November 12, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Kenyan Forces Say Flush Out Suspected Islamist Militants In Forest

11 November – Source: Reuters- 365 Words

Kenyan security forces have destroyed five camps used by suspected militants linked to the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab in a sweep of a forest on the north coast, a commander in charge of the operation said.The army and police launched the operation two months ago in Boni Forest, close to the Somali border, to flush out militants it believed were using the area to launch strikes in Kenya.

Al-Shabaab has been behind a spate of attacks on Kenya in the past two years, including an assault on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall that killed 67 people and a raid on Garissa university in the northeast that killed almost 150.The militants also launched several attacks in 2014 that left more than 100 dead in Lamu County region, an area that includes Boni forest.”The combined security units discovered five different al Shabaab hideouts inside the forest,” the head of the operation, James Ole Serian, told Reuters. “The hideouts have already been destroyed and the weapons handed to the government.”

The militants themselves fled when the operation was launched on Sept. 11 and none were arrested in the raids, he said. But several people in the surrounding area, mostly Kenyans, had been detained on suspicion of having links to the group, he added.”You will be seeing some of them in court soon,” he said.Military planes and helicopters have been sweeping the area since the operation began and local residents have reported sporadic sounds of gunfire and blasts from the area.”We are not leaving the Boni forest anytime soon until we ascertain that every terror element in the forest has been cleared,” Serian said, adding the operation could take more than the three months originally planned.

Key Headlines

Kenyan Forces Say Flush Out Suspected Islamist Militants In Forest (Reuters)
South West State Leader Reaches Afgoye District (Shabelle News)
Puntland Head Of State Commissions Major Infrastructural Projects (Wacaal Media)
Somali Military Tribunal Sentences Two Soldiers To Death Over Killings (Shabelle News)
Korea Seeks To Extend Troops In Somalia UAE (The Korea Herald)
Tuberculosis Kills Somali On Trial For Piracy (Times of India)
Garissa University Attack Student Tells How KDF Saved Him (The Star)
Fight Between Rival Al-Shabaab Factions Kills 9 (VoA)

NATIONAL MEDIA

South West State Leader Reaches Afgoye District

11 November – Source: Shabelle News – 82 Words

The leader of the interim administration of South West state Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has reached Afgoye district, 30Kms north-west of Mogadishu. On arrival, President Sharif has received a warm welcome from local officials, cheering residents and army officers, according to the spokesman of Lower Shabelle admin spoken Mohamed Shino. Reports from Afgoye indicate that South west state president has held talks with army officials on ways to enhance the overall security of region, following series of deadly attacks by Al shabaab.

Puntland Head Of State Commissions Major Infrastructural Projects

11 November – Source: Wacaal Media – 124 Words

President of the Semi-Autonomous State of Puntland Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gas has today launched major projects including roads and other infrastructure. A mosque constructed by the State’s Transport and Infrastucture ministry was among projects launched under the initiative of the head of State’s programs to develop Puntland without relying on others. The head of State also launched a major roads projects for Garowe and Qardho “We will not realize any development if we don’t construct new roads or renovate old ones” said the head of State during the launch adding that the project will soon be rolled out to other areas. The function was also graced by Garowe and Qardo district commissioners who penned the deal in front of the head of State.

Somali Military Tribunal Sentences Two Soldiers To Death Over Killings

11 November – Source: Shabelle News – 113 Words

The military tribunal of Somalia has sentenced two soldiers of the country’s armed forces to death penalty after they were found guilty of killing innocent people in Mogadishu. Hassan Mohamed Nur Shuute, military court Chief read the verdict to the reporters in Mogadishu, and he said that both soldiers had committed the crime that they had been accused for. The defendants were identified as Isack Mohamed Hashi and Muhaydin Mohamud Alasow, who were members of Somali army. Meanwhile, the judge said that the court has ruled to release two other soldiers after finding no guilty on the alleged murder crime. Death penalty is legal in Somalia, a mostly anarchic state in East Africa.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Korea Seeks To Extend Troops In Somalia, UAE

11 November – Source: The Korea Herald – 302 Words

The Defense Ministry is seeking to extend by one year the stationing of its troops off the coast of Somalia and the United Arab Emirates, officials said Wednesday, citing persistent pirate threats and the need for constant security cooperation with Middle Eastern countries. The agency is also pushing to put in place legislation to facilitate its future overseas dispatch of forces and participation in non-U.N. peacekeeping operations. Currently, some 320 soldiers of the Cheonghae Unit have been taking part in an international antipiracy campaign in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast since March 2009, operating a 4,000-ton class destroyer.

