October 13, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Buurahakaba District Administration Confirms Arrest Of 30 Militants
12 October – Source: Wacaal Media – 93 Words
The district administration of of Buurhakaba town in Baay region has confirmed the arrest of 30 Al Shabaab militants after conducting security operations in the area. Confirming this to Wacaal media, assistant district commissioner Hussein Mohamed Ali – Maankaalow said that the suspects were arrested after Federal government forces carried swoops in Buurhakaba and surrounding areas. He added the suspects were on their way to Baidoa. By the time of going to the press, the militants were still mum about the surprise development.
Key Headlines
- Buurahakaba District Administration Confirms Arrest Of 30 Militants (Wacaal Media)
- Security Scare As Cargo Airplane Crashes Near Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
- South-West State Vows To Flush Out Al-Shabaab From Its Region (Goobjoog News)
- Irate Residents And Football Fans Torch Awdal Police Commissioner’s Residence In Somaliland(Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Rises From The Ashes One Day At A Time (Daily Nation)
- Somali Who Said She Was Raped On Nauru Is In Australia For Care (New York Times)
- Crisis Hotline 5555 Launched For Victims Of Sexual Abuse In Mogadishu (AMISOM)
- Blind Radio Journalist Beats Odds To Tell The Somali Story (Xinhua News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Security Scare As Cargo Airplane Crashes Near Mogadishu
12 October – Source: Hiraan Online 223 Words
A cargo plane carrying frozen food for the African Union forces in Somalia has crashed outside Somali capital, with six crew on board survived unharmed, Somali official told Hiiraan Online. Director of Somali Civil Aviation told Hiiraan Online that the plane Airbus A300, which had flown from Egypt, had crashed on Afgoye road, outside Somali capital after fuel shortage forced the pilot to make an emergency landing.
Before the crash, the plane dangerously hovered low around the capital as its pilot made several attempts to land. The drama caused a major security scare and panic at the Aden Abdulle International Airport and among Mogadishu residents. Despite initial confusion on the plane’s crash information, the director of Somali civil aviation said the department would release an official report on the incident.
Senior police officials confirmed to Hiiraan Online that all the occupants of the plane were safe except for one who was injured and rushed to hospital. AMISOM immediately dispatched a helicopter to airlift the crew to Mogadishu and the safety of plane is now under the full control of Somali National Army forces and AMISOM troops. According to Somali aviation authority, Mogadishu Airport is officially closed between 1500 – 300 Zulu time (6pm – 6am) Mogadishu time. Despite the belated flight by the crashed plane, that information was available to any airplane planning to travel to Mogadishu Airport.
By regulation any aircraft should have enough fuel to destination and there after to an alternate airport, in this case Djibouti or Nairobi, a regulation Somali aviation officials said that the plane’s crew failed to comply. The UN’s Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority for Somalia (CACAS) that collects over-flight revenues on behalf of Somalia were unable to provide runway lights and other navigational facilities necessary for night flight operations to Mogadishu Airport. CACAS has been collecting about $6 to7 million dollars every year for air navigation fees levied on aircrafts flying over Somali airspace.
South-West State Vows To Flush Out Al-Shabaab From Its Region
12 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 128 Words
Consultative meeting between the administration of South-West State and the National cohesion force committee was held in Baidoa. The meeting discussed a wide range of issues including security and eradication Al-Shabab fighters. Speaking at the meeting South-West minister for security, Abdifatah Gesey, said that security forces of South-west state will launch massive security crackdown against Al-Shabaab in regions of the regional state.
“We have agreed to speed up annihilation of Al-Shabaab fighters. There have been air raids against the fighters, which have tremendously weakened their power. Our forces together with the African union peace-keeping troops are now ready to advance and capture Al-Shabaab controlled areas in the region” he said. Al-Shabaab controls several small towns in South-west state despite heavy operations jointly launched by government forces together with AMISOM troops.
Irate Residents And Football Fans Torch Awdal Police Commissioner’s Residence In Somaliland
12 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 226 Words
Hundreds of angry young football fans and residents of Borama town went on the rampage on Monday and burned down residential house of Awdal police commissioner while protesting against killings of football fans that occurred at Borama Stadium 2 days ago. The irate protesters attacked the house of the commissioner with fireworks and stones before setting it on fire.
