Mogadishu's Huriwa district at risk of al-Shabaab takeover - Sabahionline.com
Al-Shabaab is in position to take over control of Mogadishu's Huriwa district after the group recently deployed many militants there, District Commissioner Omar Abdulle Jaafan told the media on Wednesday (February 19th).
The government deployed additional troops to the district on Thursday after Jaafan warned that it could easily fall into the hands of the militants, Somalia's RBC reported.
Jaafan's comments came on the same day that al-Shabaab militants spread letters in some neighbourhoods of the district warning residents not to open their businesses.
On Wednesday night, fierce fighting erupted between al-Shabaab and the African Union Mission in Somalia after the militants attacked military bases in the district.
"The assaults carried out by al-Shabaab against the military bases were aimed at inciting fear to the people," Jaafan told Shabelle Media Network.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
UN identifies Kismayo, Luq and Baidoa as safe for return of Somali refugees - Sabahionline.com
UN identifies Kismayo, Luq and Baidoa as safe for return of Somali refugees - Sabahionline.com
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Thursday (February 20th) that it deemed three regions in southern Somalia safe for Somali refugees in Kenya to return, Somalia's RBC Radio reported.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, UNHCR's representative in Kenya Raouf Mazou said the agency held consultations with a number of stakeholders and concluded that Kismayo, Luq and Baidoa were relatively peaceful and safe for returning refugees.
Mazou emphasised that any return of refugees must be voluntary, but noted that the number of Somalis willing to go home was increasing, estimating that the repatriation was likely to take up to two years.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Thursday (February 20th) that it deemed three regions in southern Somalia safe for Somali refugees in Kenya to return, Somalia's RBC Radio reported.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, UNHCR's representative in Kenya Raouf Mazou said the agency held consultations with a number of stakeholders and concluded that Kismayo, Luq and Baidoa were relatively peaceful and safe for returning refugees.
Mazou emphasised that any return of refugees must be voluntary, but noted that the number of Somalis willing to go home was increasing, estimating that the repatriation was likely to take up to two years.
Minneapolis: St. Paul police will investigate melee at Cedar-Riverside caucus - TwinCities.com
Minneapolis: St. Paul police will investigate melee at Cedar-Riverside caucus - TwinCities.com
An investigation into a raucous DFL caucus that dissolved into a shoving match earlier this month in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood will be investigated by the St. Paul Police Department.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges asked Police Chief Janee Harteau to allow St. Paul to handle the case "to avoid any perception of potential conflict of interest and to ensure transparency and impartiality," according to a Friday news release.
On Feb. 4, DFL House District 60B precinct caucus organizers shut down the event after a verbal altercation dissolved into pushing and shoving during the process of delegate selection, Minneapolis police said.
The caucus, at the Brian Coyle Community Center, was shut down after 45 minutes. No one was arrested.
District 60B is represented by Rep. Phyllis Kahn. She is being challenged by Mohamud Noor, a member of the Minneapolis school board who is also interim executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, which is based at the Coyle Center.
Earlier this week, the caucus was held again at a different location by outside organizers. Noor will send 28 delegates to the Senate District 60 convention April 5, while Kahn will have 15 delegates. Delegates at that meeting will have an opportunity to bestow the DFL Party's endorsement.
Kahn's political turf has changed during her 42 years in office. It's now home to a large East African population, many of whom share Noor's Somali heritage.
An investigation into a raucous DFL caucus that dissolved into a shoving match earlier this month in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood will be investigated by the St. Paul Police Department.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges asked Police Chief Janee Harteau to allow St. Paul to handle the case "to avoid any perception of potential conflict of interest and to ensure transparency and impartiality," according to a Friday news release.
On Feb. 4, DFL House District 60B precinct caucus organizers shut down the event after a verbal altercation dissolved into pushing and shoving during the process of delegate selection, Minneapolis police said.
The caucus, at the Brian Coyle Community Center, was shut down after 45 minutes. No one was arrested.
