October 25, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Southwest Forces Kill Al-Shabaab Commander In Bakol Region
24 October – Source: Halbeeg News – 222 Words
Southwest forces have killed an Al-Shabaab commander in a security operation carried out in Bakol region. The commander identified as Mr. Moalim Derrow was killed with his three bodyguards in a security operation conducted by Southwest forces, in the outskirts of Wajid district in Bakol region on Tuesday.
The Deputy Commissioner of Wajid district in charge of security, Mr. Adow Abdirahman, said the operations in Lafoole village located 30 kilometers away from Wajid district, were well coordinated and targeted Al-Shabaab hideouts in the region. “The security forces have launched well coordinated operations, whereby an Al-Shabaab commander and three accomplices were gunned down. The forces are pursuing other militants who escaped after being overpowered” said Mr. Adow.
The official also confirmed that the forces recovered weapons and ammunition, including four AK-47 rifles. He added the anti-Shabaab operations, aimed at dismantling the presence and the threat of the group in the region, will continue.
However, no other independent sources were able to verify news of the death of the Al-Shabaab commander. Bakol region is one of the strongholds of Al-Shabaab and Wajid district has been under siege since 2014, when the militia group blocked the main supply route in the area after being pushed out of the area in a joint security operation carried out by the Somali National Army (SNA) and AMISOM forces.
Key Headlines
- Southwest Forces Kill Al-Shabaab Commander In Bakol Region (Halbeeg News)
- Somali Security Forces Arrest Al-Shabaab IED Expert (Hiiraan Online)
- Federal Parliament Leaders Call For End To Sool Fighting (Goobjoog News)
- RA International Awarded Contract In Somalia With Aecom Subsidiary (Web Financial Group)
- Scores Of Police Reservists Deployed To Kenya-Somalia Border As Exams Start (Daily Nation)
- Somalia Summit Talks Tech And Apps Not Guns And Bombs (Daily Mail)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Security Forces Arrest Al-Shabaab IED Expert
24 October – Source: Hiiraan Online – 161 Words
Somali security forces on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of an Al-Shabaab militant, believed to be a bomb expert, in an operation conducted in the outskirts of Somali capital, Mogadishu. The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said the Al-Shabaab operative was nabbed in covert security operation that took place in Ex-Control in Mogadishu.
“National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) arrested an Al-Shabaab bomb expert in operation conducted at Ex-control area. This is part of the efforts to improve the security,” the agency said in a twitter post. Al-Shabaab militants have not yet commented on the arrest of its bomb expert.
Somali forces have recently intensified their operations against Al-Shabaab militants in Southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, has carried out deadly explosions in Mogadishu including last year’s truck bomb which claimed lives of over 500 people and injured hundreds of others. The group lost the control of Mogadishu in 2011 after Somali military, backed by troops from African Union, drove the group out of the city.
Federal Parliament, Leaders Call For End To Sool Fighting
24 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 254 Words
The Federal parliament has called for an end to the fighting in Dhumey area in Sool region, which has since claimed over 50 lives and left several others injured. Senate speaker Abdi Hashi and his Lower House counterpart Mohamed Mursal on Wednesday urged the Federal Government and leaders in the federal states and affected regions to expedite the process towards ending the deadly clashes.
“I send my condolence to the victims of the families who died in Dhumay fighting. It is unfortunate that fighting has erupted between brotherly sub-clans. I am asking politicians, professionals and scholars to stand up and put an end to the fighting,” said Hashi. Said Mursal added: “The federal Parliament of Somalia is concerned about the renewed fighting in southern Sool region. Parliament is urgently calling for an end to the fighting and is asking professionals and elders to start engaging the sub-clans at war to stop the fighting. We also call on the Federal Government and Federal Member States to move in quickly and end the clashes.”
Meanwhile leaders in Sool and Sanaag regions have upped their voices against the fighting pleading with the warring factions to stop the fight. Head of UCID party in Somaliland Faysal Ali Waraabe called on the warring factions to cease the fighting and asked the government to intervene to end the clashes. Garad Abdisalam Mohamed, a professional in Sool told Goobjoog News that joint efforts were already underway to end the fighting. Reports indicate the death toll has so far risen to 50.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
RA International Awarded Contract In Somalia With Aecom Subsidiary
24 October – Source: Web Financial Group – 200 Words
Remote location services provider RA International has been awarded a contract by URS Group, a subsidiary of AECOM, to provide construction services in Somalia, it announced on Wednesday.
