June 23, 2017 | Morning Headlines
8 Killed In Latest Mogadishu Car Bomb
22 June – Source : VOA News – 150 Words
At least eight people were killed and four others wounded Thursday when a car filled with explosives hit a police station in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. A reporter for VOA’s Somali Service, Ahmed Hassan Olad, says the attack targeted the Waberi police station along the busy Maka al-Mukaramah road. Olad, who was near the police station when the attack occurred, says he saw a man driving a Toyota Surf speeding toward the station. Emergency teams are at the scene trying to help the wounded people.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but militant group Al-Shabaab regularly attacks government buildings and places where government officials are known to congregate. On Tuesday, an Al-Shabaab car bomber attacked a local administration building in the Wadajir district, killing at least 10 people. On June 15, Al-Shabaab fighters assaulted two popular Mogadishu restaurants. The attack claimed 29 lives, including those of the six assailants.
Key Headlines
- 8 Killed In Latest Mogadishu Car Bomb (VOA)
- Puntland President Meets Federal Electoral Commission (Garowe Online)
- Joint Security Sweep In Burhakaba By Southwest And Ethiopian Troops (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia To Re Establish Diplomatic Police Unit (Radio Dalsan)
- Blackwater Founder’s FSG Signs Security Deal With Somali Region (Reuters)
- I Feel Betrayed’: The Somali Refugees Sent From Safety Into A War Zone (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland President Meets Federal Electoral Commission
22 June – Source : Garowe Online – 198 Words
The President of semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali (Gaas) held meeting with the Federal Electoral Commission. The meeting took place at the State House in Garowe city, the regional capital of Puntland, and attended by Puntland officials led by President Ali. The talks was reported to have focused on the agenda of the Electoral Commission and the progress it made since its formation in the past several months.
Another point which was discussed in the meeting was the roadmap for the one-man one-vote election in 2020 and the ways to tackle challenges hindering the general election.During the meeting, both sides highlighted on the importance on the role of the Federal member states to ensure implementation of the roadmap to transit to democratic electoral process. The Federal Electoral commission arrived to Garowe for a three day visit and is expected to hold various meetings with stakeholders including prominent elders, women groups, Vice President, Parliament Speaker, Puntland Electoral Commission and members of the civil society. Following the meeting with President Ali, a communique was released highlighting the range of issues agreed on particularly on the roadmap for the general election in 2020.
Joint Security Sweep In Burhakaba By Southwest And Ethiopian Troops
22 June – Source : Goobjoog News – 97 Words
Southwest State forces backed by Ethiopian troops conducted security operations on Thursday in Burhakaba town located in Bay region. These troops are seen to have encircled some of the locations inside Burhakaba. Similarly those areas lying outskirt of the town are also affected by this exercise. Some of the local residents who spoke to Goobjoog News said the security operation is aimed at searching houses and some youths have been arrested. Southwest Security officials whom Goobjoog News contacted gave limited information on the ongoing security sweep and did not disclose the number of arrests done so far.
Somalia To Re Establish Diplomatic Police Unit
22 June – Source : Radio Dalsan – 105 Words
300 Turkish trained Somali police officers will soon graduate as the first batch of Diplomatic Police Unit , Radio Dalsan has learnt. The diplomatic Police Unit in Somalia has been defunct since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991. A security source told Radio Dalsan that Turkey is currently training 300 officers to serve in the new Diplomatic Police Unit. The unit specializes in providing security for Diplomats, Liaising with Diplomatic missions on security matters, Coordinating all rapid responses and providing static and mobile security for Diplomatic missions besides making foot and mobile patrols. More than 30 countries have opened their embassies in Mogadishu.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Blackwater Founder’s FSG Signs Security Deal With Somali Region
22 June – Source : Reuters – 345 Words
Frontier Services Group (FSG) , co-founded by Erik Prince who created the U.S. security firm Blackwater, said on Thursday it would provide logistics, aviation and security services for a regional development project in Somalia. Hong Kong-listed FSG said the deal was signed with the Free Zone Investment Authority of the South West State of Somalia, one of the federal regions set up under efforts in the Horn of Africa nation to rebuild its political structures and economy. The president of the South West State region, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, said in a statement that the project was part of the region’s move to attract local and foreign investors.
Some investment has started returning to Somalia as it recovers from two decades of conflict, but much has come from Somali expatriates and most has focused on Mogadishu. Some Turkish and other foreign firms are among the new investors. “The project will include an integrated solution of air-land-sea logistics capabilities and advanced security management,” FSG said in a statement about the deal.
South West State’s plans include building a seaport, airport, residential areas and setting up agricultural zones, FSG said in its statement. “We have brought together strong international business leaders to team-up with talented Somali entrepreneurs to make development in South West Somalia a reality,” the regional president said, according to the FSG statement. He did not give details about costs or timelines. The Free Zone Authority’s website offered no further information. The regional president’s office could not be reached for comment.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In a transit centre in Dadaab, waiting for his departure to the homeland he left 10 years ago, Madar Gaas, 47, feared what lay ahead for his family, but felt he had no alternative. “Kenya asked us to leave and then UN reduced the food rations,” he said. “Then other aid agencies started to pull out of the camp, scaling down the live-saving assistance we used to get,”
I Feel Betrayed’: The Somali Refugees Sent From Safety Into A War Zone
22 June – Source : The Guardian – 1448 Words
Families repatriated to Somalia from Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya say they feel abandoned and let down by the UN after officials used small cash payments to encourage them to return home, where a hunger and security crisis awaited. Many travelled back to Somalia only to find themselves in a far worse position than they had been in the refugee camp, with no access to food, shelter or medicines. Having lost their legal refugee status by crossing the border, they were no longer entitled to any help. Sacdiya Noor, 38, a mother of three children, said she felt betrayed by UN aid workers and the Kenyan authorities, who told her it was safe to go back to Mogadishu in 2015.“There was no security in the city, no free services and nothing special [to help] returnees,” she said. “There are explosions every day. Food is expensive; you have to pay for everything, even if you are sick.”
Noor is among thousands of Somalis who have now made the long trek back to Kenya, where they felt safer. “I left my country the second time for the safety of my children. I feel betrayed because they [the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Kenyan authorities] told me it is safe to return. I tried my best but it was too much for me to bear as a single mother with no one to stand with me. I am stuck here with no rights. It is like they are saying, ‘You either die of gunshot in Somalia or come back to starve in Dadaab’,” she said.
The plight of repatriated Somalis who fled for the second time emerged as the UK announced a £75m, three-year programme, aimed at tackling the central Mediterranean transit route to Europe, to enable voluntary returns and repatriation and to assist governments in Africa to support asylum seekers. Since the Kenyan government announced it would close the world’s largest refugee camp and stepped up its repatriation programme to Somalia in 2016, almost 60,000 people, roughly a quarter of the camp’s population, have left. The Kenyan government is no longer registering new arrivals from Somalia or processing asylum claims.