October 26, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

President Condemns Attack On AU Base In Beledweyne

25 October – Source: Shabelle News – 245 Words

Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has condemned the attack on the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base in Beledweyne city, terming it “heinous and unforgivable”. At least two Djiboutian peacekeepers are known to have been killed, and several injured in a truck bomb attack on AMISOM base at the west of Beledweyne, about 350Km north of Somali capital, Mogadishu. In a statement, Mr Mohamoud sent a heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the Al-Shabaab attack, saying that their courageous sacrifice to stabilize Somalia will not be forgotten. Somali President spoke to his Djiboutian counterpart Ismail Omar Gelleh over the phone, and condoling with his Djiboutian government and its people for those killed in car bombing on AU base in Beledweyne city. President Mohamud also stated that despite the gruesome attack on the AMISOM forces, they will not relent in the fight against the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabaab militants. In a Twitter post, AMISOM said a bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives outside the gate of Djiboutian force base, then 10 suspected Al shabaab fighters tried to force their way onto the ground. AU mission said reinforcement AMISOM soldiers from a nearby base was rushed to the camp and killed all attackers. The situation swiftly brought under control.Meanwhile, Al Shabaab said it killed up to 17 Djiboutian soldiers serving with the African Union mission in Somalia in Tuesday’s attack on AMISOM base, a claim that AMISOM has denied.

Key Headlines

President condemns attack on AU base in Beledweyne (Shabelle News)
Puntland MPs Blame Puntland President For Delaying Legislative Session (Garowe Online)
Presidential Candidate Says Govt Failed Security (Shabelle News)
Somali Pirates Still Holding Three Kenyans Ransom Demanded (The Star Kenya)
AU Deploys More Officers To Somali Regions For Elections (Xinhua)
2 Women Convicted Of Raising Money Online For Al-Shabaab (Associated Press)
Silent War On Somalis In Port Elizabeth (News24)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Puntland MPs Blame Puntland President For Delaying Legislative Session

25 October – Source: Garowe Online – 223 Words

State Parliament of Somalia’s Puntland region has postponed its 38th session scheduled to begin on Tuesday, at the Parliament Hall in Garowe due to Puntland President’s visit to Bossaso. Puntland’s lawmakers have gathered today morning at the Parliament to convene the legislative session but found out that the was no session for the day, which prompted some angered lawmakers to hold press conference and accuse Puntland President and Parliament leadership of deliberately delaying the legislative sessions. During the press conference, lawmakers stated that the President is ought to officially open the Parliament sessions when he is in the region according to the state constitution, and noted that his trip to Bossaso was intended to hinder the Parliament session.
The lawmakers also stressed the importance of commencing the legislative session to address the drought situation, tensions with neighboring region and the ongoing electoral process, and also said that Puntland President was scheduled to address the Parliament on how his government has handled these matters. They denounced the move and said that President’s trip should not have hindered the Parliament sessions, however, Puntland government officials haven’t released statement in response to the matter. The last legislative session of Puntland Parliament comes amid failure of Puntland government to tackle worsening drought situation that hit Puntland region and recurring clashes with Galmudug state in the past month.

Presidential Candidate Says Govt Failed Security

25 October – Source: Shabelle News – 96 Words

The presidential candidate of Somalia’s upcoming election Mohamed Ali Ameriko said the caretaker federal government has failed to secure Mogadishu. He said the security lapse is due to the lack of regular payments of the security forces of the country, especially those in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Mogadishu has been hit by blasts and killings by Al shabaab who frequently target government employees and security force members. The presidential hopeful has in the past announced that he will restore peace and stability in the country, if he is elected as the country’s president during the election.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Pirates Still Holding Three Kenyans, Ransom Demanded

