September 9, 2014 | Morning Headlines.
Suicide car bomb targets AMISOM convoy near Hawa Abdi locality
08 Sept – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Dalsan/Bar-kulan/
Heavy explosion that occurred near Hawa Abdi locality has killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens others. Witnesses told Radio Goobjoog FM a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into an AMISOM convoy passing the area and hit two mini buses that were using the road at the time of the explosion. The witness also confirmed to Radio Goobjoog that he saw a number of dead bodies lying at the scene of the explosion. According Abdirahman Hassan, Deputy Chairman of Security in Lafole area, the explosion happened on the main highway that connects the capital to Afgoye. The wounded people were rushed to Mogadishu and nearby health centers for treatment. Shortly after thunderous blast, African Union forces cordoned-off Mogadishu-Afgoye highway where the car bomb attack occurred. A spokesman for Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group Abdiasis Abu Muscab claimed credit for the attack, saying they targeted US military advisers and South African mercenary.
Key Headlines
- Suicide car bomb targets AMISOM convoy near Hawa Abdi locality (Radio Goobjoog)
- Somali immigration department presents three men with fake passports (Radio Mogadishu/ Goobjoog)
- Somalia: Somali peace cup launched (Somali Current)
- Abdisamad Moalim: Cabinet’s move to sack Somali spy chief was an impulsive step (Radio Goobjoog)
- Somali Islamists bomb two convoys killing at least 12 (Reuters)
- Germany arrests 3 al Shabaab suspects returning from Kenya (Africa Review)
PRESS STATEMENT
UN Representative to Somalia visits Baidoa to support state formation process
08 Sept – Source: UNSOM – 168 words
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, Nicholas Kay, today visited Baidoa to support Federal Government and local efforts to establish a new interim administration in south west Somalia comprising the regions of Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle.
While in Baidoa, SRSG Kay met with the Speaker of the Somali Federal Parliament, Mohamed Osman Jawari, as well as signatories to the agreement on an interim administration in south west Somalia and members of the technical committee established to implement it.
“I encourage all stakeholders to expedite the implementation of the agreement. The momentum of Somalia’s state-building process must not be interrupted; it is a critical part of the country’s path towards peace and stability. I welcome the commitment of all parties to a fully inclusive process. ”
“I urge those who remain outside the process to support the agreement and contribute to building a federal Somalia.” he added. “All parties should continue their work constructively and peacefully, and avoid any actions that might undermine peace and security.”
SOMALI MEDIA
Suicide car bomb targets AMISOM convoy near Hawa Abdi locality
08 Sept – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Dalsan/Bar-kulan/
Heavy explosion that occurred near Hawa Abdi locality has killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens others. Witnesses told Radio Goobjoog FM a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into an AMISOM convoy passing the area and hit two mini buses that were using the road at the time of the explosion. The witness also confirmed to Radio Goobjoog that he saw a number of dead bodies lying at the scene of the explosion. According Abdirahman Hassan, Deputy Chairman of Security in Lafole area, the explosion happened on the main highway that connects the capital to Afgoye. The wounded people were rushed to Mogadishu and nearby health centers for treatment. Shortly after thunderous blast, African Union forces cordoned-off Mogadishu-Afgoye highway where the car bomb attack occurred. A spokesman for Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group Abdiasis Abu Muscab claimed credit for the attack, saying they targeted US military advisers and South African mercenary.
Somali immigration department presents three men with fake passports
08 Sept – Source: Radio Mogadishu/Goobjoog – 102 words
Somali Immigration Department has represented individuals who were caught using and transporting 42 fake passports with Sudan Visas in Mogadishu international airport. The head of immigration and naturalization General Gaafow told the media that they arrested two men who were selling the old passports which were formerly banned by the government. Also a third person, a Zanzibar national with old Somali passport( Blue passport), the man departed from Israel. Mr. Gaafow said the three men were handed to national intelligence for further investigation. Finally the head of the immigration department said the old passports are illegal and already banned by the government.
