July 3, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Roadside Blast Kills 2 In Somalia
02 July – Source : Xinhua – 111 Words
At least two people were killed and five others injured on Sunday after a landmine exploded under a minibus in Afgoye, about 30 km north of Mogadishu. A police officer at the scene said the roadside blast targeted a commuter minibus which was ferrying passengers to Afgoye district. “Two people have been confirmed dead and five others injured after the device which we suspect was planted on the road exploded in Afgoye. It was a powerful device,” said the police officer who did not want to be identified. No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack but Al-Shabaab militants are usually behind similar attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.
Key Headlines
- Roadside Blast Kills 2 In Somalia (Xinhua)
- Militants Execute Two Indian Nationals In Southern Somalia (Garowe Online)
- Security Sweep Naps Several People In Galkayo Puntland (Goobjoog News)
- Iran Ups Exports To Somalia By 38 Percent (Farsnews)
- Somaliland’s Children Dying As Drought And Border Dispute Create Fatal Mix (Radioaustralia.net)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Militants Execute Two Indian Nationals In Southern Somalia
02 July – Source : Garowe Online – 181 Words
The Al Qaida-linked militant group Al-Shabaab has publicly executed two Indian nationals in Jilib district, whom it accused of collaborating with western Intelligence. The unidentified foreign Al-Shabaab fighters who were suspected of being spies were publicly executed in an open square in Jilib town in Middle Jubba region on Sunday. Sources said the two foreign fighters were previously involved in many attacks conducted by al-Shabaab fighters in southern Somalia.
The group didn’t release any statement about the killing of the two Indian nationals. Other sources revealed the two were persuading senior Al-Shabaab commanders to defect to ISIS group but mounting pressure by senior Al-Shabaab leaders against it have blocked the move. The deceased former Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane was reported to have killed several Al-Shabaab commanders including Ibrhaim Afghani and Abu Mansoor Al Amirki after opposing his ideology. Godane was later killed in U.S. airstrikes in southern Somalia in September 2014. The militant group Al-Shabaab is fighting government forces and allied African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in a bid to topple the western-backed Somali Federal government in Mogadishu.
Security Swoop Nabs Several People In Galkayo, Puntland
02 July – Source : Goobjoog News – 120 words
Puntland security force have conducted an operation last night in north Galkayo aimed to maintain peace in the town. This come after increase in organised murder incidents in Galkayo by unknown gunmen in the town. Puntland Security officials in Galkayo mentioned the arrests of several people that are suspected to be behind the security unrest in the town. So far there is no official confirmation of the exact number of the persons arrested in the security swoop. The northern part of Galkayo which is under the rule of Puntland State experienced criminal activities that led to loss of several lives. Currently Galkayo town is said to be stable though the security operation affected the movement of people during the exercise.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Pledges To Help Somalia Tackle Challenges
01 July – Source : Xinhuanet – 409 Words
The UN top envoy for Somalia on Saturday said the international community will work closely with Mogadishu to help tackle daunting challenges facing the Horn of Africa nation. Michael Keating, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, said many challenges loom for President Mohamed Farmajo, his government and the leadership of federal states over the next 12 months.
Keating said long-standing disputes over resources and boundaries continue to divide communities, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the twin ravages of drought and terrorism. “The hurdles facing their nation will be overcome, and Somalia can count on the international community for its broad and steadfast support, now and in the future,” he said while congratulating Somalia on the 57th anniversary of independence. Keating said agreements need to be reached through the constitutional review on fundamental issues like resource and revenue sharing.
“There will be differences and disputes, but these can be addressed if there is a collective commitment by the nation’s leadership to work together for the common good. This will also be the best basis for confronting Al-Shabaab and reducing levels of violence,” he said. The envoy said the international community, led by the UN, stands ready to work closely with Somalia leadership and help it promote the state-building process and consolidate the peace and promote the development of the country.
“The UN and international partners are working closely with federal and state authorities to promote justice and human rights, step up humanitarian aid efforts, and develop more transparent and accountable institutions,” Keating said.
Iran Ups Exports To Somalia By 38 Percent
02 July – Source: Farsnews – 353 words
Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization announced that the volume of the country’s exports to Somalia has risen by 38 percent in the last Iranian year (ended March 20. 2017). “Last year, the country’s exports to Somalia, situated in the Horn of Africa, grew by 38 percent as compared to the year before that,” said Farzad Piltan, a senior manager of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization.