25 October – Source: The Star, Kenya – 303 Words

Somalia pirates are still holding three Kenyans captured in November 2014, Marine expert Andrew Mwangura has said. Mwangura said the three – Louis Njoki, George Macharia and George Macharia – were being held alongside 13 foreign sailors. “Mburu, 36, and 41-year old Njoki hail from Ongata Rongai, and are currently in Harardhere District in Galgaduud region,” he told the Star on Saturday. He added the three were living in deplorable conditions in the hands of the pirates. Njoki was captured along with her partner James Kuria while delivering medicine in the country. Kuria was freed during a raid by Somali security forces last February. “The two other Kenyans were working for a construction company in Mogadishu when they were kidnapped by militia from Habargidir,” said the marine expert. The group believed to have captured the two Kenyan civil engineers is under the control of Mohammed Gafanje. Mwagura said the pirates have demanded ransom to set the three free, but did not specify the amount. He said the captives’ details were submitted to relevant authorities but that the government was yet to contact the families. He said they last communicated with their families in January 2014. Last week, Somali pirates released 26 crew members of Oman flagged fishing vessel FV NAHAN 3, hijacked South of the Seychelles in March 2012, after negotiation and possible payment of ransom. One crew died during the hijacking while two died from illness while in captivity. Among the hostages were men from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Mwagura said few such incidents have been reported within the Gulf of Aden. He said they targeted a civilian ship, a US Navy vessel and a United Arab Emirates merchant ship in attacks early this year. Piracy became a major threat to international shipping in 2012, prompting interventions by the United Nations, European Union and NATO

AU Deploys More Officers To Somali Regions For Elections

24 October – Source: Xinhua – 186 Words

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) says it has deployed more security officers in Adado and Jowhar — major towns in Galmudug state and Middle Shabelle region respectively — to help secure the electoral process there. AMISOM Police Coordinator of Training and Development, Francis Aryee, said Monday the officers will work with the Somali police in beefing up security during the elections.The deployment of the officers is part of wider efforts by AMISOM to ensure the electoral process in Somalia is conducted in a peaceful environment. AMISOM had no security forces in Adaado. Adaado is the interim capital of Galmudug state. Jowhar is the capital of the newly formed HirShabelle state.HirShabelle state is expected to hold elections for the Upper House following the inauguration of its newly-elected president, Ali Abdullahi Osoble.Galmudug, which recently held elections for the Upper house, is preparing to choose its representatives for the Lower House. It is expected that newly-elected Somali lawmakers will choose a new president on Nov. 30.AMISOM police and troops are helping the Somali government fight Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which stages frequent attacks in the country.

2 Women Convicted Of Raising Money Online For Al-Shabaab

25 October – Source: Associated Press – 122 Words

Two women who helped raise several thousand dollars for the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab have been convicted of providing support to a terrorist organization. Federal judge Anthony Trenga found the women – Hinda Osman Dhirane, of Kent, Washington, and Muna Osman Jama of Reston – guilty on most of the charges they faced at a hearing Tuesday in Alexandria.The women waived their right to a jury trial.Prosecutors say the women used an online chat room to round up small contributions on behalf of Al-Shabaab. The women did not deny they were Al-Shabaab supporters. But they argued that the money they raised didn’t go directly to Al-Shabab.The women could face sentences of 15 years or more when they are sentenced in January.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Back on Durban Road, nestled among the bustling wholesalers, Abdirisack Aden, 50, sits behind the counter in his small, well-stocked pharmacy.Aden fled Somalia to escape a violent outbreak of ethnic violence in 2003. He’d been studying towards a degree in medicine at a local university but left before he could graduate,”

Silent War On Somalis In Port Elizabeth

25 October – Source: News24- 1173 Words

Aisha Ali Noor, 29, sits on the bed in her dimly lit first-floor apartment on Durban Road in the Port Elizabeth suburb of Korsten. It is 07:30 and outside her window the road is already alive with activity as shop owners and traders load their bakkies with goods from the numerous Somali wholesalers that line both sides of the street.”I’m afraid all the time,” Noor tells GroundUp via a translator. “I don’t go out anymore unless I have to. I’m worried I will be killed.” Noor came to South Africa in 2011 after losing both her parents in Somalia. She left four children back home and joined her husband in Port Elizabeth.In 2014 Noor’s husband and his business partner were stabbed to death in front of her in their spaza shop in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth’s largest township. Noor managed to escape, but she says she has been robbed and assaulted “six or seven times” since then. She showed GroundUp a number of police statements and case dockets that support her claims. In the most recent incident, which was reported on February 26, she was so badly beaten that she had to be hospitalised.

According to Fwamba Mukole, manager of Port Elizabeth’s Refugee Centre, a United Nations-funded project, Noor’s experiences are far from unique in the city, which has an estimated Somali population of around 6 000.”Robbery of Somalis is happening on an almost daily basis here,” says Mukole, “and it’s almost always accompanied by serious violence”.Mukole, who arrived as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has since married a South African, works closely with a number of refugees and asylum seekers from the local Somali community. He claims that most of the Somalis that come into his office will not even take public transport for fear of being harassed, attacked or robbed.”It’s like they are living in an open prison,” he says.’No one helped us’