May 4, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Security Heightened In Somalia Ahead Of Ramadhaan
03 May – Source: The Observer – 214 Words
Acting on past experience, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is beefing up security in major urban centres ahead of the Islamic holy month of fasting. The month of Ramadhaan is expected to begin in about two weeks, and based on past experience, the Al-Shabaab militants usually carry out attacks during the period. “We have always had challenges during that month [of Ramadhaan]; we always get propping attacks from the Al-Shabaab but this time, we want to ensure that our brothers observe the fasting peacefully,” Brig Paul L’Okech, the Uganda contingent commander in Somalia told journalists at his offices in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
L’Okech said, the AMISOM forces are working with the Somali National Army (SNA) and the police to increase check points on all routes into urban centres. Urban centres have been Al-Shabaab’s main targets during RamadhAan, planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in busy areas like markets, restaurants, hotels, mosques and security installations. “al-Shabaab is not in one place, they keep propping up which requires us to be vigilant,” L’Okech said. In most of its attacks, Al-Shabaab uses IEDs – loaded on vehicles that are driven into their target points. The AMISOM supply routes are sometimes also planted with IEDs that have left a number of trucks destroyed and some personnel injured.
Key Headlines
- Security Heightened In Somalia Ahead Of Ramadhaan (The Observer)
- Newly Elected Parliament Speaker Assumes Office (Halbeeg News)
- A Spat Emerges Between Mogadishu Mayor And Minister of Sports (Dhacdo.com)
- Somalia Must Speed Overhaul Of Fragile Army To Face Militants Say Donors (Reuters)
- UN Envoy Calls For Free Independent Media In Somalia (Xinhua)
- Massive Military Base Build Up Suggests The U.S Shadow War In Somalia Is Only Getting Bigger (Vice News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Newly Elected Parliament Speaker Assumes Office
03 May – Source: Halbeeg News – 194 Words
Newly elected Parliament speaker has officially assumed office barely three days after he won the seat in a highly competitive exercise. Abdirahman Mursal Sheikh took over office on Thursday in the Somali capital. Ministers, lawmakers, government officials, the Parliament secretariat and the former Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari attended the transitional event which took place at Villa Somalia. Mursal is the immediate former Defense Minister.
The new Speaker commended his predecessor, Jawari, for his commitment and the tireless work he did during his tenure as Speaker. He pledged to conduct the house business in accordance with the provisional constitution of Somalia as well as the Standing Orders of the House. On his part, Jawari pledged to work with the new Parliament leader. The new Speaker, who also served as Somalia’s ambassador to Turkey, was elected on Monday in a hotly contested race. Mursal garnered 147 votes in the third round of the Speaker’s election, emerging ahead of Ibrahim Isack Yarow who got 118 votes. Jawari, who had been serving as Speaker since post transitional government in 2012, resigned last month.
A Spat Emerges Between Mogadishu Mayor And Minister of Sports
03 May – Source: Dhacdo.com – 146 Words
A spat has emerged between Mogadishu Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman Eng. Yarisow and the Federal Minister of Sports Khadija Dirie. The dispute follows the apparent organizational negligence that led to the abandoning of the Somali U17 team in a hotel on Tuesday. The development has been widely criticized by the public and politicians. Mogadishu mayor said he was very saddened by the move citing that Banadir regional administration has already prepared vans intended to ferry the players. The Mayor blamed that the Sports Minister is behind the negligence.
Minister Khadijo was angered by the Mayor’s remarks. She showed up at last night’s colourful party hosted by the Banadir regional administration to mark the progress made by the Somali team in the CECAFA U17 championship, very angry. Analysts believe that Banaadir region has the responsibility to take care of the young players, and was required to provide the recently donated buses by Qatari government as transport for the team.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Must Speed Overhaul Of Fragile Army To Face Militants, Say Donors
02 May – Source: Reuters – 471 Words
Somalia should accelerate reforms of its army, its main foreign backers said on Wednesday after discussing slow progress in transforming the graft-ridden force into one capable of fighting al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants. Somali military officers attend a training programme by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at their military base in Mogadishu, Somalia November 1, 2017. The statement from a donor summit in Brussels urged Somalia to work faster to address problems identified in a report last year by the government, the United Nations and the African Union (AU).
