September 29, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Seven Killed By Car Bomb Explosion In Mogadishu
28 September – Source: Reuters – 121 Words
Seven people were killed when a car bomb exploded near a bus stop in a district of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday, police said. It was not yet clear who had carried out the bombing. The Islamist group al Shabaab has frequently carried out bombings in Mogadishu and other towns, seeking to destabilize the western-allied central government. “I have counted seven dead bodies of civilians,” Major Nur Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters by phone.
He said the car exploded just as a minibus carrying civilians was passing by. The death toll was likely to rise, he said. A Reuters witness at the scene said he saw at least three dead bodies and a damaged minibus with blood stains on it.
Key Headlines
- Seven Killed By Car Bomb Explosion In Mogadishu (Reuters)
- Somali Prime Minister To Reshuffle Cabinet Targeting Key Ministers (Garowe Online)
- “I Will Resign If The Killers Of Women Rights Activists Are Not Arrested In 48hrs” Security Minister Dualle Says (Radio Dalsan)
- Human Rights Improve In Somalia Big Challenges Remain (Voice of America)
- New Beginning For Failed State Somalia? (Deustche Welle)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Prime Minister To Reshuffle Cabinet, Targeting Key Ministers
28 September – Source: Garowe Online – 312 Words
Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire is set to reshuffle his cabinet ministers upon his return back to the country from U.S. according to Garowe Online. Reliable sources revealed to GO that the new reshuffle will affect key ministers, including Interior Minister, Abdi Farah Sa’ed Juha, Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Garad Omar, Education Minister, Abdirahman Dahir, Defense Minister, Abdirashid Abdullahi, Minister of Finance, Abdirahman Dualle Beyle and Internal Security, Mohamed Abukar Islow.
The sources said that the main reason behind the coming reshuffle is a disagreement between the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, Abdi Farah Sa’ed Juha, and Finance Minister, Dr Abdirahman Dualle Beyle. Prime Minister Khaire is unhappy to collaborate with these two ministers, according to the sources. The fall-out between Juha and the Prime Minister has emerged after sacking former Permanent Secretary of the Federal Interior Ministry, Yahye Ali Ibrahim last July, and other issues related to the Federalism and Naturalization.
Mr. Ibrahim currently working at the Office of the Prime Minister, and is in charge of the Federal affairs, the sources added. Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance and the PM Khaire were reported to be in deadlock over the reshaping of the country’s economic system, and changing officials in the revenue centres in Mogadishu, mainly Airport and seaport. Garowe Online has learnt that both Finance and Interior Ministers were among key officials that Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has recommended to include in the cabinet line-up of Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire. President Farmajo is said to be aware of the PM’s plans aimed at removing the key Ministers from offices, and the expected ‘minor reshuffle’ will not seek approval from the Federal Parliament. Khaire’s government formed in March, 2017 is struggling to contain a deadly insurgency by the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab which is fighting his government and AU forces in Somalia (AMISOM).
“I Will Resign If The Killers Of Women Rights Activists Are Not Arrested In 48hrs” Security Minister Dualle Says
28 September – Source: Radio Dalsan – 173 Words
Interior Security Minister Islow Dualle who lately has been under pressure from critics due to continued assassination and bombings has sworn to resign if the killers of the son of a women rights activist, and her secretary are not arrested within two days. Mr. Dualle was speaking to the media in reaction to continued pressure on him regarding recent incidents of insecurity in Mogadishu. This is the first time that a serving Somali Minister has offered to resign on failure to execute his portfolio duties.
The Security Minister Islow Duale told the media. His critics question why a sports expert was put to head a security ministry in a country, that is still dealing with the impact of almost three decades of civil war. Three killed yesterday women activist. He spoke on the day a car bombing killed at least several people in the capital Mogadishu and on Wednesday, the son of women rights activist, and chairlady of the Somali Women Organisation together, with her secretary were assassinated in Hamar-weyne district of Mogadishu.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Human Rights Improve In Somalia, Big Challenges Remain
28 September – Source: Voice of America – 341 Words
A report finds significant improvement is being made in human rights in Somalia, but it notes huge challenges to continued progress, compounded by conflict, drought and poverty, remain to be overcome. The report, which has been submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, says both natural and man-made factors are to blame for ongoing human rights abuses in Somalia. A major concern is the violation of the right to life. The report says Al-Shabab militants are killing military personnel and civilians through improvised explosives, ambushes, assassinations and other random attacks. It also blames fighting between clan militias for civilian casualties. And the report notes severe drought conditions in the country are contributing to a dire situation.
