November 1, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Al-Shabaab Accused Of Abducting Elder In Somalia

31 October – Source : Shabelle – 115 Words

The militant group Al- Shabaab linked with Al Qaeda has been accused of kidnapping a renowned traditional elder in the town of Afmadow in southern Somalia on Saturday.Colonel Hujalle Aden Mohamed, a Somali army chief officer in the region, told Radio Shabelle over the phone that the elder, Salah Bashir was abducted from his house by militants.The militants took Bashir along with another local elder whose identity has not been established, according to the army officer. The whereabouts of the two remain unknown, he said. Al-Shabaab raided Afmadow last Friday before cutting off the telecommunication network in the region, which has been the scene of battle-ground since KDF invasion in Oct, 2011.

Key Headlines

Al-Shabaab Accused Of Abducting Elder In Somalia (Shabelle New)
Somali Government Soldiers Recaptured Town From Al-Shabaab( Radio Dalsan)
Kenya Speeds Completion Of Security Wall At Somalia Border (Shabelle News)
Police arrest three more linked to Mandera massacre (Daily Nation)
Jeenyo Are Champions Of General Da’ud Cup In Somalia(Soko25east)
Meet the Tank Girls Taking On Al-Shabaab(Foreign Policy Blogs)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Government Soldiers Recaptured Town From Al-Shabaab

31 October – Radio Dalsan – 83 Words

At least four government soldiers and eight Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in a heavy fighting between the two group that erupted in Gof -gaduud district in Bakol region of Somalia.Al-Shabaab attacked a base of Somalia national army at Gof-gaduud. The Somali National Army later recaptured the town, according to Interim South West Administration Information minister.

Kenya Speeds Completion Of Security Wall At Somalia Border

31 October – Source: Shabelle News – 158 Words

The Kenyan government will fast track completion of a 30-kilometer security wall along the border with Somalia to ward off infiltration by Al-Shabaab militants, officials have said.Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia told reporters that the border security wall will be completed by January 2017 to strengthen the war against terrorism.“The construction of a security wall along Somali border will resume soon following frequent terror attacks from Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera County. The exercise will be completed after 75 days from today,” said Shisia.

He revealed that Kenya Defense Forces will man the border security wall to prevent Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants from crossing into Kenya.Mandera County that neighbors Somalia has recently borne the brunt of terrorist attacks carried out by Al-Shabaab.In the month of October alone, 19 people have died in Mandera, following attacks by Al-Shabaab militants.Local administrators have supported construction of a border wall along Somalia border to curb movement of armed groups.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Police Arrest Three More Linked To Mandera Massacre

31 October – Source: Daily Nation – 247 Words
Police in Mandera have arrested three more suspects in connection with last week’s terror attack on a lodge that left 12 people dead. Without revealing the identities of the suspects, County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia on Monday said the three were locals.”We are catching up with them one after the other since we have enough information of who played what part in the attack,” he told Nation.co.ke. The arrest brings the number of suspects in police custody to five. Police last week arrested the lodge’s caretaker, Abdirahman Ali, and Mr Shisia said he was cooperating with investigators.

A Mandera court last week allowed the police to continue holding Mr Ali as they carry on with their investigations. The county chief said some Mandera residents were aiding militants who cross the border from Somalia to carry out attacks in Kenya.He said some of the suspects were being held in Mandera while others had been moved to Nairobi.Meanwhile, 33 people were on Monday charged in a Mandera court for disobeying a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on the town. Charged in groups of three to nine, 28 suspects pleaded guilty and were fined Sh5,000 each or in default serve one month in jail.

Jeenyo Are Champions Of General Da’ud Cup In Somalia

31 October – Source:Soka25east.com – 324 Words

Jeenyo Football Club has won the 2016 edition of Somalia General Da’ud cup after beating their rivals of Banadir Sports club 4-1 on penalties in the final match played at the FIFA-rebuilt facility, stadium Banadir on Sunday.Banadir Sports Club who are Somalia’s current champions, took the lead of the hotly-contested match in the 40th minute with a goal scored by Kiene Kafunyo [No 14], before Qeys Abdulle Moalim [No 16] made it 2-0 in favor of Banadir Sports Club just three minutes to the end of the first half.

eenyo FC made successive attacks on opponent’s side and managed to come up from behind after Abdi Aziz Mohamed Atosh [No 10] netted the opening goal for his team in the 45th minute, while Mohamed Abdi Nur [No 7] bagged the equalizing goal in the 65th minute of the match.However, Jeenyo FC were lucky to win the trophy 4-1 on penalties after the match ended in stalemate during the normal period that it takes to play a football match plus the extra time.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“But the SNA is still a long way from being considered a professional fighting force. It’s estimated that 16,000 troops are poorly trained and equipped, and they often go months without pay. That poses a host of challenges for female troops like Elman that the women of AMISOM don’t have to contend with. The Somali army doesn’t have proper barracks, let alone reporting mechanisms or disciplinary procedures for gender-based discrimination and abuse,”

Meet the Tank Girls Taking On Al-Shabaab

28 October – Source: Foreign Policy Blogs- 2459 Words
For nearly three decades, Somalia has been the world’s default example of a failed state. After the collapse of dictator Siad Barre’s regime in 1991, the country fell under the sway of a patchwork of local warlords whose bloody inter-clan fighting destroyed infrastructure and crops and produced one of the worst famines the world has ever seen. Out of this chaos came the terrorist group al-Shabab, which pledged allegiance to al Qaeda and seized control of large swaths of the country, including parts of the capital, Mogadishu.

AMISOM first deployed to Somalia in 2007 under an African Union Peace and Security Council mandate to protect Somali infrastructure and government officials as well as to deliver humanitarian aid. Since then, the mission’s size, mandate, and geographical presence have dramatically increased. AMISOM’s mission is now more counterinsurgency than peacekeeping. Its troops have pushed al-Shabab militants out of most urban areas and into sparsely populated regions like Lower Shabelle, where the two forces are engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

But as AMISOM’s presence has grown, so too has the controversy surrounding it. A 2014 Human Rights Watch report documented widespread sexual exploitation and assault of women and girls by Ugandan and Burundian troops within AMISOM. Since the report was released, AMISOM has created mechanisms for survivors of sexual violence to report accusations against soldiers. But it has also worked to keep new allegations of sexual assault from becoming public. According to U.N. and nongovernmental organization sources working on gender-based violence in Somalia, a 2013 internal U.N. report that alleged sexual assault by AMISOM soldiers was buried after researchers involved in writing it received death threats.

Deploying female peacekeepers has been a part of the U.N.’s official strategy to fight sexual violence since 2000, when the Security Council passed Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. The logic behind that resolution, which called for greater female participation in peacekeeping missions as well as new safeguards to prevent gender-based violence, was simple: Women are generally more comfortable speaking with female authorities, so deploying female blue helmets should make it easier for women to report cases of sexual violence and enhance the ability of missions like AMISOM to investigate such cases. The presence of female soldiers within peacekeeping battalions is also thought to make sexual violence against civilians less likely.