That report called the Somali National Army (SNA) a “fragile force with extremely weak command and control”, and comes as AU peacekeepers prepare for their departure in 2020, leaving the local military in charge of Somalia’s security. The AU force began drawing down last year. It does most of the fighting against Shabaab insurgents who launch attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere. Without strong Somali forces, Shabaab could be reinvigorated, analysts say.
Donors said the army should create biometric registration and electronic payroll systems to curb corruption. “The SNA has to improve dramatically in a short amount of time as it is falling farther and farther behind schedule on achieving the benchmarks agreed to last year,” said Joshua Meservey, at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.
UN Envoy Calls For Free, Independent Media In Somalia
03 May – Source: Xinhua – 330 Words
The UN top envoy in Somalia on Thursday called for free and independent news media in the Horn of Africa nation where journalists operate in difficult environment as the World Press Freedom Day is marked across the globe. Michael Keating, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia also lauded the courage and dedication of the country’s journalists who operate in one of the world’s most dangerous environments for media workers. “I salute the hundreds of Somali journalists who risk their lives on a regular basis to do their job,” said Keating in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
“A truly free and independent news media is indispensable in all democratic societies, an essential means to hold the powerful to account. An essential component for the media to do its job is ending the culture of impunity that, unfortunately, prevails for crimes committed against journalists,” he added.
The UN envoy urged lawmakers to resume their deliberations over an amended version of Somalia’s 2016 Media Law and give due consideration to a list of recommended changes to the law submitted by the country’s leading media associations last year. He said this year’s theme “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law” is particularly relevant to Somalia.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Waldhauser has said that the goal of the joint U.S.-Somali military activity is to disrupt Al-Shabaab operations and thereby create space for state-building necessary to lasting security Somalia. But without similar investment in political solutions, it’s unclear what long-term results increased military investment can yield.”
Massive Military Base Build Up Suggests The U.S Shadow War In Somalia Is Only Getting Bigger
03 May – Source: Vice News – 1965 Words
The U.S. military is dramatically expanding its operations at a former Soviet air strip in Somalia, constructing more than 800 beds at the Baledogle base, VICE News has learned. The construction at the secretive base marks the latest example of America’s growing and controversial shadow war in Africa. Baledogle’s expansion is one part of what appears to be a massive U.S. military infrastructure development project in the Horn of Africa country that will see at least six new U.S. outposts built this year, according to multiple defense contractors who spoke to VICE News.
The buildup coincides with an aggressive escalation by U.S. forces in their fight against al Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab. U.S. Africa Command (known as AFRICOM) now has more than 500 U.S. military personnel in Somalia, according to a spokeswoman, a dramatic increase from 2016, when AFRICOM only acknowledged 50 American troops on the ground. And since January 2017, U.S. forces have conducted at least 48 airstrikes in Somalia, compared to 14 in 2016 and 11 in 2015, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a London-based watchdog organization.
Access to Baledogle is highly restricted, but American contractors and Somali security officials with knowledge of the project told VICE News the construction work began last June, soon after Somalia officially declared war on the insurgency group al-Shabaab. AFRICOM wouldn’t comment on specific base sizes, but it confirmed that Somalia now has the third-largest concentration of U.S. DOD personnel on the continent, after Djibouti and Niger.
Baledogle — or “B-dog” as it’s colloquially referred to by the Americans in Somalia — has long been a forward operating base on the plains of Southern Somalia, a bumpy, 40-minute propeller plane ride from Mogadishu or a days-long drive through terrain littered with IEDs. Until recently just a few dozen American personnel worked in secrecy there alongside African Union Peacekeepers and Somali National Army Special Forces. But over the past year, yellow Caterpillar excavators and compactors have flooded the grounds and rickety second hand trucks carrying petrol and equipment have bumbled their way daily into the base’s gates. Mounds of red earth have been flattened and tan tents erected in their place.