September 13, 2017 | Morning Headlines

All Set For The 3rd Annual Mogadishu Book Fair

12 September – Source: Radio Dalsan – 237 Words

The organizers of the Mogadishu Book Fair have confirmed to Radio Dalsan that all is set for the 3rd annual book fair in Somali capital Mogadishu. The three day fair which will officially kick off tomorrow on Wednesday has already invited more and prominent guests and authors than ever before. The educational promotional event from 13th, 14th and 15th of this month is meant to promote books, reading, culture and heritage by bringing together Somali intellectuals from around the world – authors, scholars, poets, booksellers and exposing the public to a great mix of both Somali and international literature. According to organizers, it also serves as an important marketplace for young up-and-coming authors to meet and liaise with leading and legendary authors.

The three days programme will include book launches, book signing, exhibition and photography, poetry recitals, keynote guest lecturers, film and documentary, panel discussions, traditional culture entertainments and among others. Among the notable guests and speakers invited this year at the bookfair is award winning Kenyan Photo Journalists and human rights activist, Boniface Mwangi from Kenya, Dr. Abdulrahman Abdullahi Badiyow, the author of Making Sense of Somalia, Fardowsa Jama, the Director of Aw Jamac Cultural Research Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, Fartumo Kusow the author of Tales of a Boon’s wife and among others. Hundreds of young people mainly university and college students are expected to attend the event at Royal Palace hotel from 8 am on Wednesday.

Key Headlines

• All Set For The 3rd Annual Mogadishu Book Fair (Radio Dalsan)
• Al-Shabaab Releases Local Female Aid Workers On Ransom in Central Somalia (Horn Observer)
• Somali Forces KDF Raid Al-Shabaab Hideouts In Southern Somalia (Sahal News)
• Security Agents Destroy Three Shabaab Camps In Boni Forest (Daily Nation)
• Turkish Airlines Profits In Africa Where Others Fear To Fly (Reuters)

NATIONAL  MEDIA

Al-Shabaab Releases Local Female Aid Workers On Ransom in Central Somalia

12 September – Source: Horn Observer – 201 Works

Al-Shabaab, a militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, released female aid workers, who the group kidnaped at the border town of Far Libah area in Hiiraan region two months ago, according to reports. The release of the female aid workers follows after their families paid $13,000 USD for each,  according to the parents of the abducted female aid workers. “The three aid workers were abducted by Al-Shabaab at Far Libah area in Hiiraan region two months ago.” One of the fathers of the released aid workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety said, “today I am glad they were released after we have paid 13,000 USD each.”

The aid workers were employees of Hello-Trast,  a local aid organization and were undertaking humanitarian operation at Far Libah, when they were abducted. In a separate incident, Al-Shabaab this week abducted another local aid workers at Garas Mooshin village in Bay region, local media reported. However it was not immediately clear the number of the aid workers hijacked.This is not the first time Al-Shabaab abducts local aid workers for ransom. On July, 7 Somali aid workers who were kidnapped by the militant group near the town of Baidoa, were released after ransom was paid.

---

Somali Forces,  KDF Raid Al-Shabaab Hideouts In Southern Somalia

12 September – Source: Sahal News – 130 Words

Kenyan fighter jets on Tuesday bombed Al-Shabaab hideouts in Somalia’s border to retaliate attacks carried out by the Islamist militants, officials said. The group hideouts in the border were reportedly uncovered and destroyed by the Kenyan forces one day after Al-Shabaab killed dozens of Somali soldiers in a camp near the border. Somalia’s Gedo region Deputy Governor, Mohamed Husein has said villages being bombed include Buur-sagaar, Qabar sheeg which are two main strongholds for the group. He denied any civilian deaths, saying that regional troops have cooperated with the attack. Al-Shabaab, which is fighting to create a strict Islamic state in Somalia, still controls some rural areas in the south and central regions of the country. The group frequently carries out attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the region

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Security Agents Destroy Three Shabaab Camps In Boni Forest

12 September – Source: Daily Nation – 579 Words

Officers conducting the ongoing multi-agency security Operation Linda Boni in Lamu have discovered and destroyed three key Al-Shabaab hideouts at Lango la Simba in Witu Division of Lamu West. Speaking during a security meeting at Mahrus Hotel in Lamu Island on Sunday, Linda Boni Operation Director Joseph Kanyiri said the hideouts were discovered and destroyed through efforts by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers and National Police Service officers manning the area. He said the hideouts were being used by the militants to launch attacks in the area especially on vehicles plying the Lamu-Gamba-Garsen road. It is in this area that militants suspected to be Al-Shabaab attacked and killed passengers and motorists.