At least one football fan was killed on Sunday after supporters of two clubs Awdal and Maroodi-Jeeh chanted Somalia’s National Anthem inside Borama Stadium prompting the police to open fire on the supporters. One of the locals in Boroma town told Goobjoog News that the violence started after the police of breakaway Somaliland killed two people in the stadium in the last two days.
“The soldiers in Borama have killed two football fans in the town’s stadium in two days prompting livid residents to set fire on the commissioner’s house” he said. He added “Latest incident started on Saturday evening in the town of Borame after supporters of one of the teams playing stormed onto the pitch protesting against a decision by match officials”
Video clips showing police firing at fans near the stadium were published on social media. Officials of the breakaway region of Somaliland have said that investigations are going on. Every year, regional football tournaments are held across Somalia bringing together football fans.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Rises From The Ashes One Day At A Time
12 October – Source: Daily Nation – 933 Words
After almost a quarter century since the fall of the Mohammed Siad Barre dictatorial regime and the collapse of the national government, Somalia is rising from the ashes. A visitor to the capital Mogadishu will be pleasantly surprised to find a modern and working airport named after the country’s first president Aden Abdullah Osman Daar.
True, the city in many ways resembles a country that is recovering from war. But signs that Somalia, which was brought to its knees in the 1990s, is making tremendous strides towards normalcy are everywhere. Al-Shabaab was officially kicked out of Mogadishu in 2011 by the African Union forces (Amisom) concentrating their base in the south of the country from where they engage in sporadic attacks and assassinations in the capital.
It is at the airport that a visit first senses that things are getting better. Here, flights land and take off from the new airport almost every hour from 6 am to 6 pm when it closes down, not for security concerns, but logistical issues. After the collapse of the Somali government in the 1990s, the country lost most of its experts including air operators. Aden Abdullah international airport is under the management of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officials as the country builds capacity to take over.
On landing at the airport, one is welcomed with a sight of residents on mobile phones. This is despite the fact that the country does not have a regulator in place. But the country has two main mobile companies, Hormuud and the National Link, which more or less cover the entire country. They even have mobile money transfers. The road network is not anything to write home about, but the trunk roads are pretty passable with the federal government determined to make things work in the capital before moving to other parts of the country.
Britain and China are among the world powers that have embassies in Mogadishu while Kenya is constructing its offices not far away from the airport. Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia, who are among the countries that have contributed troops to Amisom, also have embassies in the Somali capital. Amisom has brought some sense of order in the vast country and this is beginning to pay dividends. Unlike in the past when moving around Mogadishu at night was tantamount to getting yourself shot, Amisom soldiers now patrol the streets for 24 hours, allowing people to carry out their businesses unperturbed.
Along the long coastline, Lido beach stands out as men, women and youth enjoy the ocean breeze as they while away. Some take a dip into the water while others play beach football. Clearly, the good days when residents would enjoy beach life are back. Beaches were no-go zones not too long ago. Somali leaders under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud – who has been in office since 2012 – have brought a sense of belief among the population together with Amisom. They are quick to concede that the country still has challenges but they are determined to address those challenges.
Somali Who Said She Was Raped On Nauru Is In Australia For Care
12 October – Source: New York Times – 975 Words
A pregnant 23-year-old Somali woman, who said she was raped on the Pacific island of Nauru where she had been detained by the Australian authorities, has been brought to Australia for medical treatment, rights advocates said on Monday. The case had gained notoriety after the Australian government refused the woman’s request to be allowed to come to Australia to terminate her pregnancy. Nauru, one of two islands where Australia detains asylum seekers who arrive by boat, does not allow abortions.
Hugh de Kretser, the executive director of the Human Rights Law Center, in Melbourne, Australia, said the government had granted the woman a visa to come to the country for treatment: “It’s a welcome move that she has been allowed to come, but it shouldn’t have taken this level of intense advocacy to get that to happen,” Mr. de Kretser said. The woman’s lawyer, George Newhouse, had appealed to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to allow the woman to leave Nauru.
