May 22, 2018 | Morning Headlines
National Army Forces Kick Out Al-Shabaab From Urban Areas
21 May – Source: Radio Muqadisho – 153 Words
Commander of the 52nd Army battalion of the Somali National Army, General Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Tareedisho) – said they have killed many Al-Shabaab fighters in a battle. Speaking with the media, General Mohamoud stated that the last operations carried out in Hiraan region left over 168 Al-Shabaab fighters dead, and removed them from their hideouts.
The attacks on the al-Qaeda allied group have continued since March of this year with the Al-Shabaab fighters being kicked out of many towns including Mubah, Ceel Ali Ahmed, Yasooman and others. In the latest incident, Al-Shabaab suffered heavy casualties leaving behind weapons and warfare vehicles in the process. The national army forces are still tracking them.
General Mohamoud said the troops’ morale was high and that they were committed to the fight against Al-Shabaab — thanks to full support from the Federal Government and residents living in the area: “We will track and hunt them down wherever they are”.
Key Headlines
- National Army Forces Kick Out Al-Shabaab From Urban Areas (Radio Muqadisho)
- Somali Deputy PM Calls On Puntland And Somaliland To Resolve Tensions Through Dialogue (Halbeeg News)
- Southwest Leader Fires Minister And Governor Amid Rift (Garowe Online)
- Turkey’s TIKA Helps Flood Victims In Somalia (Anadolu Agency)
- Francis Macharia Wanted Al-Shabaab Facilitator Arrested In Kayole (The Star)
- Growing Up As A Welsh Somali (Walesonline)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Deputy PM Calls On Puntland And Somaliland To Resolve Tensions Through Dialogue
21 May – Source: Halbeeg News – 221 Words
Somali Deputy Prime Minister, Mahdi Mohamed Guled has urged the authorities of Somaliland and Puntland states to engage in dialogue in order to resolve the dispute in Tukaraq. Over 20 people have been killed and dozens of other sustained injuries in Tukaraq town, after forces loyal to both states in Northern Somalia clashed over a border dispute.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Guled asked leaders and elders to stand up for peace and create room for dialogue. “I urge both Somaliland and Puntland states to resolve their differences peacefully. There is no need for bloodshed at this moment. There are no gains in fighting, please replace the hostilities with peace,” he said. He instructed the leaders and elders to negotiate for peace and agreeable coexistence.
Reports from Sool region indicate that more military hardware and personnel deployed by Puntland and Somaliland was seen around Tukaraq town. Both Somaliland and Puntland claim the ownership of the two disputed regions, Sool and Sanag. Hargeisa bases its claims on the imaginary boundaries set by the British during the colonial period whereas Puntland’s claim is based on a clans’ agreement inked during the formation of the state, two decades ago. Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia on 18th May, 1991 but has not yet achieved any formal international recognition as a sovereign state.
Southwest Leader Fires Minister And Governor Amid Rift
21 May – Source: Garowe Online 212 Words
Southwest State President, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has sacked his State Minister for the Presidency and the Governor of the southern Lower Shabelle region amid a rift, according to reports. The decision was announced through a presidential decree released on 20th May 2018, without disclosing reasons behind the dismissals but, sources say the move comes following a political face-off.
The State Minister for Presidency, Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Mursal, who has been in office since 2015, was relieved of his duties and replaced with the immediate former governor Mr. Ibrahim Aden Ali [Najah]. Mr. Ali will take over office immediately, according to the statement. Southwest is one of the five Somali Federal Member States in Somalia.
The state leader appointed Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim Bare, as the new Governor of Lower Shabelle region, which is now believed to be a hotbed of the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabab. Mr. Bare took the oath of office during a handover ceremony held in the port city of Marka, the region’s capital on Sunday, in the presence of high-level regional officials. In his remarks at the event, the new governor pledged to enhance the security of the volatile region that is faced by long running inter-clan clashes and Al-Shabaab attacks.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Turkey’s TIKA Helps Flood Victims In Somalia
21 May – Source: Anadolu Agency – 233 Words
Turkey’s state aid agency distributed 40 tons of basic foodstuff to 1,000 flood victim families in Somalia. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) said in a written statement the agency and the Turkish Red Crescent helped people affected by the flood which had been caused by monsoon rains in the towns near Shebelle River.