Bahame Tom Nyanduga is the Independent Expert on human rights in Somalia and author of the report. He says drought has caused widespread displacement as people search for food for themselves and their cattle. He says food shortages have led to increased child malnutrition and death. Growing poverty, he warns, is putting entire communities at risk of exploitation. “Somali youth have continued to fall victims of human traffickers due to lack of opportunity in the country, and many of them have ended up in slavelike conditions in some transit countries, while trying to cross the treacherous Mediterranean and the Sinai routes to Europe,” he said. “Recently, human traffickers abandoned tens of Somali youths in the Red Sea off the Yemen coast, tragically leading to loss of life to several of the victims.”
Nyanduga also expresses concern about the rights of women. He says they are victimized by harmful traditional practices. He also says sexual and gender-based violence are prevalent and cases of gang rape of girls and women by youths and unknown armed men in uniform continue to be reported and go unpunished. He also criticizes the lack of freedom of expression and attacks on journalists and other media professionals. The Independent Expert urges the government of Somalia to strengthen its laws and judicial system to better promote and protect human rights.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Under the Trump administration, the US has significantly ramped up military engagement in Somalia. Special forces are fighting alongside Somali soldiers to defeat terror organization al-Shabab.”
New Beginning For Failed State Somalia?
27 September – Source: Deustche Welle – 1054 Words
Foreign soldiers, gunshots, explosions, air strikes – when refugees from Bariire talk about what they’ve experienced, they are unable to name exact dates. Days and events blur together as emotions run high. They are afraid – of both sides, they say. Marian is now a widow and mother to seven children who have lost their father. When fighting in Bariire stopped, Marian found her husband’s body – bloody and riddled with bullets – dumped on a field. She can’t say who shot him or when he was killed. Marian and others who fled the fighting are now sitting on the dusty streets of a refugee camp in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. The farmers fled their homes in Bariire, a town in the embattled region of Lower Shabelle in Somalia’s south, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Mogadishu.
But on August 20, African Union (AU) troops and Somali soldiers managed to retake Bariire’s city center. The AU has deployed some 22,000 soldiers in Somalia to fight against al-Shabab. Unconfirmed eyewitness reports say US soldiers also helped recapture the city. A few days later, on August 25, there was another military operation – a raid on a farm in the early morning hours. Ten civilians lost their lives – among them were three boys aged eight to ten years. The Somali government initially denied civilians had been killed, but later corrected this statement. Relatives took the dead bodies all the way to Mogadishu in protest. Army chief General Ahmed Mohamed Jimale Irfid said they initially mistook the killed farmers for al-Shabab fighters due to it being dark in the early morning hours.
The US Africa Command based in Stuttgart, Germany, immediately issued a response on August 25. “We are aware of the civilian casualty allegations near Bariire, Somalia. We take any allegations of civilian casualties seriously, and per standard, we are conducting an assessment into the situation to determine the facts on the ground,” the statement read. “We can confirm that the Somali National Army was conducting an operation in the area with US forces in a supporting role.” Since then, no other details have been shared with the public. According to Somalia media reports, the clan of the killed farmers has received compensation payments. Somalia has been ravaged by civil war since 1991. The state disintegrated, with the country’s most powerful clans filling the void. The country on the Horn of Africa now wants to build new federal structures with international help. Since December of last year, there is a new parliament; since February of this year the country has a new president. In both rounds of voting, the big Somali clans were also vying for power – a lot of cash was handed out.
Still, the result can be considered a massive improvement, according to Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia. “It was an electoral process which was also marked by corrupt practices and intimidation. But the amazing thing is that the result was received as legitimate both by both the Somali population as well as the international community”, Keating told DW. Especially President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who holds both Somali and US citizenship, enjoys people’s trust. He is a refugee himself who returned to the country and now lobbies for additional military support, investment and direct financial aid for his government. Right off the Somalian coast are oil reserves waiting to be tapped. “The peace and stability in Mogadishu and Somalia is the peace and stability for the whole world. Somalia is a test case where we can show to the world that you can defeat terrorism,” Information Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman told DW. He moved back to Somalia from London.