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Gunmen Attack Airstrip in Central Town
Unknown gunmen attacked Galkayo airstrip with mortars. The attack occurred as there was no plane at the airstrip on friday.
The attack has not caused many losses other than destruction of one of the buildings in the airport.
According to reports received from Galkayo, the mortars were fired from the southern part of the town.
The Puntland regional administration, which controls the town, has not yet issued any statement on the attack.
Puntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe (Nugaal region), whose leaders in 1998 declared it to be an autonomous state. Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, it does not seek outright independence from Somalia.
Puntland began experiencing political unrest in 2001 when President Ahmed wanted his term to be lengthened. Ahmed and Jama Ali Jama fought for control of the country, which Ahmed won in 2002. Ahmed served as president until October 2004 when he was elected President of Somalia. He was succeeded by Muhammad Abdi Hashi who served until January 2005 when he was defeated for re-election by Parliament, which elected General Mohamud Muse Hersi ("Adde"). In December 2004, Puntland sustained serious damage during the tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. The international community has been accused of ignoring Puntland and other African areas where the tsunami struck.
Posted on Saturday 31st May at 11:01:27 Islamist Fighters Seize Border Island Town
Fighters from the Islamic courts union have captured "Kudha" town in lower Jubba region that lies in close proximity to the Kenyan border with Somalia after they ousted there from the government backed militias later on Friday-spokesman said.
Following the seizure of the island town the spokesman of the Islamic courts union Sheikh Abdi Rahin Isse Addow told Shabelle that the militias they pushed out there have been doing trouble acts against the residents of the town.
"We couldn't endure their acts against the civilians and we threw out them from the town" Addow said.
He also added that they've as well done roadblocks removal operations at the coastal Road linking between Mogadishu and Harardhere town central Somalia where they removed several blockades.
Until the end of 2006, they controlled most of southern Somalia and the vast majority of its population, including most major cities such as Jowhar, Kismayo, Beledweyne, and the capital Mogadishu.
The ICU was supported by warlord Yusuf "Indho Ade" Mohamed Siad who ruled Lower Shabelle but later became defense chief of the ICU, who aided in the defeat of the Mogadishu warlords.[3] Only the Northern regions (Puntland, Somaliland), and the furthest interior regions of the south were outside their control.
In December 2006, the ICU lost much territory after defeats at the battles of Baidoa, Bandiradley, and Beledweyne, retreating to the capital, Mogadishu.
On December 28 they abandoned Mogadishu, leaving the city in chaos while they moved south towards Kismayo, which allowed the TFG and Ethiopian troops to take over the city. After a stand at the Battle of Jilib, the ICU abandoned the city of Kismayo on January 1, 2007.
Stripped of almost all their territory, it is speculated the ICU will pursue guerrilla-style warfare against the government although it can now be said they control most of Somali region after they ousted the government troops in some Somali regions.
The UIC fighters are still waging heavy guarilla wars against the Ethiopian backed shaky transitional government that lost several regions' controls.
Posted on Saturday 31st May at 11:00:22 Drug dealer dies after shooting
A teenage drug dealer has died four days after being shot in the head in north London.
Sharmaarke Hassan, 17, was found with a gunshot wound in Gilbeys Yard, Camden, at about 2300 BST on Saturday.
The teenager from Camden, who had drugs convictions, died in hospital from his injuries on Wednesday night. A post mortem examination will be held later.
The 17-year-old is the 15th teenager to be killed in London since the start of the year.
Police have said they are keeping an open mind about the motive for the killing but believe he was a member of The Money Squad, one of a number of Somali gangs in the area.
He was also found guilty of possessing cannabis and offering to supply the drugs last month, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
The murder is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident unit, which looks at gun crime in London's Afro-Caribbean communities.
Supt Paul Morris, from Camden Police, said: "This is a shocking tragedy.
"We have stepped up patrols in the borough to reassure the community and specialist officers are investigating the incident."
Posted on Thursday 29th May at 16:53:49 Ethiopia bomb on Derg anniversary
A bomb explosion in Ethiopia has killed three people and injured five more at a hotel in the town of Ngele in the eastern Somali region.
The attack happened as Ethiopians celebrated the anniversary of the overthrow of the former military government, known as the Derg.
A Somali radio station reported that a Somali Islamic militant group had claimed responsibility.
A year ago, bombers targeted a similar ceremony in Jijiga, the area's capital.
Six people were killed in that attack and many others were injured, including the regional president.
