June 27, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Terrorist Siege Of Mogadishu Hotel Kills 20
26 June – Source: Voice of America – 289 Words
Authorities in Somalia say a terrorist siege of a Mogadishu hotel has ended, but not before at least 20 people were killed, including a government minister. The militant group Al-Shabaab is claiming responsibility for the attack, saying the hotel is frequented by what it calls “apostate government members.” Somalia’s foreign minister says among the dead is the country’s environments minister, Buri Mohamed Hamza. The Somali National News Agency said Sunday the death toll stands at 20, including three staff members of a radio station.
Police say the terrorists set off a car bomb outside the Hotel Naso-Hablood Saturdayafternoon before gunmen burst into the building, firing their weapons at random and seizing hostages. Police stormed the hotel and engaged the gunmen in a firefight, cornering them on the top floor. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has condemned the attack, the second by Al-Shabaab in Somalia during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Al-Shabaab gunmen took over the Ambassador Hotel in Mogadishu three weeks ago, holding guests and staff hostage for more than 12 hours before police ended the siege. Twenty-one people and three gunmen were killed. After Saturday’s attack, a U.S. State Department official said the U.S. “strongly condemns the attack and express our deep condolences to their victims, their families, and the Somali people. We remain committed to Somalia’s security and stability and are proud to stand side-by-side with Somalia in the fight against terrorism.”
Key Headlines
- Terrorist Siege Of Mogadishu Hotel Kills 20 (Voice of America)
- Somali Lawmaker Among Those Killed In Mogadishu Hotel Attack (Hiiraan Online)
- 36 Injured People From Nasa Hablod Hotel Attack Admitted At Madina Hospital (Goobjoog News)
- ISWA Forces Carry Out Security Sweep In Bardaale (Shabelle News)
- Kenya Aims To Cut Size Of Somali Refugee Camp By About Half By End – 2016 (Reuters)
- Italians Arrest Subject Of Last November’s Malta Manhunt (Malta Independent)
- How 26 June Lost Its Place In History (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Lawmaker Among Those Killed In Mogadishu Hotel Attack
26 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 250 Words
The State Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office for Environment, Buri Mohamed Hamza, is confirmed to have been among the victims of the violent terrorist attack on Nasa-Hablood hotel by Al-Shabaab yesterday. Minister Buri Hamza was a Member of the Federal Parliament of Somalia since August 2012. He served as the State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from January to October 2014 and then the State Minister for Finance until December 2014.
Friends and colleagues of the late State Minister Buri Hamza from the Somali government have expressed shock, sadness and anger at his death. Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion, Abdusalam H. Omar tweeted his condolences to the fallen lawmaker.The minister earlier tweeted his condolences to the families of other victims who died in the attacks including staff from Goobjoog FM, who lost three employees.
“I worked for Minister Buri as an adviser during his time at the Foreign Ministry and he was a decent man with principles who loved this country,” said one government official who cannot disclose his name. “Buri was an academic, politician and a friend to those who knew him. May Allah SWT bless him and he rest in peace.” he added
Earlier this month Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab carried out a deadly assault on the Ambassador hotel killing 24 people including two Somali legislators Mohamed Mohamud Gure and Abdullahi Jama. Al Shabab claimed the responsibility for these attacks, saying it targeted the hotels because it houses government officials.h
36 Injured People From Nasa Hablod Hotel Attack Admitted At Madina Hospital
26 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 184 Words
At least 36 injuries have been admitted to Madina Hospital, of which 1 was declared dead on arrival, medical officers said. This could raise the toll which last stood 17 after gunmen stormed Naso-Hablood Hotel at the center of the city. Sources say that injuries who were taken to different hospitals in Mogadishu reach as high as 40 though Goobjoog cannot confirm that number independently. After three hours of siege, NISA forces have prevailed the hotel and killed the fighters, according to the government.
The victory came at a cost: at least 17 civilian deaths and some 30 people remain hospitalized with injuries including some seriously wounded. The State Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office for Environment, Buri Mohamed Hamza was among those killed in the attack. The Somali militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. 5 to 10 armed fighters are believed to have stormed the hotel. The attack, which targeted the hotel with full of politicians as well as former government officials, could prove a major setback for Somalia, which has been wrestling with the security of the city more than fours.
ISWA Forces Carry Out Security Sweep In Bardaale
26 June – Source: Shabelle News – 144 Words
The forces of Somalia’s Interim South West Administration (ISWA) have conducted a massive security sweep in the town of Bardale in Bay province on Sunday, an official said. Speaking to Radio Shabelle, the Deputy Commissioner of Bardale city Ali Adow Isack said South West state troops have also attacked an Al-Shabaab camp at Bulo-Hawo, 35Km away from Bardale.
