May 14, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Fighting in Beled-Hawa leaves three people dead

13 May – Source: Radio Bar-kulan/RBC//Radio Garowe – 103 words

Fierce fighting in Beled-Hawa town in Gedo region has claimed the lives of three people and left three others injured according to Bar-kulan correspondent in the town. The fighting broke out between two armed groups, one reportedly from Dolow district and another based in Beled-Hawa town. Bar-kulan correspondent confirmed that two of those killed in the clashes were from the warring sides while the other was a civilian. Addow Nur Hassan, Beled-Hawa district commissioner told Bar-kulan that they have received two people with injuries and the casualties are thought to be higher than the initial figures.

Key Headlines

Somali leader solicits airlift of aid (China Daily/Reuters)
Fighting in Beled-Hawa leaves three people dead (Bar-kulan)
Eight suspects arrested for Baidoa car bomb (Radio RBC)
HRW asks Kenya to stop security operation (Africa Review/Daily Nation)
At least 11 children die of diarrhea outbreak in Bacadweyn (Radio Goobjoog)
Kenya: Suspects were al Shabaab members (Star/Kenya)
Somaliland: The president advisor for Women affairs urge parliament to give women quotas (Somaliland Informer)

SOMALI MEDIA

Fighting in Beled-Hawa leaves three people dead

13 May – Source: Radio Bar-kulan/RBC//Radio Garowe – 103 words

Eight suspects arrested for Baidoa car bomb

13 May – Source: Radio RBC – 207 words

Security forces in Baidoa town on Tuesday nabbed at least eight suspects during an operation to search for the perpetrators of yesterday’s suicide car bomb that killed at least 21 people, governor confirms. The suspects were arrested from different locations within Baidoa during a heavy search operation conducted by the police and the intelligence. The governor of Bay region Abdi Aden Hosow confirmed the arrest of the eight suspects. He said the security forces continued their operation to fully probe up the attack and those responsible murdering nearly two dozens of people. Among the eight suspects in the police custody is the owner of the garage where the suicide car was parked two nights before it exploded on Monday in the city centre of Baidoa.

At least 11 children die of diarrhea outbreak in Bacadweyn

13 May – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 111 words

At least 11 children died in Bacadweyn locality of Mudug region after diarrhea outbreak following heavy Gu rain that started in the region. The administration of Bacadweyn stated that there are many other children who were hospitalized, adding that the hospitals in the region are running short of medicine and medical facilities. Bacadweyn secretary Mohamed said Ahmed told Goobjoog FM that they sent appeal to the administration of Galmudug regional state but no response received so far. He reiterated that the internally displaced people in the area are in poor conditions after the heavy rain washed their makeshifts and are prone to the waterborne diseases that broke out.

Somaliland: The president advisor for Women affairs urge parliament to give women quotas

13 May – Source: Somaliland Informer – 116 words

The presidential advisor for Women Affairs Mrs. Amal Haji Misaan has put forward to the house of assembly to give women their share of seats at the house. Mrs. Amal was referring to the recent presidential speech whereby the government promised to give women quotas. The president advisor said that government is the first ever to acknowledge the rights of Somaliland women, because many women have been given important roles by the Kulmiye led government, for instance the Minister for Education Ms. Zamam Abdi Adam, Minister for Environment and Rural Development Mrs. Shukri Haji Ismail Bandare, Assistant Minister for Health Mrs. Nimo Hussein Qawdhan, and deputy Minister on labour and Socia services Mrs. Shukri Harir Ismail.

REGIONAL MEDIA

HRW asks Kenya to stop security operation

13 May – Source: Africa Review/Daily Nation – 545 words

The Kenyan Government has been asked to end the ongoing security operation aimed at flushing out illegal immigrants over claims of human rights violations by police officers. In a statement Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged that security forces have raided homes, buildings and shops where they looted property including mobile phones, money and other goods. HRW Africa director Daniel Bekele claimed police harassed and detained thousands, including journalists and international aid workers in appalling conditions for over 24 hours without taking them to court as required by law. Operation Usalama Watch began on April 1, 2014 following grenade and gun attacks in Mombasa and Nairobi by unknown perpetrators on March 23 and March 31, 2014. “Kenyan authorities should immediately end ongoing harassment, arbitrary detentions, forced relocations to refugee camps and summary deportations in a round-up operation that has affected both foreigners and Kenyan citizens.

Kenya: Suspects were al Shabaab members

13 May – Source: Star-Kenya – 48 words

Two main suspects arrested in connection with twin blasts in Mombasa are al Shabaab Members. Ahmed Abdallah Ali and Nassir Ali Skanda who have denied the charges are believed to have crossed over from Somalia to carry out terrorist attacks. The court granted the prosecution 90 days to complete investigations.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali leader solicits airlift of aid

13 May – Source: China Daily/Reuters – 494 words

Somalia needs help airlifting basic supplies to towns recently retaken by African Union-led forces because Islamist insurgents are blocking aid convoys, said President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Mohamud accused the al-Shabaab militants of trying to create food shortages in newly “liberated areas” to turn locals against the state. “This is the al-Shabaab propaganda … and why are they stopping the movement of goods,” he said in Mogadishu after talks with major donors on Friday on speeding up the pace of the rebuilding effort. “(An) airlift is very, very important.” African troops working with Somalia’s army have completed the first phase of a campaign to retake territory still in al Shabaab’s hands after it was routed from Mogadishu in 2011. But officials said the towns cleared of al Shabaab militants are in a dire state. Any food stocks have been emptied, driving people away. Some centers look more like ghost towns, said one Western diplomat, which “is not a very positive picture”. It highlights the challenge Somalia faces in countering an Islamist insurgency that increasingly involves guerrilla tactics, while trying to build loyalty to the central government in a state fractured by clan rivalries and two decades of war.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“We know from previous examples, such as al Qaeda’s rise in Afghanistan, that it is in environments of uncertainty and poverty that extremism thrives. Unfortunately, religious extremists are equally aware of this”.

Africa: The new battleground against Islamic extremism

13 May – Source: The Comentator – 673 words

The brutal and ruthless kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls has shocked the world, leading to condemnation from global leaders including former Prime Minister Tony Blair. But the incident is the latest in a much wider problem of Islamic extremism that is engulfing many African countries. The continent has long been plagued by challenges of poverty and war, with several countries sharply divided between Christianity and Islam, some moderate and some extreme. I have spent a great deal of time in both East and West Africa and witnessed first-hand varying degrees to which these two religions co-exist. Unfortunately, I have also witnessed worrying examples of the perversion of both religions. These terrorist attacks have cast a grim shadow over some of Africa’s most forward-looking countries and created an environment of danger that not only threatens the African people, but is putting Britain’s national security at risk. This tragic scenario contrasts heavily with the huge strides made in the continent over the last few years, perfectly summarised by Nigerian novelist and poet Lola Shoneyin when she said, “Look one way and my country is booming. Look another and there’s poverty and fear.” In Kenya last September, 67 people died and over 175 were wounded during the siege in The Nairobi shopping centre. The perpetrators were Somalia-based al Shabaab, a group with a frighteningly expanding network of bloodthirsty supporters. This pattern of sporadic and brutal attacks continued in the tourist port town of Mombasa with bombings at a bus stop and The Reef Hotel, killing three people.