'Three blasts'
The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in the capital, Addis Ababa, says official events are being held all over the country to mark the downfall of the Derg in 1991.
An Ethiopian government spokesman, who confirmed that attack, said the victims were innocent civilians, not soldiers or government officials.
Although the spokesman gave no further details, a Mogadishu-based Somali radio station, Radio Shebelle, reported that residents of the town heard three powerful explosions from the area where an official ceremony was taking place.
It broadcast a statement by the leader of a Somali militant group, which said the explosions were aimed at "the Ethiopians, the enemy of Islam".
In December 2006, Ethiopia helped oust Islamists who had been in control of much of southern Somalia that year.
Ethiopia still has troops in Somalia, supporting the interim government, and they are often the target of Islamist insurgents.
Posted on Wednesday 28th May at 16:55:52 Explosions Rock in Somali Region
At a full volume blasts could entirely heard in Liban region of Somali administrative region in Ethiopia later on Tuesday according to the residents.
The explosion just about three were reported to have been under fired on a social gathering place in the region.
Its yet unknown the causalities of the blasts since no superior phone network could be accessible in the region.
Some residents in the region told Shabelle by stumpy voice phones that the blasts were targeted at the party place as some senior officials of Ethiopia's municipal government were participating.
An Islamic group called (Somali Islamic guerilla) has claimed the responsibility of that attack.
They also added that they've killed some Ethiopian official at the spot but no independent confirmation about that incident could be available.
This region lies in northeastern Ethiopia, bordering on Somalia and Kenya. It is an arid region, inhabited by Somali pastoral nomads. Upon the scramble and partition of Africa in 1884 by the Europeans, the region remained given to Menelik II of Ethiopia during 1891-97, but the territory was totally engulfed in 1954.
Apart from drought, the Somali region also suffers interclan conflicts. Last month local officials told Shabelle that 11 food aid trucks had been burnt in the Gashamo area over two months. They blamed the incidents on rivalry between the Isaq and Ogaden clans.
The region has been in wars, cyclic droughts and total devastation since then, but mostly since 1960 up to now and State policies met with varying levels of resistance.
The people of the region were not allowed for self-determination by Ethiopia government, but rather subjected to longstanding hidden-sufferings and abuses by ruthless successive Ethiopian governments but armed groups hail from the region are continuing colossal resistances against Ethiopia government .
Posted on Wednesday 28th May at 9:12:22 Somali authorities order forces to re-take seized Dutch ship
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali regional authorities on Wednesday despatched forces to attempt to rescue a Panama-flagged cargo freighter that was hijacked by pirates over the weekend, officials said.
The Dutch-owned MV Amiya Scan along with its nine-strong Russian and Filipino crew was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, the latest in a string of attacks off the coast of the lawless African nation.
"They are holding the ship in the coastal area of Ras Binnah and (the) decision is to rescue it by force. Our forces are already on the way," said Bile Mohamed, an advisor to Puntland President Ade Musse.
Ras Binnah is a coastal area about 250 kilometres (155 miles) east of the Puntland port of Bosasso.
Another Puntland official confirmed the deployment, but urged the vessel's owners Dutch Reider Shipping not to yield to any ransom demands.
"We ordered our forces to go to mission to rescue the ship by force. We have asked the ship's owner not to pay ransom," said Ahmed Said Ownur, fisheries and water resources minister for Puntland, a breakaway region in northeastern Somalia.
Musse blamed shipping companies' readiness to cough up for the piracy problem, saying their response has exacerbated a longstanding problem, officials said.
In April, Puntland forces rescued a hijacked vessel from the United Arab Emirates. At least one pirate was killed during the raid while seven were arrested and later sentenced to life in prison.
In the same month, pirates seized a French luxury yacht with its crew of 30, and later a Spanish fishing boat. Both were released after a week with reports that heavy ransoms were paid.
The waters off Somalia, which has not had an effective central government for more than 17 years, are considered to be among the most dangerous in the world.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, more than 25 ships were seized off Somalia's 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) of coastline last year despite patrols by an international force based in Djibouti.
These kind of attacks had stopped in the second half of 2006 during six months of strict rule by Islamist militants, who were ousted by Ethiopian and Somali government troops in early 2007. Then piracy resumed.
But over recent months, a multinational Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CTF 150), based in Djibouti and charged with fighting terrorism across the volatile region, has upped surveillance in the pirate-infested waters.