District 60B is represented by Rep. Phyllis Kahn. She is being challenged by Mohamud Noor, a member of the Minneapolis school board who is also interim executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, which is based at the Coyle Center.
Earlier this week, the caucus was held again at a different location by outside organizers. Noor will send 28 delegates to the Senate District 60 convention April 5, while Kahn will have 15 delegates. Delegates at that meeting will have an opportunity to bestow the DFL Party's endorsement.
Kahn's political turf has changed during her 42 years in office. It's now home to a large East African population, many of whom share Noor's Somali heritage.
Friday, February 21, 2014
9 attackers dead in Somalia president palace attack
9 attackers dead in Somalia president palace attack
Nine al-Shabab militants wearing military fatigues and carrying guns and grenades died after attacking the presidential palace with two car bombs on Friday, in an assault the president called a "media spectacular" by a "dying animal."
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed, but two government officials were killed, the interior ministry said.
The attack underscores a worrying new trend in Mogadishu: That despite a period of relative calm following al-Shabab's ouster from Mogadishu in August 2011, militants have carried out a series of deadly assaults in recent weeks that have seen the city hit with mortar fire and pitched battles.
Weapons meant for the Somali army could have been used by the militants in Friday's attack. A confidential U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea reported this month that the country's military is selling weaponry in markets where the al-Qaeda-linked militants buy weapons.
In at least one case weapons were sold by a military commander directly to an al-Shabab commander, the confidential report said.
Friday's attack against the compound where the president and prime minister live began with a car bomb explosion, followed by an assault by gunmen on palace guards, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked group, claimed responsibility.
"President just called me to say he's unharmed. Attack on Villa #Somalia had failed. Sadly some lives lost. I condemn strongly this terrorism," the U.N. representative to Somalia, Nick Kay, said on Twitter. He added later: "The Somali people are tired of shootings, bombings and killings. It's time for a new chapter in Somalia's history."
The Interior Ministry displayed the seven bloodied and dead bodies of the attackers and said two others blew themselves up. The wreckages of two car bombs lay nearby.
The two others killed included a former intelligence commander and an aide to the prime minister, a Somali-American named Mohamud Hersi Abdulle, said Hussein.
"Apart from media headlines, #Shabaab will achieve nothing from it," a Twitter account run by the office of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. 'Don't be fooled by this "media spectacular'. This is another act of desperation from a dying animal."
Al-Shabab has been waging war in Somalia for years as it tries to oust a Western-backed government. Weakened from its apex of power, the militants are still able to launch vicious attacks.
The U.N. Monitoring Group report, published Feb. 6 and obtained by The Associated Press, found that many weapons given to Somalia's military can no longer be accounted for, including rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and bullets. The Monitoring Group "has developed serious concerns that the 1,000 AK-47s delivered from Uganda" are no longer in government control, it said.
The report said that two separate clan-based power bases in the government are procuring weapons with a clan-based agenda that works against peace in Somalia, including by distributing weapons to clan militias. A sub clan of the president's dominates weapons procurements and funnels them to Abgaal milita forces, it said.
"In addition, the Monitoring Group has also obtained documentary evidence corroborating information that a key advisor to the President, from his Abgaal subclan, has been involved in planning weapons deliveries to Al-Shabaab leader Sheikh Yusuf Isse 'Kabukatukade', who is also Abgaal," the report said.
The report also said that ammunition supplied to Somalia's army have been leaked in large quantities to arms markets. Weapons and ammunition not sold at a market during the day are taken back for storage in garages and houses owned by Somalia army officers, the report said.
"Al-Shabaab are known to frequent the market to purchase weapons and ammunition and were easily identifiable by the salesmen there," the report said.
Somalia's government has not responded publicly to the report and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College, wrote in a new paper on al-Shabab being published Monday in the CTC Sentinal, Westpoint's anti-terrorism publication, that al-Shabab has been weakened as a political movement and will not be able to establish an Islamic state, but that it's secret service — "Amniyat" — can still unleash devastating attacks against African Union forces and the Somali government.