The statement also said around 200,000 people living in Beledweyne town and near residential areas, which is 360 kilometers (223 miles) away from capital Mogadishu, were forced to leave their homes due to heavy floods. Turkey’s Ambassador to Somalia Olgan Bekar, TIKA’s Mogadishu Program Coordinator Galip Yilmaz and Turkish Red Crescent’s Somali delegation members distributed the foodstuff, which included rice, sugar, flour, oil, pasta and milk powder via helicopter to inaccessible areas, the statement said.
Hirshabelle Federal Region President Mohamed Ware said: “Turks have shown once again that they are our true brothers”. At least 427,000 people have been affected by flooding due to heavy rains across Somalia in April, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Separately, TIKA handed over technical equipment to the Georgian Green Crescent Community for its new office in Tbilisi. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, the community’s Honorary President Musa Haciyev said: “Our community was founded as being inspired by the Turkish Green Crescent, which has a 100-year experience.”
Francis Macharia, Wanted Al-Shabaab Facilitator Arrested In Kayole
21 May – Source: The Star – 151 Words
Francis Macharia Karishu, a suspect believed to be facilitating al Shabaab activities has been arrested. Macharia was arrested on Sunday evening in Kayole and handed over to the anti-terrorism police unit. The arrest comes just two days after police placed a Sh1 million bounty on his head.
Security agencies have warned members of the public that the terror group is planning to carry out attacks during this month of Ramadhan. Police are also looking for another “armed and dangerous” suspect from Kitui. Two weeks ago, spokesman Charles Owino said Anthony Munyasya alias Abdalla is a “highly trained” al Shabaab operative who has been fighting for the militants in Somalia since 2014.
“He was recently deployed to the country as part of operatives who were to conduct an attack in Nairobi in February,” he said. The Spokesman added that Abdalla is a close associate of Abdimajit Hassan, a man facing terror charges.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Cardiff councillor Saeed Ebrahim, the first Somali councillor in Cardiff, fled the country to join his father in Wales aged around 10 in the 1980s. Saeed, who grew up in the Butetown area, said: “My father was a seaman, my grandfather was a seaman, he was here in the 1930s. “He worked in Cardiff and Barry Docks and my father followed the trend.”
Growing Up As A Welsh Somali
19 May – Source: Walesonline – 3145 Words
Fahima Omer speaks English, Welsh and Somali. She wears a hijab and black Converse trainers. She’s 21 and from Grangetown in Cardiff and kind of from Hargeisa in Somaliland as well, even though they shout at her in English when she goes there because somehow they instinctively know. Her mum and dad and sister fled the civil war in their homeland in the 1980s but she was born and bred in the Welsh capital. And yet there’s no contradiction or conflict in any of her complex, continent-and-culture-spanning identity and family. She’s 100% Welsh Somali.
She’s the inheritor of a thriving tradition that has been evolving and developing ever since the first Somali seaman landed in Wales when Queen Victoria was on the throne, life expectancy was only 45 years, and Cardiff wasn’t even a city – never mind a capital. “It’s a blessing to have two countries,” said the former Willows High and St David’s College student. “I can say I have Wales and all its traditions and culture but I have that as a Somali as well. In a way there are similarities between the countries. “People say ‘Where are you from?’ and I always give two countries. Home is Cardiff, Wales, but also Hargeisa in Somaliland. But I feel more at home here because I have been here my whole life.”
More than a century after the first of her family’s countrymen and women first arrived in the docks of Wales’ capital in the 1880s the Somali community in Cardiff has grown to number in the thousands and become part of the city’s own identity. Around 10,000 Somalis currently live in Cardiff, according to latest figures from the International Organisation for Migration, making it one of the largest populations in the UK.