Mr. de Kretser said the woman was around 12 weeks into her pregnancy. Mr. Newhouse could not be reached for comment on Monday. The woman, who has not been identified, is one of two Somali women who said they were raped on the tiny, desolate island, just south of the Equator, while they were outside the detention center. Australia refuses to accept asylum seekers who try to arrive by boat, instead sending them to Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, where they are held until their claim for asylum is assessed. The camps have been criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations for their harsh conditions. An Australian Senate report in August described conditions at the Nauru center as dangerous and intolerable.
During an interview on ABC Radio on Oct. 1, Mr. Turnbull described the allegations of rape on Nauru as alarming and said the government had taken a number of steps to better ensure the safety of women and children on Nauru. In Parliament on Monday, however, he defended the government’s policy of turning back boats of asylum seekers at sea and using offshore camps to deter people smugglers who try to bring migrants to Australia, often on unseaworthy boats. He said the government’s policies were working, because fewer boats were arriving and fewer people were drowning at sea.
Crisis Hotline 5555 Launched For Victims Of Sexual Abuse In Mogadishu
11 October – Source: AMISOM – 513 Words
A crisis hotline 5555 has today been launched in the Somali Capital, Mogadishu for victims of rape and all forms of sexual abuse. Championed by civil society organization, Somali Women Development Centre (SWDC) and the Somali Police Force, the crisis line is expected facilitate timely reporting and response to cases of abuse. The initiative was launched at a ceremony attended by the Somali Police Force, non-governmental organizations as well as the media. The use of the line has been launched as six-month pilot project limited to Mogadishu’s Banadir region, supported by mobile telephone company Nationlink Telecommunications and is expected to be extended to other parts of the country.
SWDC, an organization that helps victims of abuse says the most prevalent cases have been reported among young girls, boys, women and the elderly. Sahra Mohamed Ahmed, Legal Adviser with SWDC says the initiative codenamed 5555 Ceebla (Somali for no shame) will be supported by a team of nurses, social workers, investigators and legal officers. Currently, 40 legal officers all graduates of Mogadishu University have been lined up, 25 of whom are female.
“The first step we usually take after receiving a complaint would be liaising with the police and hospitals but now with Ceebla, we will have more facilities and the voiceless girl will now have a voice. We will support the victim in reporting the crime to the police in order to get referral letter to the hospital. We will then bring the doctor’s report or evidence to the police and from there the police will arrest the perpetrator, and then pass the case to the courts,” said Sahra.
She added that dealing with the stigma attached to cases of abuse is also central to the interventions: .“We start with counselling as the victims are traumatised but we don’t stop, we also help them acquire employment. These victims are isolated due the stigma attached to rape; we therefore want them to be re-integrated into the communities. The victims might be mothers, girls or children and we keep in touch with the survivors,” she noted. Col. Mohamed Dahir Abdulle, Somali Police Force Commander of Waliyow ade station welcomed the initiative and is hopeful that it will greatly impact on the security of the vulnerable members of society.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“I have no intentions of leaving my country because of the challenges we are confronted with every day. As a journalist, I am duty bound to stay and tell the world the story of Somalia. It is now a story of hope and progress.”
Blind Radio Journalist Beats Odds To Tell The Somali Story
12 October – Source: Xinhua News – 538 Words
With his MP3 recorder and mobile phone, two of his basic tools of trade, Abdifitah Hassan sets for National Assembly for assignment to cover parliamentary issues. But Hassan, as he is popularly known, is no ordinary journalist; he is visually impaired with over 10 years’ experience, telling the story of Mogadishu from days when mortar shelling and a warlord’s remark was more than law to a now relatively stable Mogadishu.
“A donkey kick at the age of two and half rendered me half blind, but then as fate would have it, I was finally robbed of my full sight at age five when a friend hit my other eye when playing at home,” Hassan told Xinhua in an interview in Mogadishu on Sunday. But being visually impaired did not deter Hassan from pursuing his dream in life to tell story of a country which had for over two decades descended into a vicious civil war which killed thousands and displacing millions of others.
Hassan is a feted journalist in Mogadishu, having stood up to the challenges of working in a country ranked last week by global press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists: “There are a myriad challenges facing journalists in Somalia, but it becomes even worse when you are blind. Recently there was an explosion near the presidential palace and I was barely 100 metres away. I had to find my way out just running after people,” he said.