He said the regional forces, with the support of African Union peacekeepers have retaken control of Bulo-Hawo village from Al-Shabaab militants, without a battle or resistance. “South West state troops will continue the security operation until they accomplish the mission to liberate Al-Shabaab from the remaining strongholds in Bay region,” said Isack. Al-Shabaab, however did not comment on the claim of the South West State official over the seizure of area near Bardale town, located in Bay region of southern Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Aims To Cut Size Of Somali Refugee Camp By About Half By End – 2016
26 June – Source: Reuters – 346 Words
Kenya aims to reduce by almost half the population of Dadaab refugee camp which is home to about 326,000 mostly Somali refugees by the end of the year, a committee that groups Kenya, Somalia and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said.Kenya has said it wants to close the camp, which was once home to more than half a million refugees, citing security threats. Nairobi says the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab has used the camp as a recruiting ground to launch attacks on Kenya.
But Kenya has been urged by the United States, the United Nations and others to ensure no one is forced to return to Somalia, which is still struggling to rebuild after decades of conflict and continues to face an Islamist insurgency. After a meeting on Saturday, the so-called Tripartite Commission said Dadaab had 326,000 refugees at the end of May, already 100,000 fewer than five years earlier, many of whom it said were believed to have returned to Somalia.
“The parties noted the prospect of the reduction of the population in the Dadaab camps by 150,000 individuals by the end of 2016,” the joint communique said, referring to string of sites that make up the Dadaab camp complex. It said the number would be reduced due to “voluntary returns to Somalia, relocation of non-Somali refugees, the de-registration of Kenyan citizens who registered as refugees, and a population verification exercise.”
Italians Arrest Subject Of Last November’s Malta Manhunt
26 June – Source: Malta Independent – 1,051 Words
The Italian authorities have apprehended the Somali national who was the subject of a massive manhunt in Malta in the lead up to last November’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the Valletta Migration Summit. The suspect is believed to be a key member of a migrant trafficking ring that had brought as many as 250 people, mainly of Syrian and Somali nationalities, to Malta.
The Italian authorities believe the individual arrested on Friday, who is being charged with aiding illegal immigration and aiding international terrorism suspects, was responsible for providing logistical support to the four Syrians caught last November before boarding planes bound for Malta with fake passports. Two had been caught in Bergamo and two at Rome’s Ciampino airport. The incidents sparked terrorism fears before the two major events that had brought dozens of world leaders to Malta last November.
A subsequent manhunt in Malta last November saw the arrest of one Somali suspect while the second had presumably escaped. It is believed that the missing Somali was arrested on Friday at a hotel in Rome, and was caught as he attempted to flee from his hotel room window. Anti-terrorism prosecutors in the northern Italian town of Brescia requested the man’s arrest, alleging he supplied false documents to various people for entry into Italy and other European countries including Malta.
Italian police said yesterday that the Somali man – identified as Ali Awil Khadar, born on 1 January 1985 – was detained on suspicions of aiding illegal immigration and of also assisting persons involved in terrorist associations.
He was also found in possession of Malta-issued travel papers for political refugees (number MT9939505), issued by the Maltese authorities, as well as a suspected fake Maltese passport, according to Italian media reports.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
How 26 June Lost Its Place In History
26 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 227 Words
As the Somali people everywhere reflect on the 56th anniversary of 26th June and 1st July, the days of independence and unification, I watched Somaliland opposition leader Faisal Ali Waraabe branding 26th June as a worthless day and calling Somalilanders to mark 1st July, as a day of grief. Both these days were and still are the most significant days in the history of the Somali nation. They symbolized the epitome of the struggle of our fathers and forefathers for independence and their dreams and vision for a unified and proud Somali nation.
Faisal’s repugnant statement is therefore an insult not only to the history of the Somali people and to the memory of those who sacrificed everything precious they had including their blood for the independence of their country but also to the dreams of the Somali youth who drive their pride of the Somali people from the legacy of the independence days after everything else was destroyed.
Contrary to the morbid image that Faisal’s portrays about our national days, I would like to share the Somali youth of a piece I wrote in 1982 which highlights the celebratory spirit in which the Somali people as a whole used to mark the independence anniversaries, particularly how I remember the festivities of 26th June during my childhood and how it lost its historical significance during the military regime.