October 29, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Somali President Warns Al-Shabaab On Joining Islamic State
28 October – Source: Capital FM – 329 Words
Somalia’s President has called on Islamist Al-Shabaab fighters to surrender amid reports that factions of the militant group have shifted allegiance from Al-Qaeda to Islamic State.Both militant franchises are “destroyers”, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a statement. He noted that he had been following “with keen interest” the now-public dispute within Al-Shabaab, over whether to swear allegiance to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.”Mohamud said the reported divisions were “symptomatic of a group that has lost its way”, and warned that Somalis “do not need a new brand of horror and repression.”
The Al-Shabaab, East Africa’s long-time Al-Qaeda branch, is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, which is protected by 22,000 African Union troops.The Islamists have lost much ground in recent years but remain a threat in both Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, where they have carried out a series of attacks.The reported division comes at a time when Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has become the jihadist franchise of choice, attracting fighters from abroad and other militant groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria.But Al-Qaeda has also recently expanded its territory in Yemen, just across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Warns Al-Shabaab On Joining Islamic State (Capital FM/AFP)
- Plane Crashes In Afgooye 30km Outside Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia: Govt Troops Fend Off Al-Shabaab After Militants Attacked Their Base In Moqokori (Shabelle News)
- Somali Government And Partners To Restore Justice Institutions At State And Regional Levels (AMISOM)
- Indonesian Fishermen In Court Over Illegal Fishing (Horseed Media)
- Somalia: 100 Kenyan Shabaab Flee (The Star)
- AMISOM Renovates Clinic For The Somali Police Force In The Bay Region
- Thousands Homeless As El Nino Floods Sweep Somalia (Reuters)
- The Movies Where Police Join In As Extras (BBC)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Plane Crashes In Afgooye, 30km Outside Mogadishu
28 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 136 Words
A suspected cargo plane has crashed in the outskirts of Afgooye in Lower Shabelle region, a spokesman of the region’s administration has confirmed. Mohamed Shine has told Goobjoog News the plane crashed but details were scanty because the scene of the crash is an Al-Shabaab controlled area: “I can confirm to you that all the crew members are safe,” said Shine.
Conflicting reports are saying Al-Shabab fighters have reportedly taken control of the area where the incident occurred. There have also been speculations as to the reason behind the crash, with locals saying it may have been caused by poor visibility owing to the pounding rain and fog in the area. The crash comes two weeks after another plane crash around Afgooye after it failed to land at the Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu.
Somalia: Govt Troops Fend Off Al-Shabaab After Militants Attacked Their Base In Moqokori
28 October – Source: Shabelle News – 102 Words
A military commander says heavily armed militants, suspected to be members of Al-Shabaab, have attacked Government troops’ base in Moqokori village near Mahas town in Hiiraan region.Col. Mohamed Saney, a senior Somali army officer, told Radio Shabelle that the militants managed to enter the city and engaged in a gun battle with Somali troops in the area:“Government forces in Moqokori town have repelled the attackers and inflicted heavy losses on the militants, who ran away leaving behind dead bodies of their colleagues at the scene of the fighting,” said Col Mohamed Saney. By the time of filing this report, Al-Shabaab had not issued a statement on the same, confirming or refuting the claim by the military.
Somali Government And Partners To Restore Justice Institutions At State And Regional Levels
28 October – Source: AMISOM – 262 Words
Judicial institutions in the federal state of Puntland, the Galmudug Interim Administration, the Interim Jubba Administration and the Interim South-West Administration are to be revamped as part of a wider effort to restore the rule of law in Somalia. Speaking after a meeting held on 27 October 2015 on the Peace Building and State Building Goal 3, Dr. Ismail Jumale, the Permanent Secretary in the federal Ministry of Justice declared, “We have resolved to first strengthen our judicial institutions in the regional states of Galmudug, Jubbaland and South West over the next few months. These are in a very bad state”.
The areas of focus will include infrastructure development, the deployment and training of human resources and the acquisition of logistics necessary for these judicial institutions to be become operational. During this meeting, deliverable for 2015 were endorsed. They include development of the legal framework, institutional building, ensuring access to justice through training of legal aid providers and the development of infrastructure. Strengthening of justice institutions is one of the priorities under the Somali Compact the Peace Building and State Building Goal 3, which focuses on justice.
It seeks to enhance the capacity of Somalia’s rule of law system through the establishment of independent and accountable judicial institutions; that are capable of addressing the justice needs of the people of Somalia. The meeting was organized by the Federal Government of Somalia with support from the United Nations and chaired by Dr. Jumale. It featured the participation of representatives of regional states, the Somali Police Force, the Federal Parliament and the international community.
Indonesian Fishermen In Court Over Illegal Fishing
28 October – Source: Horseed Media – 239 Words
Two Indonesian citizens have appeared in a court in the Somalia northeastern autonomous region of Puntland accused of illegal fishing, Horseed Media reports.Captain Mohli Batiwawa, 46, and Aziz Hermans, 56, were detained by the Puntland marine forces after their fishing vessel sunk in the territorial waters of the autonomous state.The prosecutor of Nugal court, Mohamed Hared, accused both of them for fishing without a permit in Puntland territorial waters.Following the hearing of the case, the lawyer of the fishermen requested for the postponement of the case for a further two weeks.Court officials announced that the case will be heard again on the 10th of November.
