October 12, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Government Forces Arrest Al-Shabaab Ring Leader In El-Buur
11 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 155 Words
Somali security forces in El-Buur town have arrested Al-Shabaab ring leader after the forces launched security operation in the outskirt of the town. The commander of the security forces, Ahmed Hassan Araale speaking to Goobjoog News said Somali security forces raided a house located outside the town where the ring leader of the group was resting. “Our intelligence in the town got the information that a senior Al-Shabaab commander is living in the outskirt of the town and plans to launch series of violent attacks. We carefully monitored the house he was in and finally launched a raid and arrested him” he said. Al-Shabaab has yet to comment on the development. According to analysts it could be a breakthrough as this would help destabilize Al-Shabaab cells in the region.
Key Headlines
- Government Forces Arrest Al-Shabaab Ring Leader In El-Buur (Goobjoog News)
- Galmudug Administration Calls On Residents To End Revenge Killings (Goobjoog News)
- 100 Arrested In Mogadishu Security Sweep (Shabelle News)
- Impeachment Motion Against Somalia President Splits Parliament (Garowe Online)
- Mother’s Shock After Class 8 Boy Joins Al-Shabaab (Sunday Nation)
- Somalia Affirms Its Maritime Case Against Kenya On Course (Xinhua)
- AMISOM Hands Over Motorcycles To The Somali Police Force (AMISOM)
- The Other Refugee Crisis (The New York Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Galmudug Administration Calls On Residents To End Revenge Killings
11 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 185 Words
The administration Galmudug state has made a peace appeal to the feuding clans in Galgaduud region. Galmudug Vice President, Mohamed Hashi Abdi said that recurrent clan clashes and the killings of innocent civilians for revenge is a miserable situation to the administration: We are unhappy with what is going on in Galgaduud region. We call upon those involved to stop. People should live in peace and harmony in that region” he said.
Tensions between two clans in Galgaduud region have risen in recent days after killing of several people for revenge. On 7th this month gunman shot and killed one person in a tea shop in Dhusa-mareeb town in what seemed to be an act of revenge. A resident in the town who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals said that the killing of the man was revenge for the killing of another man in the outskirt of the town. Arguments over land use, boreholes and pasture have perennially contributed to fighting among Somali clans who are largely pastoralists and this have many times affected the traders, traditional elders, and other famous people who are hunted for revenge.
100 Arrested In Mogadishu Security Sweep
11 October – Source: Shabelle News – 79 Words
Nearly 100 people, mostly teenagers have been arrested on Sunday in a joint security sweep in Mogadishu by Somali and AMISOM police units, witnesses said. Sunday’s dawn operation carried out at villages in Mogadishu’s Waberi and Hamar-jajab districts by the allied troops searched houses suspected to be hiding Al-Shabaab sleeper cells, police said. Local authority was not immediately available on the phone for further details on the motive of the Sunday’s security operation in the capital, Mogadishu.
Impeachment Motion Against Somalia President Splits Parliament
10 October – Source: Garowe Online – 279 Words
Amicable resolutions to impeachment motion against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud have further split federal parliament into camps as speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman (Jawari ) has briefly recalled MPs from recess for the prevailing political uncertainty.The 275-seat-chamber of parliament has been slated to officially resume duties on October 15 following a recess squeeze of a month and dropping of no confidence motion by the speaker. Federal MP, Abdirahman Hosh Jibril who leads the pro-impeachment caucus insisted that they are not ready to sit down with Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke in lieu of Mohamud. Some MPs have decamped to lawmakers wooed by the President, while prominent proponents stuck to their position of sending President Mohamud packing.
On Saturday, many opposition lawmakers have not been spotted in the meeting in which Prime Minister Sharmarke represented the President: “This is yet another sign for the internal schism that continues to plague Somalia parliament. From two camps to three …and we expect the split to gain momentum over the next few days,” an analyst told Garowe Online. Insiders reveal that the motion prompted for Mohamud to weigh in on reshuffling the cabinet to allay no-confidence motion and appease challengers with ministerial portfolios.
On August 12, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari received no confidence motion from lawmakers said to be numbering over 90. MPs have lambasted Mohamud, whose three-year presidency has been marred by corruption, for blatant disregard for the Provisional Federal Constitution. On August 18, Somalia’s embattled President was quoted as saying; he was keen to appear in the 275-seat-chamber of parliament for address in the wake of the motion.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Mother’s Shock After Class 8 Boy Joins Al-Shabaab
11 October – Source: Sunday Nation – 1,499 Words
A Standard Eight pupil is being held by anti-terrorism police in Nairobi, Kenya, after he was rescued from an Al-Shabaab cell that is recruiting students, highlighting a development that has shocked the security system. The 14-year-old is registered to sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination next month but, unknown to his family and teachers, the boy was recruited by Al-Shabaab agents operating in one of Nairobi’s most expensive suburbs where he was offered radical religious teachings and training on how to use guns.