France and the United States are pushing the UN Security Council to pass a resolution that would allow nations to send warships to Somalia to combat piracy.
Technically, the 1992 United Nations arms embargo on Somalia bars foreign navies and warships from accessing Somalia waters, but some nations have nontheless violated it.
Last week, Islamist militants who have re-gained strength in Somalia vowed to resume fighting pirates.
Somalia, which lies at the mouth of the Red Sea, has been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre sparked a bloody power struggle.
Posted on Wednesday 28th May at 9:03:36 Somali peace talks to resume over the weekend: UN
NAIROBI (AFP) — The Somali government and its main political opposition will resume peace talks this weekend in Djibouti, the UN announced, as clashes continued between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops.
The second phase of negotiations will open on Saturday followed by a UN Security Council delegation visit on June 2-3, the UN special envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said in a statement.
The UN visitors will then move on to other African trouble spots in Sudan, Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Somalia has been devastated by almost uninterrupted civil conflict since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre. At least a dozen peace initiatives have collapsed.
The first round of talks ended on May 16 with little to show for it. The feuding sides issued a joint statement pledging "to put aside their differences to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access and the delivery of assistance to the people with immediate effect."
Although that call went unheeded, Ould-Abdallah said Wednesday the "responsible statement" was a good start for the rivals who have made the country a scene of relentless fighting for 17 years.
"The process may create strains in some circles of Somali society but peace should prevail between brothers, depending on the wisdom and patriotism of Somalis both inside and outside the country," the UN official said.
In Djibouti, Ould-Abdallah has pledged to keep working to build trust between the two sides, even if Islamist leaders and allied hardline clans are boycotting the talks as they did during the last round of talks in 2007.
The fresh drive to bring all parties to the negotiating table comes after Nur Hassan Hussein replaced Ali Mohamed Gedi as prime minister.
The talks will be held against a backdrop of daily clashes pitting Islamist insurgents against Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops and African Union peacekeepers.
In Mogadishu meanwhile, insurgents attacked a police station on Wednesday, killing four officers and losing one fighter in ensuing clashes, witnesses and an Islamist spokesman said.
Fighters used heavy machine-gun fire and hurled hand grenades into the station in Madina district, the latest in a series of attacks in the capital.
"I saw four dead bodies of Somali policemen in front of the station. The insurgents took control of the area briefly and were chanting Allah Akbar (God is Great)," said Ali Mohamed Ibrahim, a witness.
Another witness Hassan Moalim confirmed the same death toll.
Islamist spokesman Abdirahin Isse Ado said his fighters lost one man, but gave a higher toll of police fatalities.
"Our forces raided a police station in Madina neighbourhood and they killed five policemen and one of our fighters was martyred in the raid," he told AFP by phone.
According to international rights groups and aid agencies, at least 6,000 civilians have died in the fighting over the past year.
Just over 2,600 Ugandan and Burundian troops are deployed in Somalia on an African Union mission, far short of the 8,000 troops pledged by the pan-African body's member countries. The contingent has been unable to curb the violence.
The UN has warned that 2.6 million people in Somalia face acute food shortages and would require urgent humanitarian assistance to avoid a catastrophe.
The figure is expected to reach 3.5 million by year's end because of a prolonged drought and fast rising inflation.
Posted on Wednesday 28th May at 9:03:01 Somali Pirates Hijack Dutch Ship
By VOA News
Somali gunmen have hijacked a Dutch-owned ship in the latest act of piracy off the Horn of Africa.
The ship's owner - Reider Shipping - says the MC Amyia Scan was seized late Monday in the Gulf of Aden, while traveling from Kenya to Romania.
The ship's nine-member crew includes five Filipinos and four Russians. There has been no information about ransom demands or the condition of the crew.
The ship is carrying a decommissioned oil-drilling rig.
On Friday, Somali pirates released a Jordanian-flagged ship and its crew after holding them hostage for six days. It is not clear whether a ransom was paid for that ship's release.
Pirate attacks are common in the unregulated waters off Somalia's coast. The country lacks a strong central government, allowing pirates to operate almost freely.
The U.S. Navy has led international patrols along the coast in an effort to end the pirate attacks.
The United States and France recently put forth a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would give countries the legal right to pursue pirates and armed robbers in Somali waters.
Posted on Tuesday 27th May at 9:04:28 UN warns millions of Somalians could face food crisis
ROME (AFP) — The UN's food agency warned Monday that war-torn Somalia could plunge into an acute humanitarian crisis if the unrest, drought, soaring prices and the weak currency escalate.