In 2013, a court in Puntland imposed nearly $1 million fine on 92 Iranian fishermen for illegal fishing.For decades, foreign trawlers from Europe and Asia have traveled to Somalia waters to take what they can without permission or licenses. They use efficient mechanical equipment, taking massive numbers of fish stocks. It is estimated that Somalia loses more than $200 million per year because of these foreign trawlers, a huge amount that would be enough to build basic infrastructure in the war-ravaged nation. Somalia waters, particularly off the coast of the semi-autonomous state of Puntland in the country’s North, contain some of the world’s most important stocks of tuna, anchovies, sharks, rays, lobsters, and shrimps, but they are barely monitored or policed, and wide open to legal and illegal plunder.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia: 100 Kenyan Shabaab Flee
28 October – Source: The Star – 91 Words
More than 100 Kenyan Al-Shabaab militants are being detained in jails in Jillib and Buale on suspicion of spying for ISIS. Other Kenyan Al-Shabaab fighters are fleeing Somalia following vicious infighting between two factions of the terrorist group over allegiance to the Syria and Iraq-based Islamic State. The Kenyans are now being forced to choose which faction to support, lest they are perceived as traitors. Some of the returnees intercepted and interrogated by Kenyan security agents while fleeing Somalia have revealed a fighting is going on within Al-Shabaab factions.
AMISOM Renovates Clinic For The Somali Police Force In The Bay Region
28 October – Source: AMISOM – 266 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has commissioned and handed over a clinic for the Somali Police Force in the Bay region, in support of efforts to ensure improved access to healthcare by the police and the community in general. The ceremony was attended by officials from AMISOM including the Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Alalo, Mr. Christopher Ogwang Aria, AMISOM Civil Affairs Officer, senior officers from AMISOM and Somali Police Force, local administrators and community leaders.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Bay Region Police Commissioner Ibrahim Moalim Kutub, say the clinic was indeed a big boost for the police and community in general: “Today is a special day for us; we have reopened a clinic for the Somali Police Force in Baidoa. AMISOM Police handed over the clinic to us. We are expecting this clinic to serve the people of Baidoa and Police Force.”
AMISOM Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Alalo said support from AMISOM to the SPF extends beyond the training to ensuring better welfare for the officers as well: “Today we have come here to specifically open this clinic. This is one of the stabilization projects undertaken by AMISOM, to help stabilize recovered areas. As AMISOM, we not only train the police but we also look at the health of the police officers. It is very important, it’s the reason why we renovated this police clinic,” she said.
Thousands Homeless As El Nino Floods Sweep Somalia
28 October – Source: Reuters – 355 Words
Flash floods in Somalia have destroyed thousands of makeshift homes, as well as latrines and shallow wells, the United Nations said, predicting that up to 900,000 people could be hit by the strongest El Nino weather phenomenon in decades. The floods, which have made roads impassable and cut thousands off from aid, could reverse many of the humanitarian gains made in southern Somalia since 2011 when the Horn of Africa nation was devastated by famine, experts say.
Some 3.2 million Somalis — one-third of the population –already needed life-saving aid and over one million were internally displaced before the rains began on Oct. 7: “The El Niño conditions come amid an already fragile humanitarian situation,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Flash floods have affected thousands of people in the low lying areas of the southern and central parts of Somalia.”
The United Nations said it could not give a figure for the number of people hit by flooding nationwide. Its regional breakdown detailed over 55,000 affected, at least 18,000 of whom had been displaced, in seven areas. Between 500,000 and 900,000 Somalis could be affected by El Nino, the United Nations said. El Nino, caused by Pacific Ocean warming, has caused drought in other parts of Africa, including Ethiopia where eight million people need food aid.
In Somalia, aid workers have pre-positioned boats, food, medical supplies and hygiene and sanitation kits in the most at risk areas. River banks are being strengthened and displaced people in the capital, Mogadishu, have been moved to higher ground: “Protection efforts include a particular focus on internally displaced (IDP) given that many of the existing IDP settlements are located in areas prone to flooding, with shelters providing insufficient protection against heavy rains and winds,” OCHA said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“We want to dig out the treasure that is here. Through our movies, we want to show the whole world our Somali treasure, Our goal is to launch a booming Somali film industry. We could call it Sollywood.”
The Movies Where Police Join In As Extras
28 October – Source: BBC News – 851 Words
It’s the middle of nowhere and cars are pursuing each other in tighter and tighter circles, sending thick clouds of dust into the hot air. It is a truly spectacular chase. Mohamed Saleh is at the wheel of the wildest car. With a cool demeanour and an Afro hairstyle, he is the main stuntman. Like everyone else on the film set, he is completely untrained.
“One time the car nearly flipped over,” he tells me. “It was vertical, balancing on two tyres. But far more frightening was the fact that the cars did not belong to us! The company we hired them from had no idea we were using them in an action movie. They thought we were just going for a leisurely drive.” In the Amazing Technology Group’s tiny one-roomed office in the capital Hargeisa, a giant Hollywood-style movie poster takes up a whole wall. The group’s chairman (and director, producer and cameraman), Ibrahim Mohamed, sits behind the desk.
He reaches under the table and presents me with a large, messy bundle of green cloth. This is the green screen, used as a neutral backdrop when filming, which can be filled in with a different background later on. He points to a battered camera perched in the corner. “It is the only one we have,” he says, “but it is an improvement from before, when they had to rent or borrow one. We have to make do with whatever we have,” says vice chairman and main actor, Hersi Abdirizak. “We don’t have the money for costumes, so we borrow clothes from our friends. For pistols, we buy plastic guns in toy shops and paint them black. Our friends in the police lend us the knives, axes and machetes.”
On set for their latest film, the gun they use is a real AK47. It too comes from a friend in the police. “I hope it’s not loaded,” says Adam Konvict, a local rap artist who, together with an off-duty policeman, is helping out as an extra. The company relies a lot on the generosity of others. In its new action movie – a Somali take on cops and robbers – some of the actors are on loan from the Somaliland circus troupe, performing incredible acrobatics as they race through the city streets.