The official underlined that Iran’s exports to Somalia had stood at $22 million two years ago while the figure increased by $8 million last year and hit $30 million.
He said that major items exported by Iran to Somalia included vinyl-polychlorine, white cement, biscuits, cooked dough, ceramic tile, bitumen, retail drugs and cast iron cutlery. “The rise in trade volume with Somalia has been due to increased exports of products like White cement, tile, chocolate and minerals,” Piltan added. The official went on to say that a number of new items were also purchased by Somalia over past year, including vinyl-polychlorine, long hydraulic furnace cement, ironware, ampicillin trihydrate, polypropylene and beverages. “Iran had no imports from Somalia in the previous Iranian calendar year,” he added.
In relevant remarks in July 2014, senior parliamentarians from Iran and Somalia, in a meeting in Tehran, expressed hope that the bilateral ties between the two friendly states would witness further enhancement in various sectors, particularly in parliamentary fields. During the meeting, First Vice-Speaker of the Iranian parliament Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi Fard said Tehran and Mogadishu should use the existing opportunities to expand their bilateral relations. The Iranian parliament, he said, supports expansion of cooperation with the African countries in industrial and economic fields.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
‘The hospital has run out of money. There are too many patients and few can afford to pay. The doctors and nurses haven’t received salaries for the past month either. It sets up a terrible inequality from bed to bed in the malnutrition ward. Those families who can afford medication receive it. Those who can’t don’t. It costs less than $10 for an intravenous drip and medication but Canab’s family don’t have the money, and they have four other sick children wasting away from malnutrition.’
Somaliland’s Children Dying as Drought and Border Dispute Create Fatal Mix
02 July – Source: Radioaustralia.net – 1213 words
Reporting on the disaster in the self-declared state of Somaliland is heart-breaking and infuriating. It’s being described as the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. More than 20 million people are at risk of starvation, mostly in Africa. The tiny self-declared state of Somaliland has been hit hard by the worst drought in living memory, combined with hunger and deadly disease. Africa correspondent Sally Sara reports from the General Hospital in the city of Burao. It’s hard to know whether to write this story in a whisper or a shouting rage. A whisper for the families and their suffering. Or a furious shout at the senselessness of it all. Maybe it’s both. It starts with a beeping sound and the huff of an oxygen machine in the neonatal ward. A tiny little girl flexes her hands and slowly wriggles, tucked away in a home-made humidicrib. She has fine hair on her face, normal for a premature baby born at 28 weeks; it’s hard not to look at her.
She only weighs a kilogram. Her twin brother died during birth. It was a sudden, bloody arrival. It left her mother mourning and rejoicing all at once. The baby girl doesn’t have a name yet. Her parents don’t dare, in case she dies too. The doctor gives her a 50-50 chance of surviving. In Australia, her chances would be more than 90 per cent and she would have a team looking after her. But here there is only one paediatrician. The only one for miles. Yesterday he saw 95 patients. Today is just as busy.
The infants haven’t tasted the heat and dust yet. I almost want to warn them. “Out there, baby girl, is a ruthless place. Your people haven’t had decent rain for two years. Their beloved cattle have fallen, shrunk and shrivelled into the ground. Dead. The dams are full of sand instead of water. And there are three letters that scare everyone — AWD — Acute Watery Diarrhoea. It’s close enough to cholera and it’s killing children older and stronger than you.”
The hospital is overflowing with sickness and misery. Patients are on mattresses on the floor in storerooms and conference rooms. Some are in tents. On the other side of town, foreigners dressed in white suits, boots, masks and gloves are caring for the most severe cases of AWD. Outsiders aren’t allowed in. “There are naked people in there”, we are told. “Ill, naked people, fighting for their lives.”
More than 50,000 people have already been diagnosed with AWD so far this year in Somalia and Somaliland. More than 730 have died — they are the cases that are known. Others have perished in the bush, far from help. Each village has graves marked with rocks. There are no headstones. Only the locals know the stories and names behind each mound.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991. It has its own government, currency and security forces. It hasn’t had a major terrorist attack in almost a decade. But breaking away from nations is a messy business. It creates fear of an unravelling of borders and alliances so the international community refuses to recognise this place. Some aid reaches here, but the government can’t get the loans and help that other developing countries can because, officially, Somaliland doesn’t exist.