"The humanitarian situation in Somalia is deteriorating quickly due to soaring food prices, a significantly devalued Somali shilling, and worsening drought," the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.
In response, the agency launched an appeal for 18.4 million dollars (12 million euros) to provide emergency and rehabilitation assistance to 2.6 million people or 35 percent of the population.
So far, it has received 3.8 million dollars from Sweden and Italy.
The estimated number of those in need is up by 40 percent since January, and by the end of the year some 3.5 million, or half the Horn of Africa nation's population, could face serious food shortages, FAO technical adviser Cindy Holleman said.
Some 600,000 people living in cities and struggling to feed themselves as food prices rocket are putting a strain on precarious food supplies, while severe drought has hit the central and southern parts of the country, the FAO said.
Years of bloody fighting between rival warlords, which has displaced more than one million Somalis throughout the country has also fuelled the dwindling food situation.
Graham Farmer, who heads the FAO's Somalia operations from Nairobi, said the security situation was a serious obstacle, though efforts to aid the country had not stopped.
Concrete measures were vital for aid agencies to gain safe access to crisis zones, the FAO said. Aid workers are often kidnapped by armed men seeking ransom.
Somalia has been shattered by deadly conflicts which have claimed up to half a million lives since 1991, when then president Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled.
In 2006 an Islamic militia ousted US-backed warlords from Mogadishu and briefly ruled large parts of the country before being defeated by Ethiopian forces backing an interim government last year.
Clashes continue, especially in the capital Mogadishu.
Posted on Tuesday 20th May at 12:39:07 Somali Rebels Seize Two More Towns
Islamist rebels in Somalia seized control of two more towns in the central and southern parts of the country, sources said.
In Somalia's central Mudug region, the town of Harardhere fell to the control of Islamist rebels Sunday morning.
Locals said the rebels were driving unarmed vehicles, but each fighter carried a rifle and other weaponry.
A rebel commander told Harardhere residents that the Islamists would not allow illegal militiamen to set up extortion roadblocks in or around the town.
The commander, who did not identify himself, told locals that the Islamists would fight against piracy in the region. The town of Harardhere lies along Somalia's Indian Ocean coast and has been renowned in recent years as a hub for pirate activities.
Tension in Kismayo
Heavily-armed guerrillas entered the town of Kamsuma early Saturday morning, hours after clan militias withdrew towards the southern port of Kismayo, locals reported.
Kamsuma is located approximately 90km north of Kismayo, the country's third-largest city. Kismayo has been governed by clan militias since June 2007, when Somali government troops divided along clan loyalties and dueled for control of the strategic port town.
Two days earlier, Islamist gunmen seized control of the town of Jilib, which is part of Middle Jubba region.
Militias loyal to the ruling clan in Kismayo were last reported to be in Jilib and Kamsuma towns, although the militia withdrew towards their home base in Kismayo as the Islamists built up forces in the region.
An unidentified woman in Kamsuma told Garowe Online that locals had "no fear...since they [Islamists] did not cause any problems."
In Kismayo, military tensions were high as clan militias were pulled out of their bases to counter any advance on the port town by the Islamists.
Military sources said clan militias had set up defensive positions approximately 10km north of Kismayo, where the militias were testing weapons.
Yasin Nur Gas, a Kismayo-based clan elder, told local media that clan militias will attack the Islamists in Kamsuma if they do not withdraw peacefully.
Mr. Gas indicated that the Islamist fighters seized control of two towns previously administered by the Kismayo-based clan militia, but strongly stated that the clan militia "will not negotiate" with the Islamists.
Kismayo rulers have pledged questionable allegiance to Somalia's UN-recognized government, which is busy battling Islamist rebels in Mogadishu.
Critics accuse the ruling clan in Kismayo of being anti-government and of continuing to reignite the destructive clan wars from the 1990s.
Posted on Sunday 18th May at 12:37:48 Heavy fighting in Somalia leaves 23 dead
MOGADISHU: Heavy fighting between Ethiopian troops and extremist insurgents in central Somalia have left at least 23 people dead, witnesses and officials said on Thursday.
The fighting broke out after insurgents ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy late Wednesday near the village of Garsani, around 300 kilometres north of Mogadishu. Witnesses said at least 13 civilians and eight Ethiopian soldiers were killed in the fighting. The insurgents admitted to losing two fighters in the battle.
