July 26, 2018 | Morning Headlines
SNA Seizes Cache Of Weapons Bound For Al-Shabaab In Bardhere Town
25 July – Source: Halbeeg News – 175 Words
Somali soldiers have seized a deadly cache of weapons in Bardhere town from three cars bound for Al-Shabaab fighters in Gedo region. A military official, who spoke to the Somali military owned radio station, said Somali soldiers intercepted the vehicles suspected to have been ferrying weapons to Al-Shabaab, during an inspection at a security checkpoint in the outskirts of the town. “The forces seized weapons, which include 20 PKM rifles, 50 boxes of ammunition and several other rifles,” the officer told the station.
According to the officials, several suspects have been arrested in connection with the confiscated weapons. Al-Shabaab has not yet commented on the claims by the Somali military. Most of Al-Shabaab fighters fled the region following the intensive operations by the SNA and AMISOM joint forces.
SNA and AMISOM launched security operations aimed at opening the main roads linking towns in Gedo and Lower Jubba regions, that had been blocked by Al-Shabaab. The militia group, which wants to topple the internationally recognized Somali government, has been fighting government soldiers in southern Somalia.
Key Headlines
- SNA Seizes Cache Of Weapons Bound For Al-Shabaab In Bardhere Town (Halbeeg News)
- Six Soldiers Killed In Somalia Explosion (Mareeg News)
- Somali Troops Carry Out Massive Security Operation In Mogadishu (Shabelle Media)
- Norfund’s $10m To Support Somali Small Businesses (The East African)
- Tea That Breaks Your Head (Deutsche Welle)
- As Fear And Paranoia Fill Their Minneapolis Community Two Somali Teens Turn To Basketball (The Washington Post)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Six Soldiers Killed In Somalia Explosion
25 July – Source: Mareeg News – 142 Words
At least six government soldiers have been killed late on Wednesday in landmine explosion near Wanlaweyn town, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the northwest of the capital city of Mogadishu. The explosion targeted a military vehicle carrying Somali soldiers, who were escorting a convoy of food and other logistical supplies to Balidogle airport.
Ballidogle is an airbase where US marines offer specialized training to Somali soldiers. It is situated 70 miles northwest of Mogadishu. According to a witness, the explosion went off in the area between Afgoye and Wanlaweyn towns as the Somali soldiers headed to Balidogle.Somali military officials were unavailable or comment on the bomb attack. There was no immediate claim for responsibility of the explosion. The attack comes hours after a roadside bomb explosion injured at least four military soldiers at Elasha area, some 15 kilometer west of Mogadishu.
Somali Troops Carry Out Massive Security Operation In Mogadishu
25 July – Source: Shabelle Media – 105 Words
Somali government forces have carried out a massive operation in the country’s conflict-recovering capital, Mogadishu, in a bid to thwart possible Al-Shabaab attacks. The operation was conducted in Hawl-Wadag, Kahda and Dharkenley districts, in the city. The operation targeted several houses suspected to be hideouts for Al-Shabaab members.
The crackdown is part of routine operations aimed at beefing up the security in the coastal city, following a string of attacks, including car bombs near the State House. Al-Shabaab has been staging deadly attacks and frequent assassinations in Mogadishu since the group was pushed out of the city in 2011 by Somali and African Union peacekeepers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Norfund’s $10m To Support Somali Small Businesses
25 July – Source: The East African – 307 Words
The Norwegian investment fund for developing countries (Norfund) has set up a $10 million kitty to support small businesses in Somalia. Norfund, together with the Danish investment fund for developing countries (IFU) and Shuraako, an arm of One Earth Future (OEF), have set up the Nordic Horn of Africa Opportunities Fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises.
Dubbed Murabaha, the Sharia-compliant investment instrument can offer financing of up to $25,000. The capital is expected to fund energy, fisheries, agriculture, light manufacturing and hospitality sectors across Somalia to help entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses and contribute to the economy and create employment.
“The fund focuses on post-conflict and fragile states by building sustainable societies,” said Norfund chief executive officer Kjell Roland. Norfund, being the main investor, has committed $3 million, IFU $2 million and Arsenault Family Foundation $2 million. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave $3 million for first loss component.
Other partners are the Development Fund (Utviklingsfondet) a non-governmental organisation active in Somalia and a network of Nordic Somali diaspora. IFU chief executive Tommy Thomsen said they will provide loans “to enable small businesses to grow.” Somalia is recovering from civil war and rebuilding frameworks to attract investment. However, there are few international investments and establishments in the country. The Nordic Horn of Africa Opportunities Fund is, seeking to fill the gap by financing SMEs that have no other sources of capital.
Tea That Breaks Your Head
25 July – Source: Deutsche Welle – 3:17 Minutes
Hussein Guleid had everything many Somalis dream of: A US passport and a promising career in the American health sector. But a trip to the land of his parents in 2016 changed everything. In Somaliland he discovered a peaceful country full of opportunity. He started a thriving business there and never looked back.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“ Basketball is booming in Cedar-Riverside, where participation in youth leagues has more than doubled over the past two years, giving young Somali Americans such as Yusuf and Abdi a valuable platform for expression even as they grapple with questions about their own identity as Muslim teens in America in 2018.”
As Fear And Paranoia Fill Their Minneapolis Community, Two Somali Teens Turn To Basketball
24 July – Source: The Washington Post – 2,226 Words
Feysal Yusuf and Abdikani Abdi don’t know who might be watching them these days, but it wasn’t college basketball recruiters on the first Saturday morning of July. If anyone else was surveilling the skinny Somali American teenagers, they would have found them inside a pale community center at the edge of Little Mogadishu, leading a torrid second-half comeback in an AAU tournament semifinal game in their Minneapolis neighborhood.
That neighborhood, Cedar-Riverside, is representative of the national debate over immigration, refugee resettlement and national security, but now the words were also emblazoned on the new black uniforms of Yusuf and Abdi, the starting backcourt on the neighborhood’s first-ever traveling basketball team. That was enough to not quit after trailing by 20 points, college scouts in the stands or not.
They were down by two on the final possession. Few people watched. A woman walked the elevated track above, sticking her phone into her hijab as a headset. Two men prayed in the corner. Abdi stepped into the sunlight sneaking through the thin windows and swung the ball to Yusuf with a few seconds remaining, but his game-winning shot clanked off the rim. He bowed his head. Abdi rushed over and put his arm around his teammate.
“Good game,” Abdi whispered to Yusuf, and soon they were praying to Allah together near the court. Basketball is booming in Cedar-Riverside, where participation in youth leagues has more than doubled over the past two years, giving young Somali Americans such as Yusuf and Abdi a valuable platform for expression even as they grapple with questions about their own identity as Muslim teens in America in 2018.
They wonder: Have their names been tarnished by the two dozen or so youths that have tried to leave Minnesota for extremist groups overseas? Does President Trump’s travel ban on Somalia and other Muslim-majority countries mean they’re not welcome in this country? And is anyone watching them as part of a controversial government program designed to deter young people from joining terrorist groups, but has instead bred fear and paranoia in their community?
Yusuf and Abdi have basketball, at least, and as faces of their own small movement in Cedar-Riverside, they have been labeled as “ambassadors” by their coach. “It gives you an identity,” Yusuf said of the sport. “It gives you a name.”
The Cedar-Riverside towers in Minneapolis. The city has the largest Somali community in the United States. Cedar-Riverside is nestled between two major highways in downtown Minneapolis and along the banks of the Mississippi River, discernible by colorful paneled towers that house the country’s largest Somali community — an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people in a four-block radius.