On August 2, 2017, three Tana River County officials died after their vehicle was torched by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in the same area which is also home to the Nyongoro and Gamba It is the same day that five passengers aboard a Raha bus from Malindi to Kipini were injured when the bus was sprayed with bullets by suspected Al-Shabaab militants. Recently, two people died in a twin attack in the area after a Toyota Probox car and a lorry were sprayed with bullets by the militants. Mr Kanyiri said he is confident that the identification and destruction of the three hideouts this week will help bring peace and stability in the area. He said an operation to hunt down the militants in Witu, Hindi and inside Boni Forest is still ongoing. Mr Kanyiri asked residents to stay away from the forest which he said is currently under tight security surveillance. He also asked residents who are staying in IDP camps at Katsaka Kairu and at the AIC church in Witu Town to resist the urge to secretly go back to their homes as that would be risking their lives.

OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“Last year the company posted a net loss for the first time since 2000, after a demand slump caused by political turmoil and militant attacks at home. Ozkahraman said some of the shortfall was also due to new planes – 210 have been ordered, he said.”

Turkish Airlines Profits In Africa, Where Others Fear To Fly

12 September – Source: Reuters – 493 Word

When Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS) opened a direct daily route to a war-ravaged African failed state plagued by Islamist militants, industry insiders were skeptical. Not anymore. “Somalia is one of our most profitable destinations worldwide,” Mustafa Ozkahraman, Kenya country manager for Turkish Airlines, told Reuters in an interview. “Because we are the only (international airline). The first and the only one.”  The Istanbul-based carrier is replicating the move across Africa, expanding to destinations shunned by others. The move comes as political unrest at home last year pushed the airline into the red for the first time in 17 years.

In 2011, Turkish Airlines flew to 14 African cities. By the end of this year, it will operate 52 routes from Istanbul across Africa, after launching a route to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.  From January to June, just under a tenth of total passenger and cargo revenues came from Africa, according to results for the first half of 2017 that showed a net loss of $434 million.  Rival Emirates has less than 30 routes. Last year, the Dubai-based airline cut one African flight and reduced the frequency of several others. It cited weak economic conditions in Africa, where many countries dependent on revenues from commodities exports have seen economic growth fall below population growth.

But Turkish Airlines, which is 49 percent state-owned, is bullish on Africa, a continent of 1 billion people.  Ozkahraman denied the growing ties between Ankara and many African states drove the airline’s strategy.  “A lot of people would think our flights to Somalia were not business-related,” he said. “(But) we do the feasibility and we have to believe the route will be profitable, either now or imminently.”  He declined to give a specific breakdown on profits for African flights, but said routes like the daily flight on a wide-body jet from the Nigerian city of Lagos were critical to the airline’s bottom line.

Despite challenges like poor security or electricity cuts at some airports, such flights feed passengers into Turkish Airline’s hub, making routes like Istanbul to London profitable.  “You have to have those destinations to make your hub busy and your profitable destinations more profitable,” he said.  Last year the company posted a net loss for the first time since 2000, after a demand slump caused by political turmoil and militant attacks at home. Ozkahraman said some of the shortfall was also due to new planes – 210 have been ordered, he said.  Load factors – a measure of how full planes are – are over 70 percent on many African routes, just below the airline’s global average of 80 percent, he added. The wide network means that, unlike Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish does not partner with smaller African carriers notorious for poor service. It opened a business class lounge in Nairobi’s airport in July 2016, its second international lounge after Moscow. British Airlines and Emirates began renting the Nairobi lounge for their business class travelers earlier this year, Ozkahraman said.