“The fighting was heavy and our warriors won a huge victory,” Sheikh Abdirahin Ise, an insurgent spokesman told reporters, adding, “In return they (Ethiopians) killed civilians who were near the fighting zone.”
“I have counted bodies of 13 civilians, including four children,” said Ibrahim Adan Moalim, a local resident. The insurgents promised to avenge the killing of Hashi Aden Ayro - a senior leader accused of being Al Qaeda’s point man in Somalia - in a US air strike last week.
Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in 2006 to rescue an embattled transitional government. They defeated an extremist militia that had taken control of large parts of Somalia. afp
Posted on Friday 9th May at 10:46:36 Somali insurgents briefly seize police base
By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, May 9 (Reuters) - Islamist rebels firing rocket-propelled grenades briefly seized a major police base in the heart of Somalia's capital, residents said on Friday, raising even more doubt over prospects for rare peace talks.
Witnesses said the insurgents took control of the compound late on Thursday and burnt at least one government "technical" -- a truck mounted with a heavy gun -- before retreating as reinforcements arrived.
"The fighting was hideous, terrifying," one resident, Hawa Abdi, told independent local broadcaster Shabelle by telephone from Mogadishu's central Waberi district.
"I thought it would smash the walls of my concrete home."
Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Issa Adow told Reuters their forces killed eight policemen, while two of their fighters died.
Government officials could not immediately be reached.
The attack in a heavily guarded area that neighbours the city's air and sea ports followed a flare-up of fighting between the insurgents and allied Somali-Ethiopian troops in which at least 19 people were killed.
The violence cast a pall over tentative, U.N.-brokered peace talks between Somalia's interim government and opposition exiles that were due to begin on Saturday in Djibouti.
The militants behind near-daily ambushes and roadside bombs are the remnants of an Islamist movement that was ousted by the government and its Ethiopian allies at the start of last year.
The leaders of that group, and other critics of President Abdullahi Yusuf, have since moved to Ethiopia's arch-foe Eritrea and formed the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.
They had repeatedly refused to meet government officials until Ethiopian troops left Somali soil. But last month they dropped that demand and agreed to send delegates to Djibouti.
The U.N. envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said the meeting would initially be attended by seven delegates from each side. If progress is made, more participants will fly in.
"This is the first time that the Somali parties have agreed to meet with a limited number of delegates, on a scheduled date within a specified time frame and at a planned venue," he said.
"This is a clear indication that Somalis are willing to respect their commitments when they believe in what they are doing," he said in a statement. "We should allow them to meet without outside interference and come to an understanding."
A local human rights group says up to 6,500 civilians were killed by fighting in Mogadishu last year. About 1 million Somalis are refugees in their own country because of violence that residents say has stoked a wave of human rights abuses. (Additional reporting and writing by Daniel Wallis in Nairobi; Editing by Matthew Tostevin) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
Posted on Friday 9th May at 10:44:25 Somalis die in mountain clashes
Clashes in central Somalia between Ethiopian troops and Islamic insurgents have killed at least 20 people.
The fighting began when insurgents ambushed an Ethiopian convoy in a mountainous region 300km north of the capital, killing eight soldiers.
Eyewitnesses said the Ethiopians responded by killing at least 10 people tending livestock nearby.
Earlier this week, rights group Amnesty International said Somali civilians are totally at the mercy of armed groups.
It said the situation was "dire" in the centre and the south with government troops, their Ethiopian allies and Islamist insurgents "out of control".
In separate incidents, a bomb killed three government soldiers in Baidoa and a UN driver was shot by militiamen on Wednesday.
Somalia has been without a central government for more than 17 years and for the past 17 months, the Ethiopian-backed interim government has been struggling to exert its control over the country.
Prominent Islamists die
The ambush took place on Wednesday between the villages of Garsani and Nur Fanah in Hiran region.
The BBC's Ayanle Abdi in the area said at least 10 civilians died in the fighting.
Two prominent regional Islamist officials, including Sheikh Amin Barkhadle, in charge of Hiran region for the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), were killed in the clashes, he says.
No-one has admitted carrying out the attack in Baidoa.
But the al-Shabab militant group had said it would retaliate after a US air strike killed one of its military commanders last week.
Al-Shabab is the militant wing of the UIC which ruled much of Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by Ethiopian forces backed by Somali government troops.
On Tuesday, Amnesty accused Ethiopian soldiers of carrying out killings, torture, rape, beatings, arbitrary detention and forced disappearances.