In Abu Dhabi, the 150-strong Akh Unit — meaning “brothers” in Arabic — was dispatched in January 2011 following the UAE’s request to help train its special warfare troops. The terms of both contingents were due to end at the end of this year. “The role of the Cheonghae Unit is vital as the combined naval forces continue to face threats from pirates within their operational area, which calls for maintaining the current levels of antipiracy activities as a deterrent,” a ministry official said.

Tuberculosis Kills Somali On Trial For Piracy

11 November – Source: Times of India – 177 Words

One of the 120 alleged Somali pirates nabbed in four operations died of natural causes at JJ Hospital on Sunday. The 28-year-old undertrial, Abdi Chama, had tuberculosis and suffered from other lung-related ailments. A native of Mogadishu, Chama was arrested on March 16, 2011. He was lodged at Taloja jail. Official documents list his relative as his mother, Bargi. Officials said it was difficult to say who would receive the body as there was no contact with the next of kin.

The Somali embassy in Delhi was informed and it was learnt to be making arrangements for the body to be received from the JJ Hospital. “We are ensuring that the body will be handed over to the embassy in full consciousness of the human rights of undertrials and honourably,” special public prosecutor Ranjit Sangle said. The death comes soon after the accused expressing their intention to plead guilty. The intention of the accused was communicated to visiting officials of the Somali embassy last week and was in turn relayed in writing to the state home department.

Garissa University Attack Student Tells How KDF Saved Him

11 November – Source: The Star – 143 Words

A survivor of the April 2 terror attack at Garissa University College on Tuesday narrated how he was saved by KDF officers from the scene. Waliahula Collins is the first prosecution witness to testify in the case in which four Kenyans and a Tanzanian are charged with conspiring to commit “a terrorist act at Garissa University College” and other related offences. He told Nairobi trial magistrate Daniel Ogembo he and fellow student ran towards the exit as KDF soldiers shot at the attackers.

Rashid Mberesero, a Tanzanian, is jointly charged with Kenyans Osman Dakane, Sahal Hussein, Hassan Aden and Mohamed Abikar. Gunmen from Somalia’s al Shabaab group stormed into the university and targeted Christian students, killing 147. Collins said he was in his room when he heard gunshots. He said he started running until KDF officers saved him. The hearing continues this morning.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department offered rewards for information on the whereabouts of six top Al-Shabaab leaders, including the group’s emir, AbuUbaidah. Ubaidah was named head of al-Shabab in September 2014 after his predecessor, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a U.S. drone strike,”

Fight Between Rival Al-Shabaab Factions Kills 9

11 November- Source: VoA News – 270 Words

Rival factions of Al-Shabaab militants clashed Wednesday in Somalia, in the latest sign of a split over whether to align with al-Qaida or the Islamic State. The clash occurred when a group of Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the hideout of a pro-Islamic State faction, according to residents. Nine fighters from both sides were killed and eightwounded in the fighting near Saakow in the Middle Juba region. One of the commanders of the pro-IS faction was among those killed, sources say.
Some Al-Shabaab fighters have called for the group to end its longtime alliance with al-Qaida and pledge loyalty to the Islamic State – an idea so far rejected by Al-Shabaab’s top leaders. In a speech last week, Al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Dhere said his group will not allow disunity. Those accused of “dividing the Muslims” will be stopped, he said.
Ali Dhere did not mention IS by name, but he said Al-Shabaab is the only “legitimate” Islamic authority in Somalia and in East Africa. This week the Islamic State released a video showing a group of al-Shabab fighters in Somalia’s Puntland region pledging allegiance to IS chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Al-Shabab has lost most of the territory it once controlled in southern Somalia but continues to carry out deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and in neighboring Kenya.