September 8, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Pentagon Reports Airstrikes Against Somalia’s Al-Shabaab
06 September – Source: Voice of America – 206 Words
The U.S. military conducted two strikes in southern Somalia early this week that killed four al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab militants involved in attacks on Somali government troops, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The U.S. military previously has used drones to target Al-Shabaab’s senior leaders. In June, the Pentagon said it carried out a strike in late May against Abdullahi Haji Da’ud, one of Al-Shabaab’s senior military planners, and served as a principal coordinator of attacks in Somalia, Kenya and Uganda.
The latest strikes took place Monday in Torotorow in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region. “During a Somali-led counterterrorism operation, a large group of armed Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the force, threatening the safety and security of the forces in the area,” said Capt Jennifer Dyrcz, a U.S. Africa Command spokeswoman. “In response, the U.S. conducted two self-defense strikes … killing four Al-Shabaab militants.”
Al-Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent antagonist in Somalia, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the Western-backed government. For instance, the Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for an August 30 car bombing outside Mogadishu’s presidential palace that killed at least 22 people.
Key Headlines
- Pentagon Reports Airstrikes Against Somalia’s Al-Shabaab (VOA)
- IED Blast Targets Army Checkpoint In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Gedo Administration Vows To Push Al-Shabaab Out Of The Region (Goobjoog News)
- Two Dead 10 Injured In Cafe Attack In Abudwak (Shabelle News)
- 8 Al-Shabaab Fighters Killed In Central Somalia (Xinhua)
- Water Crisis For Herders In Southern Somalia’s Remote Lower Juba (Radio Ergo)
- Somali Ban On Popular Narcotic Takes Effect (VOA)
NATIONAL MEDIA
IED Blast Targets Army Checkpoint In Mogadishu
07 September – Source: Shabelle News – 97 Words
A loud explosion was heard on Wednesday evening at a Somali army checkpoint in Mogadishu, according to eyewitness on the ground. The blast was caused by an improvised explosives device planted near the army checkpoint at Wahar-Adde area in Mogadishu’s Heliwa district, witness said.
There was no immediate reports of casualties and claim of responsibility for the bomb attack on the army checkpoint in northern Mogadishu. Mogadishu has seen several deadly attacks, including bombings in the past few weeks as the country heads towards a critical period of elections expected to take place on October 30, 2016.
Gedo Administration Vows To Push Al-Shabaab Out Of The Region
07 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 154 Words
Gedo administration unveiled a new military plan to drive Al-Shabaab fighters out of their strongholds in Gedo region of southern Somalia. Hussein Isack, the deputy governor, said that his administration is committed to consolidating the war against Al-Shabaab fighters in these regions.
“We were able to eliminate military bases in the region which Al-Shabaab carried out its subversive operations against the government in the region,” he said. He also said the administration would take steps to crack down on those who planned and financed terrorist attacks. The Jubbaland government is facing security challenges from Al-Shabaab despite the group recently losing key towns in southern Somalia.
Al-Shabaab, which is believed to have thousands of fighters in its ranks, controls much of Middle and Lower Jubba in southern Somalia and regularly launches attacks in the capital Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab has since resorted to tactics that include suicide bombings and assassinations of government officials.
Two Dead, 10 Injured In Cafe Attack In Abudwak
07 September – Source: Shabelle News – 62 Words
A shooting spree on a restaurant in Abudwak town in central Somalia on Wednesday, has left at least two people dead, while 10 others wounded. Two local elders are confirmed to have been killed, and 10 other civilians injured when unknown gunmen opened fire on the restaurant indiscriminately. The Motive behind the shooting remains unclear. The attackers are said to have escaped from the scene.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
8 Al-Shabaab Fighters Killed In Central Somalia
07 September – Source: Xinhua – 101 Words
At least eight Al-Shabaab militants were killed at Bud-bud location in central Somalia’s Galgudud region Wednesday after fighting between the militants and Somali National Army (SNA) backed by African Union (AU) forces. “The joint forces killed 8 Al-Shabaab fighters and recovered grenades including an artillery gun which they were using. Our forces are still in the area,” SNA Commander in the region, Ahmed Mohamed, told reporters. However, Al-Shabaab militants later claimed to have captured Bud-bud area from Ethiopian troops which are part of the AU and Somali forces, a claim which the government denied.
Water Crisis For Herders In Southern Somalia’s Remote Lower Juba
07 September – Source: Radio Ergo – 374 Words
A severe water shortage has been reported by local people in Hagar town and surrounding rural villages in southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region, after water pans and dams dried up. Hagar district has no wells and received barely any rainfall over the past eight months. This remote part of the region is under Al-Shabab control.
JAPDO, a local NGO conducting an assessment of the situation in the area, estimated about 6,000 people in Hagar town and 10 villages in the district were affected by the water shortage. The affected villages are Qaley, Qalawiley, Hassan Baraki, Bareytama, Nasiriya, Shabeley, Dhaifa, Afgoye, Warta Badiyow and Tosiley.
Local people contacted Radio Ergo through the mobile Freedom Fone call-in service requesting attention to the crisis affecting them. A herder, who asked for anonymity for security reasons, said that two children had died of thirst in Dhaifa village, where he lived, 40 km from Hagar town.
He said the only water pan (locally called war) in the village that people and their livestock depended on had dried up. He estimated up to 250 cattle and goats had died due to the lack of water and pasture. Around one third of the 300 pastoralist families who lived in Dhaifa have been displaced and moved to villages located near the river Juba hoping to access water.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Kenya is the source of much of the khat consumed in Somalia. Khat traders estimate that 20 tons of khat worth $800,000, is usually sent from Kenya to Somalia each day, mainly through flights.”
Somali Ban On Popular Narcotic Takes Effect
07 September – Source: Voice of America – 888 Words
Somalia’s ban on flights importing the popular narcotic khat from Kenya appears to be holding up in the capital, Mogadishu, although a region to the north is defying the ban. Yaasin Muuse, a airport staff member at Mogadishu’s main airport, said no khat flights arrived the city Tuesday. “None of more than 10 khat flights which used to come to Mogadishu daily landed because of the government ban,” he said.
In Mogadishu’s khat markets, only a few tables selling drinks and cigars were occupied, and the khat kiosks were empty. At Kenya’s Wilson airport in Nairobi, a reporter for VOA’s Somali service said at least five planes loaded with khat cancelled their flights to Mogadishu, and most likely the shipment will be sent back to its original source because khat cannot be stockpiled — it has to be taken fresh.
On Monday, the Somali government announced it was banning all flights from Kenya to Somalia carrying the stimulant, a plant whose leaves, when chewed, give the user a feeling of mild euphoria. “It is a temporary ban and we did it for mixed circumstances related to national interests,” Somali Aviation Minister Ali Ahmed Jangali told VOA. “I am not ready to give the details now, but security is one of them,” He said.
A government security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision is part of security plans as Mogadishu prepares to host the 53rd summit of the East African bloc IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) this weekend for the first time, following decades of civil war and instability in the Horn of Africa state. Just a week ago, a car bomb killed more than 20 people near Somali’s presidential palace. The blast was the latest in a series of attacks against hotels and restaurants by militant group al-Shabab.