May 3, 2016 | Morning Headlines
SNA And AMISOM Troops Retake Runirgod After Al-Shabaab Retreats
02 May – Source: Shabelle News – 161 Words
Somali National Army (SNA), with the support of African Union troops have regained control of Runirgod vicinity in middle Shabelle region, a day after it fall to Al-Shabaab militants.Reports say Al-Shabaab fighters pulled out of the strategic area in Southern Somalia on Sunday night, hours before the African Union forces and Somali troops moved in “The allied forces retook Runirgod without battle after Al-Shabaab militants retreated from the locality late last night, said a resident who did want to be identified, fearing for his own safety.He said Somali and AMISOM troops secured the control of the Runirgod again and the situation has returned to normal, with business back and running.Somali MPs and senior officials from the federal government of Somalia are expected to reach the Runirgod, following deadly Al shabaab attack on the area that led to the deaths of dozens of Soldiers, including top army commander.Al-Shabaab had claimed it killed 32 government soldiers during the attack.
Key Headlines
- SNA And AMISOM Troops Retake Runirgod After Al-Shabaab Retreats (Shabelle News)
- We Are Consistent In Paying Our Soldiers – President (Goobjoog News)
- Hundreds In Puntland Protest Against Currency Devaluation (Garowe Online)
- Somalia Launches Operation In Middle Shabelle Against Al-Shabaab (Xinhua)
- Slovakia Receives 37 Somalis From Camps in Eritrea (UNHCR)
- St. Paul Imam Finds Himself At The Center Of A Storm Over Law And Faith (Star Tribune)
NATIONAL MEDIA
We Are Consistent In Paying Our Soldiers – President
02 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 146 Words
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has refuted claims the military have gone for months without salaries noting that cases of delay have been reduced.
Speaking during the May Day celebrations in Mogadishu Sunday, President Mohamud said his government had been consistent in paying salaries of soldiers since he came to office. “The military are being paid by the government. We do not get any income from oil or any other source safe for Mogadishu and surrounding areas but we have regularly paid our soldiers,” the President said.
The president’s remarks come amid complaints of delayed salaries for the military, some running for months. A UN Monitoring report last year raised concerns over delayed salaries to the military noting the delay would be detrimental to the forces’ morale. The President also noted his government has been paying civil servants in time and now accounts for all government employees.
Hundreds In Puntland Protest Against Currency Devaluation
02 May – Source:Garowe Online – 201 Words
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied against rising inflation and deteriorating value of Somali Shilling in front of Puntland parliament in the State capital of Garowe on Monday, Garowe Online reports. Protesters were shouting: “Tackle commodity price hikes from currency devaluation,” before being dispersed by police.In September 2015, Puntland government began printing new paper notes at a cash factory in Bossaso port city in a bid to pay to disgruntled civil servants and security forces. Government officials Monday downplayed the existence of inflationary push in the weak economy recovering from years of civil unrest.
Participants at protest demonstration complained that prices of commodities have escalated as local currency continues to depreciate sharply against US dollars. Somalia Central Bank, the country’s highest monetary authority, which analysts say appears to be unable to regulate the flow of money in circulation, at the time criticized Puntland for contributing further to economic instability.
Hundreds are believed to have been hit hard by inflation in a country grappling with intense hyperinflation. Puntland Members of Parliament agreed to form a committee that would look into the complaints of the public.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Launches Operation In Middle Shabelle Against Al-Shabaab
02 May – Source: Xinhua – 113 Words
The African Union peacekeeping force, along with the Somali army, has launched an operation in Middle Shabelle region in Somalia, targeting major Al-Shabaab strongholds.Abdullahi Yusuf, deputy mayor of the Middle Shabelle region, said late Sunday that the joint force aimed to rid the region of Al-Shabaab militants.”Our forces will ramp up operations in the coming days to completely destroy Al-Shabaab. So far they have captured most of the major towns formally controlled by Al-Shabaab,” said Yusuf.The joint force on Saturday retook about four villages from Al-Shabaab in Middle Shabelle.Al-Shabaab has lost many areas previously under its control, but the Islamist group is still struggling to stage attacks in Somalia.
