November 16, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Air Djibouti Makes A Comeback To Mogadishu After 25 years
15 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 210 Words
Air Djibouti made its maiden flight to Mogadishu today after a quarter century hiatus as the airline expands its market in the Horn of Africa. Djibouti Ambassador to Somalia Aden Ali Aden said the return of Air Djibouti to Mogadishu after ceasing its flights following the collapse of the government in 1991, was a major indication of his country’s efforts to support Somalia in its reconstruction process and attract more investors.
“The coming of this airline to Mogadishu today signals our commitment to the reconstruction and stabilization of Somalia. We hope this will also encourage other investors to set base in Somalia,” said Aden.
Air Djibouti started in 1963 but ceased operations in 2002. In 2015 the airline was once again relaunched as a cargo airline. Cardiff Aviation chairman and founder Bruce Dickinson announced August his company was injecting a lifeline to the airline and that it would deliver the first aircraft.
The Iron Maiden band front man who himself is a pilot flew the first Boeing 737 to Djibouti August. The airline currently flies to Addi Ababa, Hargeisa, Bossaso and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia. Djibouti is a major trade hub in the Horn of Africa and lies along strategic Arabian Peninsula route attracting American, French, Chinese and Italian military bases.
Key Headlines
- Air Djibouti Makes A Comeback To Mogadishu After 25 years (Goobjoog News)
- HirShabelle State Announces Start Of Lower House Elections (UNSOM)
- Puntland President Appoints Former Security Official In A New Post (Garowe Online)
- Child Deaths In Northern Somalia As Drought Bites (Goobjoog News)
- 18 Dead In Renewed Clashes With Islamist Militants In Somalia (EBL News)
- Two Minnesota Men Sentenced For Trying To Aid Islamic State: Local Media (Reuters)
- Ex-Somali Refugee Defeats Minister To Become MP (BBC)
- Can Kenya Close Dadaab The World’s Biggest Refugee Camp? (BBC)
NATIONAL MEDIA
HirShabelle State Announces Start Of Lower House Elections
15 November – Source: UNSOM – 227 Words
Voting for the 37 seats in the House of the People allocated to HirShabelle state will begin on Wednesday. The State-level Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (SIEIT) announced that 13 of the seats will be decided during the first phase of voting for the House of the People. “We are in our third day of preparations for the electoral process,” said SIEIT Spokesperson Osman Baarey. “We are prepping the (electoral college) delegates and working on their accreditation now. We now have 13 seats ready, and we hope to finish electing them on 16 November.”
Mr. Baarey added that the registration of candidates for the initial batch of 13 seats had closed. HirShabelle became the fifth regional administration to be formed last month nationwide. The state held elections for eight Upper House seats last week, and two of the seats were set aside for exclusively women candidates. “We as the National Women Organization are happy that the quota for women is being achieved here,” said Jowhar resident Billan Bille Mohamud.
Mohamed Ahmed Hussein, an elder, said he was impressed by how quickly the HirShabelle SIEIT had managed to organize the voting for House of the People seats in the state. “HirShabelle was the last region to be formed and many people thought this was not possible in such short time,” said Mr. Hussein. “This is a win for us.”
Puntland President Appoints Former Security Official In A New Post
15 November – Source: Garowe Online – 168 Words
The President of Somalia’s northeastern region of Puntland, has appointed a former security official for a new post, Garowe Online reports. In a Presidential decree, which GO has seen, President Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gaas appointed former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Police forces, General Mohiyadin Ahmed Muse, as the commander of counter-terrorism and narcotics operations.
The State has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks and proliferation of militant group in the past months, prompting President Gaas to make the new appointment. Early 2015, the president fired General Muse for undisclosed reasons. Muse is a well-known security official who took a major role in the fight against terrorist groups in Puntland. He previously suffered several injuries during counter-terrorism operations he led. He has now vowed to continue efforts to enforce security and stability of the region.
It’s noteworthy that following his removal from his previous post, he participated in the anti-terror operations against Al-Shabaab fighters, who seized control of several eastern coastal towns in Puntland region in March 2016.
Child Deaths In Northern Somalia As Drought Bites
15 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 348 Words
Authorities in Sool and Sanag region in northern Somalia have warned of child deaths and decimation of livestock as drought sweeps across Somalia with the UN estimating up to 5 million people in the Horn of Africa country face food shortages. Drought Committee Chairman Sheikh Saeed Ahmed in Sool has told Goobjoog News the situation is fast becoming a threat to lives as food shortages hits most villages in the region and many families trapped in hunger as they cannot afford means to move to places they can get food and water.
“Many families do not have any means to get out of their homes as the drought bites. As a result, some have lost their children to hunger. Livestock have also died as a result of the drought,” said Ahmed. Ahmed is calling on the Puntland regional government and the Federal government to move swiftly to avert any further loss of lives. Meanwhile the National Disaster Committee chairman Mohamed Hassan has also raised the red flag noting several parts of the country were now facing drought owing to failed rains.
“We are witnessing drought in Middle and Lower Jubba, South West regions and Togdheer regions. Some of these areas have been largely been exposed to drought because of massive soil erosion during heavy rains. We are doing our best to ensure we supply emergency aid to communities there,” said Hassan. But continued failed rains could lead to loss of human lives, Hassan warned. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud this week appealed for help noting the drought was subjecting many people to suffering.