Somalia: Somali peace cup launched
08 Sept – Source: Somali Current – 116 words
Somalia kicked off nationwide activities for this year’s International Day of Peace with an Inaugural Annual Peace Day Cup match held in Mogadishu yesterday. Football has grown in popularity amongst Somalia’s young people since peace and stability have begun to return to the war torn nation. Young people represent over 70 per cent of the population and are instrumental in helping to rebuild Somalia with the support of the international community. Organized by the Somali Football Federation with support from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), the match game was held in Mogadishu as part of the activities that are ongoing in different parts of the country ahead of the International Day of Peace.
Abdisamad Moalim: Cabinet’s move to sack Somali spy chief was an impulsive step
08 Sept – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 96 words
The former Minister for Interior and National Security of Transitional Federal government Abdisamad Moalim Mohamud described the cabinet’s move to sack Somali intelligence chief Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbalolshe as an impulsive step. The former minister said Sanbalolshe was in office for less than two months adding that his firing shows that the appointed officials have no confidence from the federal government. The former spy chief Mr. Sanbalolshe was sacked after Somali cabinet took extraordinary meeting in Mogadishu. His firing is due to ineffectiveness as government spokesman Ridwan Haji Abdiweli confirmed to the media after the meeting.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Germany arrests 3 al Shabaab suspects returning from Kenya
08 Sept – Source: Africa Review – 126 words
Three German men were arrested at the weekend when they flew home from Kenya, on suspicion of being members of Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist militant group, officials said Monday. “Three suspects were arrested at Frankfurt airport” on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutors service said, adding that a press conference was planned for later in the day. Public broadcaster SWR earlier reported the men had returned to Germany because they no longer wanted to take part in combat for al Shabaab. The report said there were no indications the three were planning attacks in Germany. Al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s main affiliate in Africa, controls vast swathes of Somalia’s rural hinterland from which it carries out regular guerrilla attacks against government institutions and international forces based in the capital Mogadishu.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Islamists bomb two convoys, killing at least 12
08 Sept – Source; Reuters – 146 words
Somalia’s Islamist rebel group bombed African peacekeepers and government vehicles on Monday in twin attacks that left at least 12 civilians dead, marking al Shabaab’s first major attack since promising revenge for the killing of its leader last week. The blasts within an hour of each other on the same road southwest of Mogadishu targeted a convoy of African Union (AU) troops and a Somali government convoy of police and national security forces. Civilian buses near the first blast were hit. “We are behind the two car bombs driven by mujahideen (fighters),” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab’s military operations, told Reuters. The attacks were a reminder that al Shabaab, which wants to impose its strict version of Islam on Somalia, remains a potent threat capable of launching major attacks, even after losing its leader Ahmed Godane in a U.S. strike last week.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Consequently, Godane’s death will have tactical importance inside Somalia rather than importance as a deterrent for the movement as a whole.”
How will the death of its leader, Ahmed Godane, impact al Shabaab?
08 Sept – Source: African Arguments – 1035 words
On the 1st September 2014, at around 19:00, American drones fired several missiles in the Sablaaleh/ Hawaay and Dahay Tubako areas, between 35 and 55 km from Brawa, one of the Somali islamist group al Shabaab’s remaining strongholds. The drones that fired the missiles targeted Ahmed Abdi Aw Muhammad ‘Godane’, a northern Somali, from the Isaq clan (sub-clan Arab) and the leader of al Shabaab. The strike was the most recent in several US attacks since the 2013 Westgate attack in Kenya, targeting both al Shabaab and al Qaeda leaders either by killing or snatching them alive. The Pentagon, Somali authorities, and seemingly the al Shabaab themselves (or at least one alleged spokesperson), confirmed the death of Godane. However, there is yet to be an indication of who the other five individuals reported to have died were and whether their deaths will also be significant for the future of the organization. Somali security sources indicate that both veteran al Shabaab commanders Muhammad Abu Abdullah and Sheikh Muhammad Dulyaden were present at the meeting that was hit. Rumours also circulated of the death of Mahad ‘Karate’, the commander that reorganized al Shabaab in Mogadishu after their dreadful defeats in late 2006.