The Ethiopian government denied this and said Amnesty was ignoring widespread human rights abuses committed by Somali militants.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said its contracted truck driver was shot on Wednesday at a checkpoint in central Mudug region where militiamen were demanding money.
A militiaman opened fire on the convoy of 12 trucks carrying food aid, and shot one of the drivers who later died in hospital, WFP said in a statement.
"We condemn this senseless killing and once again, urge all parties to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian staff and cargo across the country," said WFP's Peter Goossens said.
The United Nations reports that soaring food prices have already forced more than a third of all Somalis to rely on outside assistance to feed their families.
Last week, the UN Food Security Analysis Unit warned that the country was facing a major famine caused by a prolonged drought and the soaring food prices.
Posted on Thursday 8th May at 10:50:02 Somali militants warn rogue traders after food demos
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Islamist militants on Wednesday urged Mogadishu traders to accept Somali shillings over US dollars to try to reduce inflation in the country, warning they would punish defaulters.
The calls followed two days of violent demonstrations against soaring food prices in which at least five died and dozens were wounded.
Protest leaders had vented anger at traders whose refusal to accept the local currency is blamed for helping to push inflation to record levels.
A shortage of dollars has led to a bumper crop of fake 1,000-shilling notes -- the only available denomination -- appearing in market places and fueling the inflation problem.
"We are calling on printers of fake currencies to stop the dirty business they are conducting, otherwise we will punish them," said Sheikh Mohamoud Ibrahim Suley, spokesman for the Islamists.
"All traders in Somalia should accept the shilling because we will discipline anybody who refuses the shilling in favour of the dollar."
Inflation in Somalia started climbing after joint Ethiopia-Somali forces ousted the Islamists from control of parts of the country early last year, sparking a deadly insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Although some Mogadishu traders, fearing for their lives due to threats from angry consumers, had already started accepting the Somali shilling, the value of the currency fell from 25,000 to 31,000 shillings to the dollar over the past two days, according to dealers.
"People cannot afford to buy things in dollars," said Mogadishu resident Abdullahi Jama.
Finance Minister Mohamed Ali Hamoud on Tuesday pledged to work towards reducing inflation by accepting the Somali shilling over dollars in tax collections. He also promised to take steps to stop the printing of fake currencies.
Although there are no official inflation figures, UN monitors say cereal prices have increased by between 110 and 375 percent in the past year as central Somalia has endured its worst drought in recent memory.
In 1991, when the country descended into lawlessness after the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, the greenback was exchanging at an average of 4,000 shillings. Since then, there has been no central bank to regulate inflation.
Global food prices have nearly doubled in three years, according to the World Bank, sparking riots and protests in several poor countries.
Posted on Thursday 8th May at 10:49:02 Ethiopians forces kill 12 civilians in southern Somalia: elders
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Ethiopian forces killed at least 12 civilians in southern Somalia after being ambushed by Islamist rebels, elders said Thursday.
The nomads were killed late on Wednesday in Walaweyne, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of the capital Mogadishu.
"Those nomads were setting up their makeshift camp in Almore village when they were killed by Ethiopia forces who had been ambushed by insurgents on a nearby road," said one of the elders, Sheikh Mohamed Addow.
Posted on Thursday 8th May at 10:47:19 WFP truck driver killed in Somalia
Nairobi - A truck driver working for the World Food Programme was shot and killed in central Somalia after militiamen stopped a convoy of lorries ferrying relief food, the UN agency said on Thursday.
A gunman opened fire at the convoy late on Wednesday, wounding the driver who died in hospital, WFP's director for Somalia Peter Goossens said in a statement.
"We condemn this senseless killing and once again, urge all parties to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian staff and cargo across the country," Goossens said.
In February, gunmen shot dead the leader of a convoy of WFP-contracted trucks in southern Somalia.
Mounting violence in the Horn of African country has disrupted delivery of aid to hundreds of thousands of civilians uprooted from their homes.
Late on Wednesday, clashes between Ethiopian troops and Islamist militia left 23 people dead in a village some 300 kilometres north of Mogadishu.
The African nation has been wrecked by violence since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre led to a bloody power struggle that has defied numerous bids to restore normalcy. - Sapa-AFP
Posted on Thursday 8th May at 10:43:49 UN Special Envoy Asks Diaspora to Support Peace Process
By Kenneth Odour
The United Nations' Special Envoy to Somalia, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has sent out a special request to the Somali people in the Diaspora to support the ongoing peace process to help save the country.