In Friday's attack, a speeding car full of explosives rammed into a barricade erected by soldiers protecting the presidential palace, causing an explosion and sending plumes of smoke into the sky. Amid the mayhem, gunmen chanting "God is great" then moved toward a second gate and tried to force their way into the complex.
Nine al-Shabab militants wearing military fatigues and carrying guns and grenades died after attacking the presidential palace with two car bombs on Friday, in an assault the president called a "media spectacular" by a "dying animal."
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed, but two government officials were killed, the interior ministry said.
The attack underscores a worrying new trend in Mogadishu: That despite a period of relative calm following al-Shabab's ouster from Mogadishu in August 2011, militants have carried out a series of deadly assaults in recent weeks that have seen the city hit with mortar fire and pitched battles.
Weapons meant for the Somali army could have been used by the militants in Friday's attack. A confidential U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea reported this month that the country's military is selling weaponry in markets where the al-Qaeda-linked militants buy weapons.
In at least one case weapons were sold by a military commander directly to an al-Shabab commander, the confidential report said.
Friday's attack against the compound where the president and prime minister live began with a car bomb explosion, followed by an assault by gunmen on palace guards, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked group, claimed responsibility.
"President just called me to say he's unharmed. Attack on Villa #Somalia had failed. Sadly some lives lost. I condemn strongly this terrorism," the U.N. representative to Somalia, Nick Kay, said on Twitter. He added later: "The Somali people are tired of shootings, bombings and killings. It's time for a new chapter in Somalia's history."
The Interior Ministry displayed the seven bloodied and dead bodies of the attackers and said two others blew themselves up. The wreckages of two car bombs lay nearby.
The two others killed included a former intelligence commander and an aide to the prime minister, a Somali-American named Mohamud Hersi Abdulle, said Hussein.
"Apart from media headlines, #Shabaab will achieve nothing from it," a Twitter account run by the office of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. 'Don't be fooled by this "media spectacular'. This is another act of desperation from a dying animal."
Al-Shabab has been waging war in Somalia for years as it tries to oust a Western-backed government. Weakened from its apex of power, the militants are still able to launch vicious attacks.
The U.N. Monitoring Group report, published Feb. 6 and obtained by The Associated Press, found that many weapons given to Somalia's military can no longer be accounted for, including rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and bullets. The Monitoring Group "has developed serious concerns that the 1,000 AK-47s delivered from Uganda" are no longer in government control, it said.
The report said that two separate clan-based power bases in the government are procuring weapons with a clan-based agenda that works against peace in Somalia, including by distributing weapons to clan militias. A sub clan of the president's dominates weapons procurements and funnels them to Abgaal milita forces, it said.
"In addition, the Monitoring Group has also obtained documentary evidence corroborating information that a key advisor to the President, from his Abgaal subclan, has been involved in planning weapons deliveries to Al-Shabaab leader Sheikh Yusuf Isse 'Kabukatukade', who is also Abgaal," the report said.
The report also said that ammunition supplied to Somalia's army have been leaked in large quantities to arms markets. Weapons and ammunition not sold at a market during the day are taken back for storage in garages and houses owned by Somalia army officers, the report said.
"Al-Shabaab are known to frequent the market to purchase weapons and ammunition and were easily identifiable by the salesmen there," the report said.
Somalia's government has not responded publicly to the report and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College, wrote in a new paper on al-Shabab being published Monday in the CTC Sentinal, Westpoint's anti-terrorism publication, that al-Shabab has been weakened as a political movement and will not be able to establish an Islamic state, but that it's secret service — "Amniyat" — can still unleash devastating attacks against African Union forces and the Somali government.
