November 16, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Growing Tension In Beledweyne Town After UN Official Is Killed

15 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 181 Words

Tension ran high in the central Somali town of Beledweyne after government troops shot dead a UN official in the town on Saturday, residents said on Sunday.Mahdi Hussein Shekhal, a field officer with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) was killed after armed troops opened fire at his car in Hawatako locality in the town.A police official in the town told Hiiran Online that armed men from the late UN officer’s clan have blocked major roads and closed businesses, demanding the town’s administration to hand over the murderers.No comments could be reached from the UNMAS officials on their official’s murder.
Elders in the town called the killing as a ‘murder-for-hire plot targeting the UN officials, accusing the region’s governor Abdifatah Hassan Afrah to be behind the killing after he had reportedly a personal arguments with the late official.The governor hast not so far commented on the killing which sent shockwaves across the region.The development has raised fears of clan fighting divisions in the region which has long enjoyed diverse clans’ peaceful co-existence and administrational power sharing.

Key Headlines

Growing Tension In Beledweyne Town After UN Official Is Killed (Hiiraan Online)
Somali Defense Minister Says Somali Soldiers Are Trained To Safeguard Human rights (Goobjoog News)
Four Die Several Injured As Puntland Forces Shoot At Civilians In Galkayo (Wacaal Media)
Somalia MPs Debate Motion For Withdrawal Of Kenyans Over Wall (Coastweek)
UN Says 132000 Affected By Floods As El Nino Sweeps Somalia (Xinhua)
‘No One Flees Their Country Without A Good Reason’ – Somali Migrant (The Independent Malta)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Defense Minister Says Somali Soldiers Are Trained To Safeguard Human rights

15 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 117 Words

Somali defense Minister, Abdiqadir Sheikh Dini and the Assistant Secretary-General for human rights in the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic have met today in Mogadishu and discussed ways of preventing child recruitment in armed forces.Somali defense minister stressed the willingness of Somali government to respect international laws that prohibits underage child enlistment under any circumstance.“ we are obliged to respect human rights and prevent child recruitment in armed force,” Said the minister.On his part Assistant Secretary-General for human rights in the United Nations Ivan Simonovic called Defense Minister to take all the necessary measures of preventing children enlistment in the national forces.

Four Die, Several Injured As Puntland Forces Shoot At Civilians In Galkayo

15 November – Source: Wacaal Media – 92 Words

Four people were killed and six other seriously injured after Puntland forces shot at a group of people who were taking an injured person to a local hospital. Sources told Wacaal media that the officers who were at the hospital in Northern Galkayo clashed with the civilians who brought the injured man to Garsoor estate. This follows clashes between a clan militia and the Puntland forces. The regional administration of Mudug did not comment on the issue by the time of going to press even as tension builds up in the area.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia MPs Debate Motion For Withdrawal Of Kenyans Over Wall

15 November – Source: Coastweek – 431 Words

Somali lawmakers have debated a motion that calls for the withdrawal of Kenyan troops which are fighting ‘Al-Shabaab’ in the Horn of Africa nation.During the debate, the legislators expressed their strong opposition against Kenya’s on-going plans to build a security wall along the common border in northeast Kenya, saying Nairobi was encroaching on their territory.After listening to the submissions delivered by committee of the Federal Parliament of Foreign and Internal Affairs, the lawmakers voted to have an urgent response to the border crisis with solution to the crisis at the border in 48 hours.
Mohamed Omar Dalha, head of Parliamentary Commission on External Affairs, said the Kenya government violated the Somali territory by constructing the wall.”The Kenya government is building the wall inside Somalia, it is against the international law, Kenya should withdraw its forces from Somalia,” Dalha told Parliament.”We also request the international community to seek contributing troop countries elsewhere in order to replace the troops from Kenya,” he added.
Kenya is building a 440-mile wall along its border with Somalia in a bid to keep out ‘al-Shabaab’ and boost security after a wave of attacks that have claimed scores of lives and provoked severe criticism of the government’s response.The wall, a series of concrete barriers, fences, ditches and observation posts overlooked by CCTV stations, is expected to stretch from the Indian Ocean to Mandera, where both countries converge with Ethiopia.The legislators called on the Somali government to ensure that Kenya does not interfere with the territories of Somalia, saying reports and images from satellite indicate that the building of the wall will reach Somalia’s territory.

