Kenya, Ethiopia may attack Somalia alshabaab rebels
Listen Isiolo, Kenya (Alshahid) – Kenyan and Ethiopian troops could attack Somali rebel group al Shabaab inside the Horn of Africa nation following the rebels’ latest threat to strike at Kenya, security sources said on Monday. The al Shabaab group, which claims ties to al Qaeda and has been waging a four-year insurgency against Somalia [...]
Extension of TFP Term heralds catastrophe for Somalia
Listen Two days after IGAD’s public declaration, the Parliament approved three year term extension easily with 97 % yes (435 present). It’s interesting to witness the intense vilification of the International Community (IC) by Ethiopia and Members of the Djibouti Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP-D) after the IC objected the three-year- extension of TFP-D’s tenure from [...]
Al Shabab Leadership crises and the prospect for peace in Somalia
Listen The peaceful amalgamation of the two Islamist factions Al Shabab and Hisbul Islam (HZ) is seen by some as a commendable act that will have significant postive ramification in the political landscape of Somalia. Others see it as the nightmare that they always dreaded to face; but at least over one million internally displaced [...]
Can Al Shabab digest the absorption of Hizbul Islam?
Listen Mogadishu (Alshahid) -The merger didn’t only strengthen the fire power of the new Al Shabab, but also brought with it an ideological baggage (Sh. Dahir Aweys) that is most likely to reinforce the position of the reformists. The reformist agenda is more of like a creeping revolution that encompass a thorough change of the [...]
Somalia’s alshabab leader traveled to UAE twice through Kenya
Listen Mogadishu (Alshahid) – Somalia’s al-Qaeda sponsored alshabab’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubeyr (AKA Ahmed Abdi Aw Mohamed Godane) has traveled twice, via Kenya to the UAE to visit his wife and family in Sharjah, Sunatimes reported. The reclusive leader made unreported trips to United Arab Emirate to visit his wife and children [...]
Kenya: Experts welcome counter-human trafficking law
Listen Mombasa-Nairobi (Alshahid) – Counter-trafficking specialists say a law recently passed in Kenya which, for the first time, legally defines and recognizes trafficking in persons as a crime, will help protect the vulnerable and assist survivors, while serving as a deterrent to perpetrators. “This legislation represents a significant new tool for Kenya in counter-trafficking law [...]
Ethiopia: HIV risk in a booming construction industry
Listen Addis Ababa (Alshahid) – Everywhere in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, modern buildings are popping up and wide roads are being built. The country’s booming construction sector is attracting thousands of labourers, and government officials are increasingly recognizing the need to target these workers with HIV prevention services. “We don’t yet have a [clear [...]
Peace Keepers or Peace Killers in Mogadishu? UN/AU Continues Somali Slaughter
Listen For over a year now the United Nations/African Union troops in Mogadishu, so called “peacekeepers”, have been regularly firing mortars and artillery into Somali neighborhoods in retaliation for attacks by the Somali resistance. “Peacekeepers” firing artillery into civilian neighborhoods? “Peacekeepers” killing untold thousands of innocent women and children whose only crime was being Somali [...]
Ethiopian premier urges quick appointment of Somalia PM
Listen Addis Ababa (Alshahid) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Wednesday called for the quick appointment of the Somalia premier after Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke resigned from his post earlier this month. PM Zenawi met Somalia President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed here on Wednesday after Sharif recently named a caretaker prime minister to stand in before [...]
Draft Constitution will deepen Somalia’s crisis
Listen While the persistent political squabbles among the leaders of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) are the hallmark of dysfunctional and corrupt regime, the ongoing dispute over the Draft Constitution deserves attention, scrutiny and comment. The externally-driven Constitution-Making Process will deepen the Somali crisis, will perpetuate the chaos and massacre in South Central [...]