The AIM-traded company said the contract was being managed by AECOM, which is a new client for the group. It described AECOM as one of the world’s leading construction and civil engineering firms, with revenues of more than $18bn in the 2017 financial year.
The project would involve repairing an asphalt runway for the US Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) in Somalia. RA said the total contract value for the company was just over $9.1m, with the project to last for a duration of around 11 months, starting later this year. “We are pleased to have partnered with AECOM to secure this latest contract in Somalia,” said RA International chief executive officer Soraya Narfeldt: “The area where the project is to be undertaken is one where we have been working for six years and already have a team on the ground.
“This will enable us to work seamlessly with AECOM to deliver the exacting requirements of the US Navy, as the US Government continues to improve Somalia’s infrastructure and military capability.”
Scores Of Police Reservists Deployed To Kenya-Somalia Border As Exams Start
23 October – Source: Daily Nation – 227 Words
More than 200 police reservists have been deployed on border areas in Wajir County to bolster security during the ongoing national exams. Wajir South Deputy County Commissioner Felix Kisalu said that the 261 National Police Reservist recruited will assist the police in providing community security in Wajir South. The new recruits will be posted to exam centres and grazing zone in the sub-county that borders the Somalia border.
Mr Kisalu said Kenya Defence Forces soldiers will also provide back up to the police, especially during transportation of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam papers. The administrators said that schools in Diff, Gherille, Salalma and Ibrahim Ure areas will receive extra security because of their proximity to the border. A standby chopper is also available should the weather change to transport exam papers to areas that may be rendered inaccessible by road: “For now it has not rained but we will have air support in case the weather changes,” he said.
Wajir County is among the counties that are still facing threats from the Al-Qaeda linked militant group, Al Shabaab.On Friday, the county security team held a meeting with Governor Mohamed Abdi on countering violent extremism in the area. The governor said that in a bid to combat terrorism, young people needed to be engaged positively and supported financially to stop them from joining such groups.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Summits like this one boost the moral of the youth so they will think about staying in their country and working in it.”
Somalia Summit Talks Tech And Apps, Not Guns And Bombs
24 October – Source: Daily Mail – 511 Words
Tech entrepreneurs in Somalia are holding a first ever summit in battle-scarred Mogadishu, attracting hundreds to talk about business and innovation in a city more used to conflict and suffering.
The three-day event that began Tuesday was conceived by a group of young Somalis to showcase the work of dozens of local companies: “This is an opportunity to change negative impressions of Somalia, to give an image other than that of war, chaos and starvation,” said Abdihakim Ainte, founder of Mogadishu’s iRise Hub and the event’s main organiser.
“Just like other technology summits in the world, it brings together technology entrepreneurs, students and government to discuss technology and economic development,” he said. Somalia collapsed into civil war in 1991 and since then has endured successive rounds of conflict involving clan-based militias, foreign armies and, latterly, Al-Qaeda affiliated jihadists the Al-Shabaab. While a succession of internationally-backed governments have failed to stem corruption or bring peace, Somali entrepreneurship has persisted and economic activity thrived, despite the absence of a functioning state.
Tech innovation is just the latest example, and Ainte said he hoped it might “play a role in rebuilding the country and its economy.” Despite the ambitious talk, fear of Shabaab militants meant the summit was held at a well-guarded hall close to the sprawling, fortified Mogadishu airport “Green Zone” that is home to the UN and aid agencies, foreign embassies and an African Union military force.
E-commerce startup Gulivery was among the companies showing their apps at the summit. Deeq Mohamed, a 30-year-old British-Somali who returned home and established the delivery company with his wife, said there were plenty of opportunities in providing services that are already familiar in more peaceful, prosperous places. Members of Somalia’s far-flung diaspora are well-placed to seize the moment.
“When we moved from London to Hargeisa (in breakaway Somaliland) we were looking for a delivery service provider, but we could not find one. We were not the only ones, so we decided to start a delivery company,” he said. After expanding to Mogadishu, Gulivery’s husband-and-wife team have their eyes on Djibouti and Ethiopia.