UN Says 132,000 Affected By Floods As El Nino Sweeps Somalia

14 November – Source: Xinhua – 460 Words

Flash floods in Somalia have destroyed thousands of makeshift homes, as well as latrines and shallow wells, affecting 1320,000 people since Oct. 19, the UN humanitarian agency said.The UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest report on Saturday that as the wet conditions continue, thousands of people in the low lying areas of the southern and central parts of Somalia remain at risk of flash and river flooding.”In Banadir region, heavy rains caused flash floods in Mogadishu and surrounding areas. Three children were reportedly killed and a number of people were injured after a wall collapsed in Yaqshiid district,” OCHA said.
An estimated 42,000 of these were affected by tropical cyclones Chapala and Megh, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-Managed Somalia Land and Water Information Network (SWALIM). Another estimated 60,000 people have been displaced as a result of the flash and river flooding in Bakool, Bay, Hiraan, Lower Juba, Middle Juba and Middle Shabelle, according to multiple sources including local authorities, partners, communities and the Protection and Return Monitoring Network (PRMN).
An OCHA-led assessment found that most of the shelters belonging to 12,000 internally displaced people have been destroyed. Also, over 90 community latrines were reportedly damaged, while the remaining are likely to collapse.Experts have warned that the floods, which have made roads impassable and cut thousands off from aid, could reverse many of the humanitarian gains made in southern Somalia since 2011 when the Horn of Africa nation was devastated by famine. OCHA said the above has been possible thanks in part to early funding estimated at 14 million U.S. dollars specifically to preparedness and response to El Nino in Somalia.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“There is a huge problem in Africa. Africans need to feel safe in their countries and have opportunities. There are still many dictators and corrupt leaders in Africa. There is no justice in some African countries; many people do not even have access to water,”

‘No One Flees Their Country Without A Good Reason’ – Somali Migrant

15 November – Source: The Independent, Malta -1513 Words

“No one flees their country without a good reason,” 27-year-old Somali migrant Ahmed Nuur Ibrahim says matter-of-factly.Mr Ibrahim fled his native Somalia in 2013 following the killing of 18 of his fellow journalists.”I was told that I would be next, so I took the decision to flee my country. My plan was not to go to Europe; my plan was to escape to a neighbouring African country. I crossed the border between Somalia and Ethiopia illegally.”

He tried to settle down in Ethiopia, though he was warned that his lack of papers and profession as a journalist would soon get him labelled as a spy by the Ethiopian government.”I fled again, crossing the border between Ethiopia and Sudan. Again I went to the capital, and still my plan was not to go to Europe. There is no freedom of speech or movement in Sudan.”One day I met a group of migrants from Somalia, and they told me they knew a human trafficker who would charge only $500 to cross the desert, make it to Libya and then cross into Europe.”I thought it was suspicious at first but I eventually went along with it. That is the day I started dreaming of going to Europe.”

Mr Ibrahim’s dream soon faced a sobering brush with reality. His group of migrants was ambushed and kidnapped by people smugglers on the third day of non-stop travel through the African desert.The smugglers demanded $3,500 in ransom money per migrant for their release.”I come from a poor family, I had no money. The smugglers held me for one month and 15 days. One day they beat me up very badly and ordered me to speak to my family so that they could send me the ransom money.”They showed me the skeletons of people. They said they had already killed these people, and I would be next if I did not pay the ransom. They gave me a satellite phone.”I contacted my mother, saying ‘Mum, I have a big problem. I have been kidnapped by smugglers and they want ransom money. If I don’t give them the money in the next two days I will die’.”