June 20, 2012 | Morning Headlines.
Somali gov’t soldiers clash with armed groups in Mogadishu
19 Jun – Source: Shabelle/Jowhar Online/Hiiraan Online – 61 words
Somali government soldiers yesterday exchanged heavy gunfire with armed groups in Mogadishu, reports and witnesses said. Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed Abukar, the police chief of Hodon district for Somali government, said that the combat was sparked after the security forces attacked an armed bloc dressed in army uniforms, taking illegal money at a checkpoint in Mogadishu’s district.
Key Headlines
- Somali cabinet ministers discuss roadblocks placed in Mogadishu (Shabelle)
- Deadly fight erupts on the outskirt of Garbaharey town (Bar-Kulan)
- Haji takes over pledges to fight al Shabaab (The Standard)
- US Congress not ‘so enthusiastic’ on Kismayu assault (East African News)
- UNHCR tries to count Somalia’s displaced (VOA)
- Ugandan police to deploy specialized unit in volatile Somalia (Xinhua)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali cabinet ministers discuss roadblocks placed in Mogadishu
19 Jun – Source: Shabelle – 118 words
Somali cabinet ministers held an extra ordinary meeting in Mogadishu and discussed the illegal roadblocks placed in parts of the city and its surrounding locations in the past 20 years of conflict and disorder. At the end of the meeting, Abdikadir Hussein Mohammed (Jahweyn), the information minister for the TFG told reporters that Somali government ruled the road blockades to be illegitimate.
Deadly fight erupts on the outskirt of Garbaharey town
19 Jun – Source: Bar-kulan – 92 words
Reports from southwest Somali region of Gedo say a fierce gun-battle has erupted between al Shabaab militants and TFG troops backed by Ahlu Sunna militias at Tulo Barwaqo settlement, some 30 kilometers north of Garbaharey town. Although the exact number of casualties are not yet known, reports say the fight has been a deadly one. The fight occurred when the allied forces launched a deadly attack on the militant-held village, prompting full scale confrontations between them.
Somali gov’t soldiers clash with armed groups in Mogadishu
19 Jun – Source: Shabelle/Jowhar Online/Hiiraan Online – 61 words
Somali government soldiers on Tuesday exchanged heavy gunfire with armed groups in Mogadishu, reports and witnesses said. Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed Abukar, the police chief of Hodon district for Somali government, said that the combat was sparked after the security forces attacked an armed bloc dressed in army uniforms, taking illegal money at a checkpoint in Mogadishu’s district.
Aid agencies urged to help Afmadow residents
19 Jun – Bar-kulan – 96 words
Deputy leader of the pro-government Raskamboni militia group has called on aid agencies to immediately start their operations in Afmadow district, Lower Juba, order to support the needy people in the area. Mohamed Ibrahim Mohammoud said Afmadow residents are in dire need of immediate humanitarian assistance.
Somali fishermen from the town of Alula rescued by Italian ship
19 Jun- Source: Raxanreeb- 167 words
On June 12th, Italian frigate Scirocco rescued a small fishing boat on the northern coast of Somalia, a statement from EU naval force said on Tuesday.
In the afternoon of June 12th, the Italian frigate Scirocco rescued a small fishing boat (skiff type) in distress with two Somali fishermen coming from the town of Alula, on the northern coast of Somalia.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Haji takes over, pledges to fight al Shabaab
19 Jun- Source: Standard- 319 words
The new acting minister for internal security of Kenya Yusuf Haji took over his new docket Tuesday. He pledged to continue operations on the al Shabaab militants and other criminal gangs in the country.
Haji said his priority will be to ensure the country holds peaceful elections free of violence and any other threats.
US Congress not ‘so enthusiastic’ on Kismayu assault
19 Jun – Source: East African News – 420 words
Calls by Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga last week for US financial aid for a planned Kenyan assault on the Somalia port of Kismayu could go unanswered due to growing resistance in the US Congress.
A powerful American senator told The EastAfrican a few days prior to Mr Odinga’s remarks that he is seeking to cut American military aid to Kenya.
Somalia remembers fallen democracy icon
19 Jun – Source: Africa Review – 304 words
Somalis last week cast aside political allegiances to mourn a leader who reminded them of the national goals they have pursued for decades but which look increasingly feasible with the term of the current transitional government expecetd to end in August.
Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein, the last speaker of Somalia’s democratically elected parliament in 1969, died June 12 in Nairobi after age-related illnesses. The respected centenarian was accorded a state burial after three days of national mourning.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UNHCR tries to count Somalia’s displaced
19 Jun- Source: VOA- 451 words
As the United Nations prepares to mark World Refugee Day Wednesday, the U.N. refugee agency is struggling to put exact figures to the number of internally displaced people inside Somalia. The country’s displaced population is constantly on the move in search of humanitarian assistance and a peaceful environment.
The U.N. refugee agency, or UNHCR, said there are about 1.35 million displaced people inside Somalia. But the number is only an estimate.
Ugandan police to deploy specialized unit in volatile Somalia
19 Jun- Source: xinhua- 239 words
Uganda is to deploy a Formed Police Unit (FPU) consisting of 140 personnel in volatile Somalia for maintaining peace and security, a police spokesperson said here on Tuesday.
Judith Nabakooba, Uganda’s deputy police spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that the FPU will play a critical role in aiding the Somali Police Force in its efforts to maintain and improve security in the Horn of African country.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“And while the international community has laboured and failed to restore a sovereign Somali state, Somalis themselves have fashioned alternative structures of governance. The most successful example of this has been the secessionist Republic of Somaliland…. The road to political recovery in Somaliland, which was achieved without external assistance, cannot necessarily be replicated in Somalia. But if there is one lesson to be learned from Somaliland it is that Somalis are perfectly capable of making peace and governing themselves peacefully, given the right conditions.”
Who can get it right in Somalia?
19 June- Source: World Peace Foundation Blog-1053 Words
Less than a year ago, in July 2011, as drought gripped the Horn of Africa, the UN declared that famine had returned to Somalia. For the second time since the Somali state was ripped apart by civil war two decades ago, Somalia children, women and men were unnecessarily dying from starvation. Foreign donors responded with millions of dollars in aid, but it was too late for the tens of thousands who had died and the many more who abandoned their lands to find food and shelter in urban centres or refugee camps in neighbouring states. While al Shabaab, the militant Islamist group that professes support for al Qaeda and opposes the internationally-supported Somali government, carries responsibility for the suffering of populations in the areas it had controlled for two years, the return of famine to Somalia was also a consequence of international policy.