In Friday's attack, a speeding car full of explosives rammed into a barricade erected by soldiers protecting the presidential palace, causing an explosion and sending plumes of smoke into the sky. Amid the mayhem, gunmen chanting "God is great" then moved toward a second gate and tried to force their way into the complex.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
BBC News - The beauty of Djibouti: A breath of fresh air in the Horn of Africa
BBC News - The beauty of Djibouti: A breath of fresh air in the Horn of Africa
Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base, is so close to the terminal you can actually hear the bugle calls as the US flag goes up and down at the start and end of each day.
When I first came here, 20 years ago, Djibouti still felt very much like a French protectorate. Sunburned legionnaires in khaki shorts and kepis stood watch over arriving passengers. The country, which became independent from France in 1977, had just defeated an insurgency on its border with Eritrea, and there were mine craters in the road out of town. The capital, imaginatively called Djibouti, was dimly lit and dodgy after dark.
Abdi had spent eight years living in Manchester, now he was teaching at the national university. Coming back to Djibouti after all that time was hard, he said, and he missed the rain, but I was pleased he felt his future was here.
I was hailed too by the town's small colony of beggars on crutches and in wheelchairs. They seemed enormously cheered to see a foreigner visiting in a wheelchair and gave me great slaps on the back and thumbs-up as I rode past.
Europeans do feel curiously at home here. For a country sitting uncomfortably close to two of the world's most tense and dangerous hotspots - Yemen and Somalia - Djibouti is extraordinarily relaxed.
You see French families strolling round town in shorts and skirts, babies cradled on their shoulders, and teenage girls in skimpy T-shirts skipping across the road, smiling at the Djiboutian gendarmes.
Unlike the French, who often give the impression of being either on holiday or still in charge here, the Americans are very much on their guard for a terrorist attack.
Strapping myself into a Pavehawk helicopter, I took off with the US Air Force combat rescue pilots for what turned out to be the most breathtaking low-level flying over the Rift Valley.
As a routine training flight, the door machine gun was mercifully unmanned and I had an uninterrupted view of the crinkled ravines and dry thorn bushes flashing past just 100 feet below.
We circled Lake Assal, the lowest lake in Africa at 515 feet below sea level. Devoid of life yet stunningly beautiful, its saline surface glittered in the sun, hemmed in by fields of black, volcanic lava. It looked like a landscape from the dawn of time and frankly, a dinosaur would not have looked out of place here.
I longed to be down on the ground myself so on our final day, our broadcasting all done, I flagged down a battered green taxi, agreed an hourly price, and got the driver to take me upcountry to the Rift Valley hilltop town of Arta.
The suburbs of Djibouti are not an appealing site. As the road heads west towards the Ethiopian border you pass through an endless succession of oil-stained workshops, broken engine parts, truck parks and desperately poor shantytowns, a scene relieved only by the vibrant colours worn by the women. But Arta was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air.
High up in the hills, the breeze was warm and clean with the faint scent of jasmine from the walled villas and gardens. I sat on the edge of a precipice, shared a packet of biscuits with Yunis, the driver, and gazed down at the distant shores of the Gulf of Aden.
Suddenly there was a commotion. Shouts and screams from the tiny stone-walled village in the valley below. A troop of fierce looking hamadryas baboons was marauding through the village, led by a large, red-rumped male.
Women in dazzling scarlet dresses charged at the baboons, waving rags and baring their teeth. The animals regrouped, then slunk away, probably to plan a night-time return.
But for now, peace had returned to Djibouti's tranquil Rift Valley.
Photographs taken by Frank Gardner.
Perched on the Horn of Africa, and controlling access to the Red Sea, Djibouti has become a nerve centre for America's battle with al-Shabab. But despite nestling between some of the world's most dangerous countries, it feels surprisingly tranquil, reports BBC Security correspondent Frank Gardner.
A flag. A great big Stars and Stripes fluttering in the African breeze. That is the first thing I noticed as we landed at Djibouti airport, on the shores of the Gulf of Aden. The only permanent US military base in Africa is right next to the civilian terminal. Gunmetal grey transport planes take their turn queuing on the runway with the incoming Air France Airbus from Paris. Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base, is so close to the terminal you can actually hear the bugle calls as the US flag goes up and down at the start and end of each day.