In a signed statement released from his office in Nairobi, the envoy further thanked the Somalis in the Diaspora for their continued support for the country and their unrelenting show of patriotism to support the processes being put in place to lift the Horn of Africa nation out of its current state of devastating violence.
"I am writing to thank you, the members of the Somali Diaspora, for your continuing patriotic support for your country. I have met many of you in Dubai, Kenya, Norway, Sweden and the US and plan to meet others in the UK, Canada and elsewhere in the near future," Mr. Ould-Abdallah said in his statement.
The UN diplomat further thanked and congratulated the Somali Diaspora for looking beyond clan considerations for the good of the country as a whole. In his appeal, he further called on the Somali people to take full responsibility for the past and the future of the country.
He reiterated the importance of the remittances the Somali Diaspora sends back to the country, saying it was a major contributor to the stabilization of the country's fragile economy.
"Furthermore, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of you for looking beyond the issue of tribes to strive for the good of Somalia as a whole and for your ability to take responsibility for the past and future of the country instead of simply blaming others. The remittances that you send back home on a regular basis are appreciated as a major contribution to the country's economy", the UN Special Envoy added in his statement.
In the statement, Mr. Ould-Abdallah indicated that he w ould be organizing a technical meeting to bring together the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Alliance for the Re- Liberation of Somalia in Djibouti beginning May 10, 2008.
"I believe that together with other committed Somalis we can contribute to a peaceful, prosperous and stable Somalia," the Special Envoy's statement read.
Posted on Wednesday 7th May at 10:45:48 Puntland Security Minister's Bodyguard Killed
A shootout erupted abruptly Thursday in the northern Somali port city of Bossaso, 1500km north of the capital Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said.
There was confusion as to how the fighting started, but locals said the gunfight was strictly between a group of unidentified armed combatants and the bodyguards of Puntland Security Minister Abdullahi Said Samatar.
Some sources suggested that Security Minister Samatar's bodyguards launched a planned attack on a group of armed men suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of foreigners in Bossaso in the recent past.
Other sources said the suspected kidnappers received word that Puntland security forces were looking to apprehend them, and so the suspected kidnappers ambushed the Security Minister's convoy in broad daylight.
At least two men - one of the suspected kidnappers and one of the Security Minister's bodyguards - were confirmed dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported that at least four others on both sides of the battle were wounded.
Bossaso residents were worried about tens of young men armed with assault rifles who were reportedly preparing to join the fight against the Puntland government official.
Tens of extra police reinforcements rushed to the area and were reported to have setup roadblocks inside Bossaso, although they did not directly join the fight.
Emerging reports indicated to Garowe Online that Puntland soldiers from the town of Qardho, south of Bossaso, were dispatched from their bases to reinforce the Security Minister's men.
In recent months, security has been deteriorating in Puntland towns, with increasing reports of shootouts, kidnappings and piracy along the coast.
Earlier this week, an Australia-based mining firm, Range Resources, Ltd., announced that the company and its partners had decided to "delay" efforts to begin drilling in Puntland for oil and gas.
In its press statement, the company did not mention rising insecurity inside Puntland as the main reason for the delay, but stated that "civil unrest" in southern Somalia and "piracy" along the Horn of Africa country's coastlines are causing major logistical problems for the delivery of heavy drilling equipment.
Posted on Friday 2nd May at 9:47:03 War, Drought Push Somalis to Breaking Point
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is deeply concerned about the plight of civilians caught up in Somalia's endless war. It says problems caused by fighting are compounded by a series of natural disasters, which are pushing people to the breaking point. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from ICRC headquarters in Geneva.
The United Nations estimates more than one million people in Somalia have been forced to flee their homes because of war and drought.
A Spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Carla Haddad, tells VOA civilians are suffering from a combination of successive disasters. She says poor rainfall, poor harvest and continuous waves of fighting are making it increasingly difficult for people to cope.
"It just does not stop," she said. "It is relentless and this has created a humanitarian crisis. So, people are being pushed really to the very limits of their endurance. Their living conditions, according to our staff there, are shocking. And, when you think that it is difficult to assist them because of insecurity and because of the conflict, things become bleak and the prospects are gloomy."
In the latest escalation of fighting, the leader of the military wing of an Islamist insurgent group was killed in an overnight air strike. The military commander of al-Shabab, Aden Hashi Ayro, died when his home in the central town of Dusamareb was bombed.