The militants planned to sneak the boy, who is from a Christian family, into Somalia this December to join fighting units of the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group. He was an easy prey because the Al-Shabaab cell set up camp in a house next to his home at a gated community in the upmarket estate, where the lowest monthly rent is Sh75,000. Every day after school and during the weekends, he joined a group of about 20 other teenagers in the house where they were radicalised.
According to the boy, he was handed a pistol and showed how to use it, only that the lessons never involved firing live ammunition lest the gunshots stirred up the quiet neighbourhood. Much to the astonishment of his mother, and officers who interrogated him, the boy gave a list of 19 other youngsters who are waiting to be smuggled into Somalia in December.
According to his statement, each one of them was promised $10 million (Sh1 billion) to help their families become rich as compensation for “work” they were expected to do in Somalia. The boy also revealed that he was supposed to travel to Somalia in August, when another group of 20 left, but was left behind because he had not mastered all the teachings. He was also waiting to be given a new name after dropping his Christian one.
Somalia Affirms Its Maritime Case Against Kenya On Course
October 11 – Source: Xinhua – 340 Words
Somalia has dismissed claims by Kenya that the maritime case it filed with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) lacks legal merit, arguing that it will pursue it to its logical conclusion. In a response to Kenya’s challenge of the case submitted this week in which Kenya’s Attorney General Githu Muigai said ICJ lacked the jurisdiction over the case, Somali Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir said his country was confident the court would competently adjudicate over the matter.
“The objections submitted by Kenya are clearly without merit and the Somali government is confident that the court will reject Kenya’s attempt to deny Justice,” said Dahir In a statement issued in Mogadishu on Saturday. Muigai on Friday was quoted in a section of the Kenyan media, affirming his country’s confidence that the court will reject the case on grounds of inadmissibility.
“Kenya’s contention is that Somalia’s case falls outside the jurisdiction of the Court and is inadmissible because it is contrary to Somalia’s international obligations,” said Muigai. But in yesterday’s rejoinder, Somalia has accused Kenya of trying to arm twist the court process and evade responsibility of settling the matter as two neighbors: “The Kenyan government case is to maintain the current the untenable status quo and evade its responsibility to seek a peaceful settlement of this complex maritime dispute between both countries,” added Dahir. Somalia and Kenya have been in dispute over the maritime border with each filing a different interpretation of the exact border.
AMISOM Hands Over Motorcycles To The Somali Police Force
11 October – Source: AMISOM – 427 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Police and Civil Affairs units today handed over 10 motorcycles to the Somali Police Force, donated with support from the European Union. These are meant to be used by the Somali Police Force traffic department, for management of traffic in Mogadishu, whose growth has recently led to congestion on the roads.
The motorcycles were handed over at a ceremony attended by the Somali Deputy Police Commissioner General Mukhtar Afrah, AMISOM Police Commissioner Annand Pillay and Dr. Opiyo Ododa AMISOM Senior Civil Affairs Officer, among others. General Mukhtar Afrah expressed his gratitude to AMISOM for the donation also noting that the traffic congestion experienced in Mogadishu today would not have been happened without relative peace enjoyed today, enabled by AU troops working closely with the Federal Government of Somalia security institutions.
“We came here today to receive motorcycles donated by the African Union to the Somali Police Force to ensure security and traffic safety. With the increase in traffic, the roads are congested. The motorcycles are needed to facilitate smooth movement of traffic. There was need for these motorcycles and we thank AMISOM for the generous donation,” he said. AMISOM Police Commissioner Anand Pillay said the donation is part of the general support to the Somali Police Force, adding that there are more initiatives geared towards increasing police presence in the communities.
“This morning we gathered here at the training center of AMISOM to hand over ten motorcycles to the Somali Police Force. This is part of our capacity building efforts to enhance the capabilities of the Somali Police in policing the communities. These motorcycles will be used for liaison by the traffic department to manage traffic in Mogadishu. As we all know, the number of vehicles has increased in Somalia especially in Mogadishu and there is a dire need to manage the traffic and ensure free flow in the city itself,” said commissioner Pillay.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“There are nearly 400,000 Somali refugees living in Dadaab for whom none of these outcomes is likely. They are among the 14 million refugees living in what the United Nations calls “protracted situations,” those in exile for more than five years.”
The Other Refugee Crisis
09 October – Source: The New York Times – 1,529 Words
For the past five years I have been visiting the world’s largest refugee camp, a city made of mud and sticks the size of New Orleans called Dadaab, in northeastern Kenya. The camp was established in 1991 as a temporary refuge for around 90,000 people fleeing Somalia’s civil war. Today it is home to half a million.
At first, I was blown away by the fact of its existence: How could this place still be here? And how could the world allow all these people to stay in this baking hot limbo, unable to work and unable to leave, to spend their whole lives in an open prison? But five years later, after following residents through their daily lives and listening to their hopes and fears, I have came to a very different realization: Dadaab is not an anachronism, or a hangover from a former world order. It is the future.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Dadaab was created as a short-term haven where the international community could house and feed displaced people until a “durable solution” could be found. Under the principles set out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this meant refugees would stay in the camp until one of three things happened: They returned to their country of origin; were integrated into their new host country, in this case, Kenya; or were offered resettlement to a third country, usually in Europe or the United States.