Some of Somali civil services are funded by Muslim countries such as Qatar and UAE.
Coalition Forces Advancing Toward Al-Shabaab Stronghold City Of Bardere
19 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 191 Words
Somali National Army and African Union Peacekeeping troops continue their advance towards Bardere, one of the last two remaining main cities under Al-Shabaab rule. The allied forces getting hand from locals and Jubaland Interim Administration are reported to be advancing from three directions to the city as Al-Shabaab fighters who have reportedly started to flee to nearby villages. A Somali military commissioner confirmed to the media that there have been some small scale clashes between Al-Shabaab and allied forces but mentioned no casualties so far. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Sayid Adan, a politician who is travelling with the allied forces told Goobjoog News that they are at the edge of recovering Bardere from what he termed ‘terror groups” from the city. “We underlined in Addis Ababa meeting that the first priority should be to wrest all of Gedo region from Al-Shabaab terror organization and now as part of our plan, our focus is Bardere and then we go to remaining parts of the region under the influence of Al-Shabaab.” Bardere is an important agricultural and business city with estimated population of 200,000 and Al-Shabaab have generated a lot of money from livestock in form of zakawat (taxes) to run the group.
Somalia Extends Amnesty For Al-Shabaab Fighters
18 July – Source: Mareeg Media – 216 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called upon members of the armed group Al-Shabaab to ditch what he described the takfiri ideology and join the development of the war ravaged nation. Speaking during Eid on Friday to thousands of Somalis in Mogadishu’s main mosque, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said his government is open to any member of the group who is ready to shun the violence and take part in the rebuilding of the security of the country. “The government has welcomed some members who have been significant on the ranks of the group, there was million bounty on their head and now they are happy within the community as we speak,” he said.
He said the hit and run attacks of the armed group in the country will not stop the ongoing security and development progress of the country and the Somali government is ready to forgive the group leaders if they shun violence. “The government does not want to revenge but we will continue talking and welcome anyone who ditches the violent idea,” He urged Somali citizens to embrace the spirit of forgiveness and to take advantage of the Eid festivity. Meanwhile a statement from the President’s office has confirmed that President Mohamud has pardoned 79 prisoners to honor the Islamic holiday of Eid.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Uganda Sending Helicopters To Join Fight Against Al-Shabaab In Somalia Ahead Of President Obama’s Visit To Kenya
19 July – Source: International Business Times – 309 Words
With President Obama scheduled to visit Kenya later this week the Ugandan military is deploying attack and transport helicopters to bolster its forces fighting the al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab insurgency in bordering Somalia. This is the latest push from the African Union force, which includes Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone, to flush the terrorist group from rural areas. President Obama will be addressing the three-day summit on global entrepreneurship in Nairobi that begins Friday. The U.S. State Department last Monday issued a travel alert for the weekend of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, saying, “Large-scale public events such as this Summit can also be a target for terrorists.” Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said Sunday the helicopters would be carrying out operations against Al-Shabaab as well as evacuating the injured and improving communications. “Our lines of communication are too long and it’s been difficult to evacuate the injured or the sick soldiers. These air assets will boost our operations against Al-Shabaab,” he said.
In August 2012 the first helicopter deployment to Somalia resulted in three of the aircraft crashing in Kenya, killing seven crew members. The African Union also launched a two-phase offensive Friday to draw Al-Shabaab out of their last major stronghold in Tarako and in other areas of the Gedo and Bay regions. Al-Shabaab has taken responsibility for a number of attacks in Kenya in the past few years. Militants from Al-Shabaab were responsible for the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people in 2013. The mall reopened Saturday with bolstered security measures including X-ray machines, explosive detectors and bullet proof guard towers. Earlier this month Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for an attack in Kenya’s Mandera County that killed at least 14 people and injured 11 others. In April Al-Shabaab attacked Garissa University in northern Kenya, killing 147 people in its deadliest attack to date.
Shoppers, Businesses Return To Nairobi’s Westgate Mall
19 July – Source: wpxi.com – 221 Words
Nearly two years after the deadly terrorist attack on Nairobi, Kenya’s Westgate mall, the shopping center has reopened.Hundreds of shoppers showed up Saturday for the reopening of the mall where Al-Shabaab militants killed 67 people and injured 175 in 2013. Now, the mall is stepping up security with the addition of X-ray machines, explosive detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs, bulletproof guard towers and more. While about half of the mall’s original tenants returned, the BBC reports the horrific memories of 2013 have kept some shoppers and shopkeepers away. “Rachel is not going back. The militants’ grenade exploded right on her foot making her wary of returning to Westgate,” the BBC reports. The reopening comes days before President Barack Obama is set to make a trip to Kenya and meet with local officials. The country’s security is one of the topics for discussion in those meetings according to Kenya’s The Daily Nation. While Kenyan officials have stressed security in their country is much improved, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi appeared to be wearing a bulletproof vest when meeting with officials there last week — a move local media mocked. Al-Shabaab has been a growing threat in Kenya in recent years. Based in neighboring Somalia, the Al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for a university attack in northeastern Kenya that left 147 dead in April.
