An explosion near a base for the African Union peacekeeping force near the Mogadishu airport has left at least five people killed, including one soldier Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for an attack on a hospital run by the African Union peacekeeping force. The explosion occurred near the peacekeeping base, killing at least five, including one soldier.
Sheikh Ali Muhamud Rage, the spokesperson for al-Shabab, says that the rebel group successfully attacked the base of the African Union peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM.
He claimed that the overnight bombing near the Mogadishu airport was in response to the deaths of innocent civilians caused by the AMISOM forces.
An AMISOM official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, told VOA that three Somali patients and one Ugandan peacekeeper were killed in the blast. He added that eight were injured, half civilians and half soldiers.
Reports conflict as to whether the attack was executed through a suicide bomber or a mortar blast, and some place the casualty figure as high as seven dead.
AMISOM spokesperson Major Barigye Bahuko says that the detonation took place within the outpatient department of the hospital.
"It was not even an explosion; it was just a small blast," Bahuko said. "A blast that occurred where the Somalis were congregating waiting for treatment ended up by killing very many Somalis unfortunately."
Al-Shabab, a group thought to have links to al-Qaida, is waging an intense insurgency against the Western-backed Mogadishu government, propped up by the AU peacekeeping mission staffed with Ugandan and Burundian forces.
The rebels fight under an ultra-conservative Islamic ideology, imposing Sharia law under the territory they control and referring to their enemies as infidels. They now control most of southern and some of central Somalia, including much of Mogadishu.
The attempted Christmas-day attack on a U.S. airliner has increased the international attention given to the Horn of African Islamists. The Nigerian attacker was trained in nearby Yemen, and though no proven link exists between the two countries' respective Islamist rebellions, analysts are now expressing concern that the region could become the new front in the global fight against militant radical Islam.
In September al-Shabab claimed responsibility for twin suicide blasts within the AMISOM base disrupted a high-profile meeting between top peacekeeping brass and Somali government officials. The attack killed at least 17 people, including the top Burundian general stationed in the country.
Source:voanews.com/
Showing posts with label Make Somalia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Make Somalia. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Somalia under scrutiny as security threat - Soccer World Cup 2010
The group Al-Shabaab which is a Al-Qaeda linked to Somalia, they have been in control most of the Southern part of Somalia. Now South Africa's Intelligence agency has learned that they have a base in the Cape Flats in South Africa. Even thought the threat is very real it is said the Muslim extremist would not attack in South Africa because it is used as a logistical hub.
All this came out after the threats made to the American Embassy in September last year. SASS has learned that it came from inside our borders. With all the political turmoil after Mbeki left the presidency last year and Zuma has taken over, South Africa's intelligence agency was in the dark about the very real threat of terrorist.
Official maintain though that crime is still the main concern to the Soccer World Cup and not terrorism. But they are stepping up in their investigations after the brutal attack on Togolese soccer team in Angola that left three people dead and eight injured. A rebel group in Angola has said they where responsible for the attack.
The main threat still lies in crime. In a country riddled with crime and criminals aiming on cashing in on foreigners visiting our country, people needing to be educated in the do's and dont's here are still priority.
Source:english.people.com.cn/
All this came out after the threats made to the American Embassy in September last year. SASS has learned that it came from inside our borders. With all the political turmoil after Mbeki left the presidency last year and Zuma has taken over, South Africa's intelligence agency was in the dark about the very real threat of terrorist.
Official maintain though that crime is still the main concern to the Soccer World Cup and not terrorism. But they are stepping up in their investigations after the brutal attack on Togolese soccer team in Angola that left three people dead and eight injured. A rebel group in Angola has said they where responsible for the attack.
The main threat still lies in crime. In a country riddled with crime and criminals aiming on cashing in on foreigners visiting our country, people needing to be educated in the do's and dont's here are still priority.
Source:english.people.com.cn/
Egypt reiterates support for interim Somali government
APA-Cairo (Egypt) The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has reiterated Egyptian support for the government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed in Somalia by all possible means.
Ambassador Mona Omar, the Assistant Minister for African Affairs told reporters on Saturday in Cairo that Egypt was very much concerned about the Somalia issue, and that the settlement of the issue was within the framework of Egypt’s keenness on the stability of the Horn of Africa that represents a strategic importance to Egypt and the sub-region.