Slovakia Receives 37 Somalis From Camps in Eritrea
02 May – Source: UNHCR- 463 Words
A group of 37 Somali refugees arrived in Slovakia from Eritrea on April 14 on their way for eventual resettlement in the United States, with the help of UNHCR, the Office of Refugee Affairs (ORA) and the International Organization of Migration (IOM).The group takes the total of Somali refugees relocated this year to 281. They include 132 to Australia, 58 to Slovakia and 54 to Canada.Among them were 52-year-old Shukri Abdi Quasim, his wife and four children, who fled to Eritrea 19 years ago from the town of Luuq, in the Somali province of Gedo, to escape ethnic and clan warfare. They had been living in refugee camps since their arrival.Shukri and his family were among the first Somalis to arrive in Eritrea the 1990s, most of them from southern Somalia. The family belongs to the Marehan sub-clan of the Darod clan.
They spent the first three years in a refugee camp in the southern port of Assab and moved to Umkulu Refugee Camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Massawa in 2000. They spent the next 16 years in Umkulu waiting for possible asylum.”Life wasn’t easy as a refugee,” Shukri said. “We were receiving the rations and all services from UNHCR and ORA, but we still went through difficult times.”Despite this, Shukri said he became a camp leader in Umkulu and worked as a casual labourer in Massawa.
Finding permanent solutions for the Somalis in Eritrea has been a priority for UNHCR, as has been improving conditions and promoting self-reliance in Umkulu Camp. Small-scale livelihood schemes have been implemented over the years to help sustain the refugees.Basic services provided are food, primary health care, education, water and sanitation. Livelihood projects have ranged from animal husbandry to small businesses, computer skills training and other small ventures.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“At the Islamophobia forum, Mohamud closed with remarks including how “ethics or war-related rules” in jihad were more humane than those of the United States. He also quoted scripture on protecting one’s neighbors.“No matter what faith they believe, I have to shield them. This is Islam,” he said. “It’s part of the faith to protect each other. If you have a bad apple … that does not count as Islam and Muslims.”
St. Paul Imam Finds Himself At The Center Of A Storm Over Law And faith
01 May – Source: Star Tribune- 1025 Words
Hassan Mohamud, a longtime St. Paul imam, made history in 2002 when he became the first Somali-American to earn a law degree in Minnesota.He has also created his own share of controversy, having been asked to clarify his remarks ranging from scholars’ views on suicide bombings to a claim that his mosque could save the faithful from “the hell of living in America.”
Law and controversy collided last month when allegations about Mohamud’s conduct triggered a wave of legal turmoil in the case of a group of young Twin Cities Somali-Americans awaiting trial on charges that they supported the terrorist group known as ISIL.Two of the five remaining defendants who were set for trial in May pleaded guilty recently after evidence suggested that Mohamud had interfered in their families’ deliberations as they considered plea deals last year. Mohamud and an attorney for whom he works, meanwhile, withdrew from representing another defendant after prosecutors said a co-conspirator would testify at trial that he had once heard Mohamud discussing how to pray while “battling in jihad” — testimony that might have prejudiced the proceedings.
The episode also underscored an ongoing divide within the state’s large Somali-American community.Both defense attorneys and prosecutors in the case have expressed concerns over suggestions that Mohamud exerted influence on defendants he was not hired to represent in what is one of the biggest ISIL recruit cases in the Supporters, meanwhile, say the developments were character attacks on Mohamud in retaliation for his vocal opposition to government programs aimed at countering terror recruitment. They say his hours spent each week mentoring hundreds of Twin Cities youths go overlooked.“It’s different opinions,” said Hamdy El-Sawaf, a Minneapolis imam and psychotherapist. “It’s why not all of us are sitting down to find out what would be the best approach. … We did not get together enough to approach those things, deeply and frankly.”