Somali Community Leaders Push Voter Initiative
18 July – Source: Press TV – 378 Words
The Somali community is gearing up for an initiative to get voters to the polls during early voting. The community, working with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, has been helping those with citizens register to vote as well as educate people on the voting process, including machines.Abib Ibrahim, who is helping lead the Somali community’s voter engagement campaign, said Somali-Americans are proud to take part in the election of leadership in Nashville. “As more of us become citizens and are eligible to vote, I believe we have to work together to make sure our community participates in elections. It’s our right and responsibility as new citizens,” Ibrahim said in a statement to The Tennessean. The Somali community is growing and has emerged as a significant voting bloc, said Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the coalition. Many who come as refugees are eligible to become citizens five years after resettlement.
The coalition is hosting a voter education dinner at the Somali Community Center to teach people about voting machines and the election process. It has compiled a guide to help people — many of whom would be voting for the first time — learn about the candidates. The group will “be on the radio, working sort of every day to get folks to the polls,” said Teatro, who expects to have about a dozen events ahead of the election and run-off election. Part of voter education is explaining the importance of voting for mayor and the council. The defacement of a mosque in 2010 underscored the importance of who sits in the mayor’s office. Mayor Karl Dean was among the first to condemn the act. Dean’s stance as well as increased work between the Somali community and the council on taxi licenses has shown the importance of exercising the right to vote, said Teatro. Fozia Ahmed, a multicultural organizer with TIRRC, said the Somali community is ready work with the new mayor and council. “Really we’re building a culture of civic engagement in the Somali community. This month we’re making sure Somali-American voters are going to the polls,” said Ahmed. “Maybe soon we’ll have a Somali-American running for office.” A voting caravan scheduled for Saturday was rescheduled to July 25because of conflicts with Ramadan celebrations.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“I find hope in the resiliency of the Somali people. They’ve been through so much, but they’re so graceful, so wilful, so determined to move on. It’s impressive!” she told HuffPost.”
A Joyous Eid In Somalia: Ugaaso Abukar Boocow’s Instagram Photos Capture The Celebrations In Mogadishu
18 July – Source: Huffington Post – 202 Words
As Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr on Friday, Ugaaso Abukar Boocow was in Somalia, capturing the festivities in the country for her more than 90,000 Instagram followers. Boocow, a 27-year-old civil servant living in Mogadishu, sees herself as an ambassador of sorts for Somalia. Since 1991, Somalia has endured civil war, a broken economy, most recently, terrorist attacks from militants groups like Al-Shabaab. But there’s another side to life in Somalia, one that Boocow wants to share with the world. The woman’s Instagram feed is filled with images of beaches, food, and festivities — interjected with humorous sketches about Somalian culture. This was Boocow’s first year celebrating Eid in Somalia. Born in Canada, she fell in love with the country after traveling to Somalia to visit her mother. “I find hope in the resiliency of the Somali people. They’ve been through so much, but they’re so graceful, so wilful, so determined to move on. It’s impressive!” she told HuffPost. Boocow agreed to take over HuffPost Religion’s Instagram feed on July 17, giving us a glimpse of what it’s like to celebrate Eid in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. Scroll down to see her photos and follow her on Instagram for more.
“The annual “Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Day” was hosted in the Somali region in 2014. At the same time, the collapse of the nation-state in Somalia and the demise of Greater Somalia as a political aspiration has given way to new sovereigns, forms of governance and political subjectivities both within and beyond the boundaries of Somalia. These two critical historical junctures have enabled a rethinking of both Somaliness and Ethiopianness in relation to these post-1991 state formations, producing new configurations of identity, ethnicity, nationality and citizenship. The Ethiopian Somali is now a thinkable, though contentious, category.”
The (Im)possibility Of The Ethiopian Somali, Pt. I
17 July – Source: Maandeeq.com – 720 Words
My dissertation research focuses on Somali nationalism as a spatial imagination – the ways in which Somalis imagined new geographies for the Horn of Africa, and for a time sought to reorganize political space into a Somali state without colonial boundaries: a Greater Somalia. To speak of the geography of the Somali people is to describe a cultural, ethnic and linguistic landscape which can be mapped across four states: Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya. It invokes a cultural nation that both preexisted and exceeds the boundaries of the contemporary nation-state of Somalia. It points to a history of the multiple colonialisms governing Somalis: Ethiopian, French, British, Italian – and how they have shaped the geography of the Horn. Though my work is historical and traces the pan-Somali imagination to its end with the overthrow of the military dictatorship of Mohamed Siyaad Barre and Somalia’s plunge into civil war, I am interested in the afterlives of Somali nationalism and how Somaliness has been remapped and reconstituted in new ways.
Nowhere has that perhaps transformed more than in Ethiopia since 1991. The Somali region of Ethiopia first came under Ethiopian rule with the formation of the modern Ethiopian nation-state at the turn of the 20th century. It was the culmination of decades of centralization efforts by succeeding emperors to consolidate their traditional northern Ethiopian highland polities, followed by an expansionist turn south and southeast under Emperor Menelik II, doubling Ethiopia in size. Ethiopian claims to the Somali region were ratified in a series of treaties between Menelik and the European powers occupying neighbouring Somali colonies in 1897, and by 1932, Ethiopia’s borders with French Somaliland, British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland were demarcated under Emperor Haile Selassie. The Ethiopian empire that expanded into the Somali region carried with it a northern highland definition of national identity. These included religious and cultural symbols rooted in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, the Amharic language, a feudal land tenure system and ox-plough agriculture. Ethiopianness was thus synonymous with these northern particularities in imperial Ethiopia, and the incorporation of lowland peoples into the empire – many of whom, like Somalis, had other languages, were Muslim or practiced indigenous religions, and engaged in pastoral agriculture – were through policies of assimilation.