“I appeal to the Somali people, wherever they are all over the world to help and stand shoulder to shoulder with their suffering Somali people who lack food and water due to the drought in the country,” the president noted. The EU last month announced a €8 million for Somalia to respond to the El Niño and food security crisis in the country. The Gu’ rains which run between September and November in Somalia failed leading to loss of livelihoods in many parts of the country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
18 Dead In Renewed Clashes With Islamist Militants In Somalia
15 November – Source: EBL News – 167 Words
At least six Somali soldiers and 12 Islamist militants were killed on Tuesday and several others wounded in clashes with the militant group Al-Shabaab, local officials said. Militants carried out a suicide car bombing on a government checkpoint in the southern region of Bakol late on Tuesday, before armed militants attacked from different directions, according to local regional parliament member Ibrahim Hassan Bule.
The Islamist group claimed the responsibility for the attack on its own pro-insurgent radio Andalus, saying it has killed 25 Somali soldiers, captured others alive and looted a military equipment. Somali government officials denied the claims. The situation in the Tiyeglow town where the attacks took place remained tense, according to Bule, after the town had changed hands several times between militants and the military in the past 24 hours.
Al-Shabaab militants launch regular attacks in Somalia, where the group is based. The jihadist group is seeking an Islamist state in the Horn of Africa and is affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Two Minnesota Men Sentenced For Trying To Aid Islamic State: Local Media
15 November – Source: Reuters – 354 Words
Two Somali-American men in Minnesota were sentenced on Tuesday for conspiring to support the Islamic State militant group, according to local media. Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Davis sentenced Hamza Ahmed, 21, to 15 years in prison, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. In November 2014, Ahmed was pulled off a plane scheduled to travel from New York to Turkey, which people who have fought for Islamic State have used as a gateway to Syria.
The militant group holds territory in Iraq and Syria and has sympathizers and recruits around the world who have carried out shootings and bombings of civilians. Ahmed was indicted in February 2015 on charges of conspiring to support Islamic State and lying to federal agents investigating recruitment by militant groups, according to prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in April, according to the Star Tribune.
“I want you to understand I am not completely changed,” the newspaper quoted Ahmed as saying in court on Tuesday. “I’m in the process, but nobody changes overnight. I’m trying every day.” Hanad Mustafe Musse, 21, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, on Tuesday following Ahmed’s sentencing, the local ABC affiliate, KSTP, reported. Prosecutors accused Musse of trying to leave the United States twice to join the militant group, first in November 2014 in New York and again in April 2015 when he was arrested in Minnesota. He pleaded guilty to the charges of attempting to support the Islamic State in September 2015.
Ex-Somali Refugee Defeats Minister To Become MP
15 November – Source: BBC – 223 Words
A man who grew in a refugee camp in Kenya has defeated a top Somali official to become a member of parliament. Abdullahi Sheikh Abas, in his early 20s, was picked by an electoral college as a federal MP. He was up for election against State Information Minister Mohammed Abdi Hassan. Somalia has been holding indirect elections since October to renew its parliament as the country remains too dangerous for a national vote. Some parts of the country is still under the control of Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda.
Mr Abas was born and educated in Dadaab, the world’s biggest refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya. In Somalia’s long electoral process, 135 traditional clan elders selected some 14,000 delegates, who formed 275 electoral colleges. From 23 October to 10 November, each electoral college voted for an MP to sit in the lower house of parliament.
The results are now being published and Mr Abas has been elected as federal MP for Kismayo in Somalia’s Jubaland region. It is not clear how Mr Abas sold himself to the electoral college, but BBC Somali analyst Mohammed Abdinoor says Somalis who stayed at home have strong sympathy for returnees like Mr Abas, who grew up in refugee camps. The newly elected MPs are due to choose a president by the end of November.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Some call Dadaab a desert city, others an open prison, but pulling down a place where many of its inhabitants were born and have never left takes time and must be done within the bounds of international humanitarian law.”
Can Kenya Close Dadaab, The World’s Biggest Refugee Camp?
15 November – Source: BBC – 1,093 Words
Kenya’s announcement that Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, would close at the end of this month has encouraged thousands of people to leave already, but without further preparation, it seems unlikely the government will be able to meet its own deadline, which has been condemned by human rights groups. Small shacks of wood, corrugated iron and scraps of tarpaulin cling to the sand dunes on the outskirts of Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo. Tens of thousands of people displaced by drought and decades of civil war live in 86 camps around Kismayo alone. And thousands more have been arriving in Somalia in the months since Kenya said it would close down Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp.
At the height of the fighting and the famine in Somalia, Dadaab, with its sprawling stretch of refugee camps in the flat, dusty desert scrubland of north-eastern Kenya, was home to half a million people. Today 280,000 receive help with food and shelter, healthcare and education, but Kenya says 25 years is long enough, and the camp must close by the end of this month. Some have been flown back by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), others have been brought by bus through Somali countryside still controlled by the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab. But the place they are returning to is a work in progress. Somalia is still riven by clan divisions and regional political rivalries, and is only slowly stuttering towards becoming a functioning federal state.
“We need our people to come back, but the problem is how they can stay here, get a livelihood and how we can support them,” said General Mohamed Warsame Darwish, interior minister for the southern state of Jubaland which has Kismayo as its capital. “People have no toilets, no shelter, no water, no education, no medicine – how can they cope?” he said. There are already tens of thousands of people living in camps for the displaced in Somalia, where aid agencies struggle to provide help and the new arrivals are increasing the pressure.