When I first came here, 20 years ago, Djibouti still felt very much like a French protectorate. Sunburned legionnaires in khaki shorts and kepis stood watch over arriving passengers. The country, which became independent from France in 1977, had just defeated an insurgency on its border with Eritrea, and there were mine craters in the road out of town. The capital, imaginatively called Djibouti, was dimly lit and dodgy after dark.
Things have improved here since then. The town has more lighting, the mine craters have been filled in, and the rural signposts with rusting bullet holes removed. The tiny capital, with its broad, leafy boulevards and cafes, also feels more cosmopolitan.
"Frank Gardner," a voice hailed me as I rolled down the street in my wheelchair. "I listen to you on the BBC," he said. Abdi had spent eight years living in Manchester, now he was teaching at the national university. Coming back to Djibouti after all that time was hard, he said, and he missed the rain, but I was pleased he felt his future was here.
I was hailed too by the town's small colony of beggars on crutches and in wheelchairs. They seemed enormously cheered to see a foreigner visiting in a wheelchair and gave me great slaps on the back and thumbs-up as I rode past.
Europeans do feel curiously at home here. For a country sitting uncomfortably close to two of the world's most tense and dangerous hotspots - Yemen and Somalia - Djibouti is extraordinarily relaxed.
You see French families strolling round town in shorts and skirts, babies cradled on their shoulders, and teenage girls in skimpy T-shirts skipping across the road, smiling at the Djiboutian gendarmes.
There are bars too, not that we had time to visit them, and I've heard Djibouti described as the Sodom and Gomorrah of East Africa, luring working girls from neighbouring Ethiopia to mingle with French sailors coming ashore on port calls.
Yet for five months the Americans here were confined to their base after security was stepped up following the al-Shabab attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall. Unlike the French, who often give the impression of being either on holiday or still in charge here, the Americans are very much on their guard for a terrorist attack.
Strapping myself into a Pavehawk helicopter, I took off with the US Air Force combat rescue pilots for what turned out to be the most breathtaking low-level flying over the Rift Valley.
As a routine training flight, the door machine gun was mercifully unmanned and I had an uninterrupted view of the crinkled ravines and dry thorn bushes flashing past just 100 feet below.
We circled Lake Assal, the lowest lake in Africa at 515 feet below sea level. Devoid of life yet stunningly beautiful, its saline surface glittered in the sun, hemmed in by fields of black, volcanic lava. It looked like a landscape from the dawn of time and frankly, a dinosaur would not have looked out of place here.
I longed to be down on the ground myself so on our final day, our broadcasting all done, I flagged down a battered green taxi, agreed an hourly price, and got the driver to take me upcountry to the Rift Valley hilltop town of Arta.
The suburbs of Djibouti are not an appealing site. As the road heads west towards the Ethiopian border you pass through an endless succession of oil-stained workshops, broken engine parts, truck parks and desperately poor shantytowns, a scene relieved only by the vibrant colours worn by the women. But Arta was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air.
High up in the hills, the breeze was warm and clean with the faint scent of jasmine from the walled villas and gardens. I sat on the edge of a precipice, shared a packet of biscuits with Yunis, the driver, and gazed down at the distant shores of the Gulf of Aden.
Suddenly there was a commotion. Shouts and screams from the tiny stone-walled village in the valley below. A troop of fierce looking hamadryas baboons was marauding through the village, led by a large, red-rumped male.
Women in dazzling scarlet dresses charged at the baboons, waving rags and baring their teeth. The animals regrouped, then slunk away, probably to plan a night-time return.
But for now, peace had returned to Djibouti's tranquil Rift Valley.
Photographs taken by Frank Gardner.