She added that Egypt will receive at the beginning of February, the Prime Minister of Puntland, adding that there are many Egyptian teachers working in the Somali regions of Puntland and Somaliland, in addition to a mission from Al-Azhar University which is currently in the area
Source:apanews.net/
Ambassador Mona Omar, the Assistant Minister for African Affairs told reporters on Saturday in Cairo that Egypt was very much concerned about the Somalia issue, and that the settlement of the issue was within the framework of Egypt’s keenness on the stability of the Horn of Africa that represents a strategic importance to Egypt and the sub-region.
She added that Egypt will receive at the beginning of February, the Prime Minister of Puntland, adding that there are many Egyptian teachers working in the Somali regions of Puntland and Somaliland, in addition to a mission from Al-Azhar University which is currently in the area
Source:apanews.net/
Twenty-four dead in renewed fighting in central Somalia
MOGADISHU, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in renewed clashes between rival Islamist groups in central Somalia have risen to 24 while more than 50 others were injured in fighting raging for the consecutive fourth day, witnesses and health officials said on Wednesday.
The latest flare up of violence erupted between fighters loyal to the Islamist rebel movement of Hezbul Islam backed by its ally of Al Shabaab and the moderate pro-government Islamist sect of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama.
Both sides have been fighting over the strategic central Somalia town of Beledweyne which has changed hands between the two sides for the past two days. Latest reports indicate the two sides partly control the town while sporadic fighting still continues in and around the town.
Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the other side but hospital sources in the region say that nearly 24 people mostly combatants from the warring sides were killed while more than 50 others were reportedly injured in the fierce clashes that continued for control of the town and adjacent districts.
Many civilians in the combat areas were reported to have fled their homes as the two sides exchanged heavy artillery in and around residential areas in Beledweyne, the provincial capital of Hiran region in central Somalia which has lately been in the hands of Hezbul Islam militias.
The pro-government Ahlu Sunna fighters control most districts in the central Somalia province of Galgaduud and Mudug and have been trying to take Hiran and its environs from the radical Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam which is allied to the Al Shabaab faction, a group that controls much of south and centre of Somalia.
Al Shabaab and Hezbul Islam factions are opposed to the internationally recognized Somali government. The groups, seen as terrorist entities, want to overthrow the Somalia government and create an Islamic state in the war-torn east African country of Somalia.
Source:news.xinhuanet.com/
The latest flare up of violence erupted between fighters loyal to the Islamist rebel movement of Hezbul Islam backed by its ally of Al Shabaab and the moderate pro-government Islamist sect of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama.
Both sides have been fighting over the strategic central Somalia town of Beledweyne which has changed hands between the two sides for the past two days. Latest reports indicate the two sides partly control the town while sporadic fighting still continues in and around the town.
Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the other side but hospital sources in the region say that nearly 24 people mostly combatants from the warring sides were killed while more than 50 others were reportedly injured in the fierce clashes that continued for control of the town and adjacent districts.
Many civilians in the combat areas were reported to have fled their homes as the two sides exchanged heavy artillery in and around residential areas in Beledweyne, the provincial capital of Hiran region in central Somalia which has lately been in the hands of Hezbul Islam militias.
The pro-government Ahlu Sunna fighters control most districts in the central Somalia province of Galgaduud and Mudug and have been trying to take Hiran and its environs from the radical Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam which is allied to the Al Shabaab faction, a group that controls much of south and centre of Somalia.
Al Shabaab and Hezbul Islam factions are opposed to the internationally recognized Somali government. The groups, seen as terrorist entities, want to overthrow the Somalia government and create an Islamic state in the war-torn east African country of Somalia.
Source:news.xinhuanet.com/
Make Somalia a Priority
Last month, a Somali man who had lived in Denmark dressed himself in women’s clothes, positioned himself at a graduation ceremony in Mogadishu and then blew himself up. He killed 22 people, including three government ministers and many young medical graduates and professors, who had hoped to dedicate their lives to the alleviation of suffering in Somalia.
The terrible events of Dec. 3 reverberated around the world. Somali doctors, information technology and engineering graduates, alongside their families, began the morning full of hope and pride, yet many were not to see the sun set that day. They were among the brightest and the best of Somalia, and so were the ministers who lost their lives.
But as the recent events in Aarhus, Denmark, Mogadishu and over the skies of Detroit on Dec. 25 show, the current situation in Somalia and across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen not only threatens the lives of Somalis, but also people beyond its borders.
