UN condemns attacks against military facilities in Somalia
UN condemns attacks against military facilities in Somalia
Mogadishu, Apr 5 (Prensa Latina) The UN envoy in Somalia, James Swan, condemned the recent attacks against National Army bases in Barire and Awdhigle, the website hiiraan.com reported. We strongly condemn those attacks directed against Somali forces. This is a vivid reminder of the sacrifices soldiers make every day as they fight valiantly to keep Somalia and its people safe, the special representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations said in a statement.
According to Swan, such aggressive actions are aimed at undermining efforts at rebuilding this country in the so-called Horn of Africa.
For decades it has reeled under famine, civil war and an Islamist inspired insurgency, but just as it was getting on its feet Somalia once again faces possible meltdown. Foreign Editor David Pratt who has visited the country over many years examines why Mogadishu is no stranger to the sounds of mortar and machine-gun fire. And once again, last Friday, Somalia’s capital city found itself becoming a frontline. For two weeks now the country has been in a constitutional crisis after Somalia’s president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed – universally known by his nickname “Farmajo” – refused to leave office after his term expired and an agreed-upon election date of February 8 elapsed.
The Standard
Yusuf Haji and his supporters in October 2002. [File standard]
Many will remember Mohamed Yusuf Haji as the man who chaired the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) team, appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader, Raila Odinga. He will also be remembered as the two-term Senator for Garissa County. Yet he was much more than that, both in his public roles and in quiet behind-the-scenes tasks in Northeastern Kenya, all the way to the neighbouring countries in the north.
His suitability for the roles saw him straddle the four Kenyan regimes of Presidents Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta. And he was always on the right side of power. This presence was, ironically, in part a factor of the Somali exclusion from the centre. But it was also a factor of his own ability to gel well with the centre and to remain relevant.
THE STANDARD By
Special Correspondent |
February 16th 2021 at 00:00:00 GMT +0300
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Al-Shabab kills anti-terrorism nemesis in Mogadishu attack
Suicide blast kills five people in hotel assault, including retired general Mohamed Nur Galal, who was former army commander and intelligence chief.
Monday 01/02/2021
People flee from the scene of the suicide blast near the Afrik hotel in Mogadishu, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. (AP)
MOGADISHU – At least five people, including a prominent former general, were killed in an hours-long Al-Shabab attack on a Mogadishu hotel, which ended around midnight on Sunday, Somali police said.
The al-Qaeda-linked extremists detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the Hotel Afrik at a busy junction near the airport before gunmen stormed the hotel, exchanging fire with security personnel.