July 24, 2018 | Morning Headlines
AMISOM Hits Al-Shabaab In Air Strikes Hours After Bar-Sanguni Attack
23 July – Source: Halbeeg News – 194 Words
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) mounted a counter-offensive strike against Al-Shabaab as the group was amassing its fighters outside Bar-Sanguni village. Hundreds of heavily armed Al-Shabaab fighters stormed SNA military base in Bar-Sanguni Monday morning leading to hours of fighting between the group and SNA soldiers.
Reports say AU military planes conducted air strikes against Al-Shabaab in retaliation of the Monday dawn raid. Details of the aerial attack against Al-Shabab are yet to be disclosed. Meanwhile, the Somali military was deployed to the area and took positions around the camp. According to military sources, Somali and AMISOM troops are conducting operations to pursue perpetrators of the Monday morning raid.
Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the dawn attack on the SNA military base, said its fighters had killed 27 Somali soldiers: “We first attacked the base with a suicide car bomb and then stormed the place. We killed 27 soldiers and took control of the base,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al-Shabaab’s military operations spokesman. The base, which lies some 50 km (31 miles) away from the port city of Kismayu, is jointly operated by the SNA and forces from Jubbaland administration in southern Somalia.
Key Headlines
- AMISOM Hits Al-Shabaab In Air Strikes Hours After Bar-Sanguni Attack (Halbeeg News)
- Mayor Of Beledweyne Calls On Residents To Pay Taxes (Goobjoog News)
- UNHCR Says It Assisted Over 800 Somalis To Voluntarily Return Home (Halbeeg News)
- Shabaab Attacks Cripple Phone Services In Parts Of Garissa (Daily Nation)
- Gulf States In Dangerous Scramble For Africa (Middle East Eye)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Mayor Of Beledweyne Calls On Residents To Pay Taxes
23 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 126 Words
Beledweyne city’s administration has called on residents to pay taxes in order to facilitate public services. Mayor of Beledweyne, Ali Abdi Sandheere, said the community of Beledweyne city ought to pay taxes to meet costs of public service delivery. “The condition of business areas and streets within the city is quite unhygienic. Business owners must accordingly pay taxes to city authorities which in turn will take the responsibility of waste management in the town” said the mayor.
“We will carry out a clean up exercise to clear drainages and waste material that has been channeled into the rivers,” said the mayor. Apart from the tax imposed in the transport sector in Hiiraan rand other parts of the region, there are no other direct tax remittances.
UNHCR Says It Assisted Over 800 Somalis To Voluntarily Return Home
23 July – Source: Halbeeg News – 216 Words
United Nations refugee agency has helped over 800 Somalis to be repatriated from four countries during the month of June, the agency said. Over 819,000 Somalis are living outside their county as asylum-seekers and refugees. The majority (767,500) live in neighbouring countries of Ethiopia (256,000), Kenya (255,500) and Yemen (256,000).
In its June Factsheet, UNHCR says Somali nationals have agreed to voluntarily return to their home country: “During the period under review, 825 Somali refugees returned from Kenya (655), Yemen (141), Tunisia (28) and Ukraine (one),” the UN agency said. According to the fact sheet, in June 2018, UNHCR recorded 35,622 Somalis who returned from Yemen spontaneously, out of whom 186 returned in June (1,446 in 2018).
UNHCR said it assisted 83,669 refugees to return to Somalia in safety and dignity from nine different countries of asylum. In the first half of this year, 6,932 Somali refugees have repatriated, representing eight per cent of the total refugees who have repatriated. The majority returned from Kenya (79 per cent), followed by Yemen (17 per cent), Libya (three per cent) and some from other countries of asylum.Since the beginning of the voluntary return programme, on 8 December 2014, 83,669 Somalis have been repatriated to Somalia, according to the agency.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Shabaab Attacks Cripple Phone Services In Parts Of Garissa
23 July – Source: Daily Nation – 457 Words
Residents of Hullugho in Garissa County along the border with Somalia have said that a poor communication network has made their lives difficult for many years now. The situation has been made worse by constant attacks by suspected Al-Shabaab militants who destroy communication masts put up by mobile service providers.
Hullugho is situated 18 kilometres from the Kenya-Somalia border. Residents say their daily lives have literally been turned upside down as they are forced to trek for miles to make telephone calls. They are also forced to travel to other towns to use mobile money transfer services.
The lucky and youthful ones scale up trees to get better network on their mobile phones.
“Lack of communication has thrown us ten years back. All sectors including education, health and business are affected. There is an urgent need for the restoration of network coverage,” Mohamed Samriye told Daily Nation in Ijara.
The former civic leader told Nation that many people have closed business thus affecting the local economy. He added that communication is a basic need that every developing country should prioritise on. Mr Samriye said all elected leaders starting with the President should ensure the restoration of network coverage in the area, noting that lack of it will contribute to underdevelopment.
“We need local leaders to come down to the areas affected by lack of network coverage so that they know the dilemma their electorates are facing,” he added.
The Nation could count numerous M-Pesa shops and vegetables stalls that have been closed down following the destruction of communication masts, with residents saying they depend on mobile network coverage for their business.
The Somali-based militants have destroyed several communication mast along the Kenya-Somalia border leaving residents of Hulugho, Fafi, Ijara, Sangailu and some parts of Dadaab in desperation. Two weeks ago, the militants damaged a Safaricom mast in Hamey, Dadaab.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Already, reports from Mogadishu suggest that the parliament has split along pro-Emirati and pro-Qatari lines, and divisions between the government and its regional rivals have hardened. The question now is whether Somalia will continue recent efforts to bridge internal divides in its own government and unite against attempts to turn it into a proxy state – or succumb to its already longstanding divisions”.
Gulf States In Dangerous Scramble For Africa
20 July – Source: Middle East Eye – 1,026 Words
The Horn of Africa might be most infamous for the pirates that lurk along its coastline, capturing oil tankers and holding their crews to ransom. Yet the region is rapidly assuming global political significance, its internal tensions both fuelling and exacerbating a race among foreign powers to gain influence.
Observers worry that this modern-day scramble for Africa could have dangerous consequences not only for the region, but for other key powers, from the Middle East to the US. Somalia has now emerged as a proxy battleground for the UAE and Qatar
According to a new report from South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Somalia is being increasingly battered not only by the threat of pirates and the extremist group al-Shabab, but also by the growing menace of meddling from Middle Eastern actors – notably from the Gulf. If Somalia is to withstand so much added pressure, the ISS says, it must focus on achieving internal unification, or run the risk of losing out on any benefits of new investments and other activities. It’s a tall order for many states, but especially for one like Somalia.
Indeed, in a process that has remained largely under the radar until recently, Somalia has now emerged as a proxy battleground for the UAE and Qatar. The two countries have been sworn enemies since Abu Dhabi boycotted Doha last year, and now they are both pumping money into Somalia, but backing opposing sides. Qatar has supported the Somali government with nearly $400m of aid, while its ally, Turkey, has opened a $50m military base with Mogadishu’s blessing.
In response, the UAE has thrown its weight behind the would-be secessionists of Somaliland, establishing its own military facility as part of a $400m joint venture in the port city of Berbera, despite vehement protests from Somali ministers. A similar squabble is taking place in Eritrea, but in reverse; the UAE supports the official government and established another base, while Qatar is accused of supporting opposition radicals. The Horn has witnessed nine major internal or external conflicts in the last 30 years, creating a political vacuum that has helped nurture groups such as al-Shabab