UN issues praise for Kimse Yok Mu, other Turkish charities - CİHAN
UN issues praise for Kimse Yok Mu, other Turkish charities - CİHAN
The United Nations has shared words of praise for the Kimse Yok Mu charity and other Turkish civil society organizations in light of their humanitarian relief work in Somalia, according to Turkish news outlets on Thursday.
The Turkish charity, which is affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by Fethullah Gülen, has contributed food aid as well as educational tools to refugee camps in the impoverished African country.
When Office of the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) Director John Ging was asked by the Cihan news agency what he thought of the work of Kimse Yok Mu and other Turkish charities in Somalia, Ging replied: “During my visit in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, I met with several Turkish civil society organizations. They are providing service in the best way possible. The Turkish-run camps are the ones with the highest standards. Everyone knows this. The services in every area are of high quality, from health and education to food service.” OCHA is a body of the UN.
Kimse Yok Mu was established in 2002 and has conducted humanitarian aid campaigns around the world.
The United Nations has shared words of praise for the Kimse Yok Mu charity and other Turkish civil society organizations in light of their humanitarian relief work in Somalia, according to Turkish news outlets on Thursday.
The Turkish charity, which is affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by Fethullah Gülen, has contributed food aid as well as educational tools to refugee camps in the impoverished African country.
When Office of the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) Director John Ging was asked by the Cihan news agency what he thought of the work of Kimse Yok Mu and other Turkish charities in Somalia, Ging replied: “During my visit in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, I met with several Turkish civil society organizations. They are providing service in the best way possible. The Turkish-run camps are the ones with the highest standards. Everyone knows this. The services in every area are of high quality, from health and education to food service.” OCHA is a body of the UN.
Kimse Yok Mu was established in 2002 and has conducted humanitarian aid campaigns around the world.
African News - Xenophobic violence rocks South Africa again attack on Somali and Pakistani shops | Nigerian Bulletin - Nigeria's Best Latest News & Updates
African News - Xenophobic violence rocks South Africa again attack on Somali and Pakistani shops | Nigerian Bulletin - Nigeria's Best Latest News & Updates
Tension remains sky-high in Pretoria’s Refiloe township in South Africa on Thursday following an outbreak of xenophobic violence which has seen Somali and Pakistani shop owners fleeing the area.
It was reported that heavily-armed police moved into the area east of the capital city to escort the foreigners following a violent protest.
Report says that the trouble began on Tuesday night when a foreign shop owner allegedly assaulted a 10-year-old girl he accused of stealing a packet of sweets, leading to the girl’s death.
Township residents went on the rampage, looting and burning at least 65 shops in the area.
The police said that the residents have barricaded all roads leading into the township.
In 2008, South Africa was rocked by a wave of xenophobic violence which left 67 foreigners dead.
It began in the township of Alexandra (in the north-eastern part of Johannesburg) when locals attacked migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, killing two people and injuring 40 others.
In the following weeks, the violence spread, first to other settlements in the Gauteng Province, then to the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town.
Attacks were also reported in parts of the Southern Cape, Mpumalanga, the North West and Free State.
Tension remains sky-high in Pretoria’s Refiloe township in South Africa on Thursday following an outbreak of xenophobic violence which has seen Somali and Pakistani shop owners fleeing the area.
It was reported that heavily-armed police moved into the area east of the capital city to escort the foreigners following a violent protest.
Report says that the trouble began on Tuesday night when a foreign shop owner allegedly assaulted a 10-year-old girl he accused of stealing a packet of sweets, leading to the girl’s death.
Township residents went on the rampage, looting and burning at least 65 shops in the area.
The police said that the residents have barricaded all roads leading into the township.
In 2008, South Africa was rocked by a wave of xenophobic violence which left 67 foreigners dead.
It began in the township of Alexandra (in the north-eastern part of Johannesburg) when locals attacked migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, killing two people and injuring 40 others.
In the following weeks, the violence spread, first to other settlements in the Gauteng Province, then to the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town.
Attacks were also reported in parts of the Southern Cape, Mpumalanga, the North West and Free State.
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