Haddad says civilians are among the major victims of Somalia's ongoing war.
"Recently, the weapon wounded people who have suffered because of the conflict are increasing," she added. "And, surgeons are often required to perform operations around the clock. So, we rely on the people who are working there. It is very difficult. But, recently, and since the beginning of 2008, the two hospitals we support have treated over 1,000 wounded and many women are amongst them and children."
Somalia is the Red Cross' seventh-largest humanitarian operation. Besides protection and medical care for the civilian population, aid workers provide basic, life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people.
Since late January, Haddad says the ICRC has been transporting more than two million liters of water by road every day to nearly 500,000 people in more than 400 locations. She says the Red Cross also distributes food, household and other relief supplies to thousands of displaced people.
She says insecurity makes it dangerous and often impossible for aid workers to deliver the goods. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991.
Posted on Thursday 1st May at 9:53:03 UN monitors warn of major famine crisis in Somalia
NAIROBI (AFP) — Record-high food prices and prolonged drought are leading to a major famine crisis in Somalia, UN monitors said Thursday, warning that half the population could need help by the year-end.
Some 2.6 million Somalis now require help to feed themselves, an increase of 40 percent since January, according to figures compiled by the Food Security Analysis Unit, part of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation.
"This increase is mainly due to the addition of 600,000 urban poor, who now face conditions of acute food and livelihood crisis and humanitarian emergency," said a statement from the monitoring team.
The dire situation has been exacerbated by relentless conflict, a sharp devaluation of the Somali shilling and hyper-inflation, as well as the delayed start to the April-June rainy season.
The monitors said cereal prices had increased by between 110 and 375 percent in the last year just as central Somalia endured its worst drought in recent memory.
"The urban poor are struggling to cover their basic needs as the cost of a minimum food basket is now more than double what it was last year," the UN monitors said.
They urged the world to prepare for a worse-case scenario in Somalia, where a weak government is battling a deadly insurgency and worsening insecurity has left humanitarian operations high and dry.
"The number of people in need of assistance could reach up to 3.5 million or half the total population of the country by the end of the year," the UN statement said.
Posted on Thursday 1st May at 9:45:52 US confirms Somali missile strike
The US military has confirmed that it carried out a pre-dawn missile strike which killed a senior leader of an Islamist militant group in Somalia.
A spokesman said the target of the attack in the town of Dusamareb was an al-Qaeda leader, but would not name him or say whether it had been successful.
The strike hit the home of Aden Hashi Ayro, the military head of al-Shabab, which controls much of Somalia.
At least 10 other people, including another al-Shabab leader, also died.
But local elders have said up to 30 bodies have been recovered from the scene, according to unconfirmed reports.
'Militia leader'
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the US Central Command confirmed it had attacked al-Qaeda militants in Somalia, but would not say whether it was an air strike nor name the intended target.
"It was an attack. If we say too much then we give away platforms and things that we use," CentCom spokesman Bob Prucha told the Associated Press.
"It was an attack against a known al-Qaeda target and militia leader in Somalia," he added, giving no further details.
An al-Shabab spokesman, Mukhtar Robow Adumansur, told the BBC that Ayro was killed along with another senior leader, Muhiyadin Muhammad Umar.
Considered a terrorist group by the US, al-Shabab began as the youth and military wing of the Somali Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controlled much of southern and central Somalia in 2006.
When, at the end of that year, the UIC was driven from power by Ethiopian troops supporting the country's transitional government, al-Shabab melted away into remote and distant parts of the country.
It has since re-emerged as a radicalised group of young fighters, who have been conducting an insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian allies, and attacking African Union peacekeepers.
The US has said al-Shabab is part of the al-Qaeda network, although analysts say it is impossible to accurately establish those links. Al-Shabab's leaders insist it is a purely Somali movement.
Ayro, its military commander, received training in Afghanistan in the 1990s and was an instrumental military figure as the UIC took control of Mogadishu.
The head of the BBC's Somali Service, Yusuf Garaad, says Ayro was considered by fellow militants as a soldier rather than a politician.
He never addressed a rally, was never seen at a public gathering and did not like to give interviews either, our correspondent says.
But his name came into the public domain few years ago when a group of Somali warlords co-operating with Western intelligence agencies stormed his house in the capital. Two men were kidnapped from the house, but Ayro escaped unhurt.
He also escaped a US air strike near the southern port of Kismayo a year ago with only a minor injury.
Posted on Thursday 1st May at 9:44:53 Back
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