However, Somalia is not the ultimate failed state of popular perception. Its people are resilient and manage to survive in conditions that are probably well beyond the imagination of most readers. In Mogadishu, a city of two million, people carry on, despite the fighting, the shelling, the displacement. Over 100 Somali-led reconciliation processes have taken place at local and regional levels since 1991 — and they’ve proved the basis for stability in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug state in central Somalia.
While Somali reconciliation and mediation efforts will be the key to sustainable peace and stability, the international community — including the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations — has an important role to play. Somalia and Yemen must be properly on the agenda at the London conference at the end of this month.
As 2010 unfolds, our collective vision should be to see the beginnings of a secure, stable and prosperous Somalia, at peace with itself and its neighbors, where its citizens can go about their lives in safety and provide for their families with confidence and dignity. Let us strive for a resurgent, tolerant society, built on respect for traditional Somali cultural and religious values.
The Transitional Federal Government, as its name suggests, is a temporary structure for developing the environment necessary to achieve this objective. It is a transitional mechanism that will enable the people to decide for themselves how they want to be governed, free from outside interference and coercion.
The transitional government’s principle purpose is to prepare the way for the establishment of legitimate and accountable public institutions. (We have already taken the initiative and hired Price Waterhouse Coopers to ensure the accountability of international donor funds.) These institutions will form the basis of a stable, representative government that can begin to alleviate the trauma of the last 20 years.
We will achieve this by building professional, representative security forces; creating transparent and accountable public institutions based on the principles of civic responsibility and good governance; developing a fair and impartial judicial system; and increasing economic opportunity through investment, training, health and education.
Given the complex and extremely difficult circumstances that recent events have so graphically illustrated, achieving all this will be an extraordinary challenge. It will require the combined effort of the whole Somali people, as well as assistance from outside. Only in partnership with all Somalis and the support of the international community will success be possible. It will take time, determination and patience but it can be done. Let us all take up this challenge. Let 2010 be the start of something new.
Source:nytimes.com/
The terrible events of Dec. 3 reverberated around the world. Somali doctors, information technology and engineering graduates, alongside their families, began the morning full of hope and pride, yet many were not to see the sun set that day. They were among the brightest and the best of Somalia, and so were the ministers who lost their lives.
But as the recent events in Aarhus, Denmark, Mogadishu and over the skies of Detroit on Dec. 25 show, the current situation in Somalia and across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen not only threatens the lives of Somalis, but also people beyond its borders.
However, Somalia is not the ultimate failed state of popular perception. Its people are resilient and manage to survive in conditions that are probably well beyond the imagination of most readers. In Mogadishu, a city of two million, people carry on, despite the fighting, the shelling, the displacement. Over 100 Somali-led reconciliation processes have taken place at local and regional levels since 1991 — and they’ve proved the basis for stability in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug state in central Somalia.
While Somali reconciliation and mediation efforts will be the key to sustainable peace and stability, the international community — including the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations — has an important role to play. Somalia and Yemen must be properly on the agenda at the London conference at the end of this month.
As 2010 unfolds, our collective vision should be to see the beginnings of a secure, stable and prosperous Somalia, at peace with itself and its neighbors, where its citizens can go about their lives in safety and provide for their families with confidence and dignity. Let us strive for a resurgent, tolerant society, built on respect for traditional Somali cultural and religious values.
The Transitional Federal Government, as its name suggests, is a temporary structure for developing the environment necessary to achieve this objective. It is a transitional mechanism that will enable the people to decide for themselves how they want to be governed, free from outside interference and coercion.
The transitional government’s principle purpose is to prepare the way for the establishment of legitimate and accountable public institutions. (We have already taken the initiative and hired Price Waterhouse Coopers to ensure the accountability of international donor funds.) These institutions will form the basis of a stable, representative government that can begin to alleviate the trauma of the last 20 years.
We will achieve this by building professional, representative security forces; creating transparent and accountable public institutions based on the principles of civic responsibility and good governance; developing a fair and impartial judicial system; and increasing economic opportunity through investment, training, health and education.
Given the complex and extremely difficult circumstances that recent events have so graphically illustrated, achieving all this will be an extraordinary challenge. It will require the combined effort of the whole Somali people, as well as assistance from outside. Only in partnership with all Somalis and the support of the international community will success be possible. It will take time, determination and patience but it can be done. Let us all take up this challenge. Let 2010 be the start of something new.
Source:nytimes.com/
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