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Tag: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

  • Journalists in Somalia slam government restrictions, arrests

    Journalists in Somalia slam government restrictions, arrests

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    NAIROBI, Kenya — Journalists in Somalia say the government is further restricting their work amid a significant military offensive against the al-Shabab extremist group, with a new directive to submit content for approval before publication.

    In the latest incident, police in the central state of Hirshabelle detained four media personnel in Beledweyne for reporting that al-Shabab attacked rural areas after local militias fighting them withdrew over pay issues, media groups said.

    Chief editor Mustaf Ali Adow of the independent Radio Hiiraanweyn and three colleagues were detained Thursday and the station was taken off the air.

    A joint statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate, the Somali Media Association and Somalia Mechanism for Safety of the Journalists condemned the raid and demanded the journalists’ immediate release.

    “State security personnel shouldn’t use the continuing security operations as a justification to impose restrictions on press freedom,” Mohamed Ibrahim, president of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, told The Associated Press.

    Media organizations have expressed concern about the new directive by the office of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud that instructs media outlets to submit news content for consent before it is aired.

    Many journalists have denounced the order and said that submitting content for government approval would obstruct editorial independence and the public’s right to know.

    “The president’s communication office issued a new order to local news outlets on Saturday demanding they submit their content for permission before any broadcast. We all refused,” the secretary-general of the Somali Media Association, Mohamed Osman Makaran, told the AP.

    Authorities haven’t publicly acknowledged the directive.

    Since the government declared an all-out war against al-Shabab earlier this year, there has been growing pressure on local journalists.

    The government has said journalists reporting on al-Shabab’s activities should either go to the scene or abide by authorities’ restrictions.

    Abdalla Ahmed Mumin, the secretary-general of the Somalia Journalists Syndicate, an independent journalists’ union based in Mogadishu, was arrested earlier this year after criticizing a government decree telling journalists not to report on al-Shabab propaganda. He was later released on bail pending his court hearing on Jan. 4.

    Somalia is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. According to media watchdogs, journalists face risks including detentions, attacks and threats.

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  • Somalia car bombs death toll up to 120, some still missing

    Somalia car bombs death toll up to 120, some still missing

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    MOGADISHU, Somalia — The death toll from twin car bombings in Somalia’s capital has reached 120 and could rise further because some people are still missing, the country’s health minister said Monday.

    Ali Haji said more than 320 others were wounded in Saturday’s midday explosions at a busy junction in Mogadishu, and over 150 of them are still being treated at hospitals.

    It was Somalia’s deadliest attack since a truck bombing at the same spot killed more than 500 people five years ago. It is not clear how vehicles loaded with explosives again made it through a city full of checkpoints and constantly on alert for attacks.

    The al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the bombings and said it targeted the education ministry, which it accused of turning youth away from Islam.

    Somalia’s government under the recently elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been engaged in a new offensive against al-Shabab, including efforts to shut down its financial network. The government has said the fight will continue.

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  • Somalia’s president says at least 100 killed in car bombings

    Somalia’s president says at least 100 killed in car bombings

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    MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s president says at least 100 people were killed in Saturday’s two car bombings at a busy junction in the capital and the toll could rise in the country’s deadliest attack since a truck bombing at the same spot five years ago killed more than 500.

    President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, at the site of the explosions in Mogadishu, told journalists that nearly 300 other people were wounded. “We ask our international partners and Muslims around the world to send their medical doctors here since we can’t send all the victims outside the country for treatment,” he said.

    The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, which often targets the capital and controls large parts of the country, claimed responsibility, saying it targeted the education ministry. It claimed the ministry was an “enemy base” that receives support from non-Muslim countries and “is committed to removing Somali children from the Islamic faith.”

    Al-Shabab usually doesn’t make claims of responsibility when large numbers of civilians are killed, as in the 2017 blast, but it has been angered by a high-profile new offensive by the government that also aims to shut down its financial network. The group said it is committed to fighting until the country is ruled by Islamic law, and it asked civilians to stay away from government areas.

    Somalia’s president, elected this year, said the country remained at war with al-Shabab “and we are winning.”

    The attack in Mogadishu occurred on a day when the president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss expanded efforts to combat violent extremism and especially al-Shabab. The extremists, who seek an Islamic state, have responded to the offensive by killing prominent clan leaders in an apparent effort to dissuade grassroots support.

    The attack has overwhelmed first responders in Somalia, which has one of the world’s weakest health systems after decades of conflict. At hospitals and elsewhere, frantic relatives peeked under plastic sheeting and into body bags, looking for loved ones.

    Halima Duwane was searching for her uncle, Abdullahi Jama. “We don’t know whether he is dead or alive but the last time we communicated he was around here,” she said, crying.

    Witnesses to the attack were stunned. “I couldn’t count the bodies on the ground due to the (number of) fatalities,” witness Abdirazak Hassan said. He said the first blast hit the perimeter wall of the education ministry, where street vendors and money changers were located.

    An Associated Press journalist at the scene said the second blast occurred in front of a busy restaurant during lunchtime. The blasts demolished tuk-tuks and other vehicles in an area of many restaurants and hotels.

    The Somali Journalists Syndicate, citing colleagues and police, said one journalist was killed and two others wounded by the second blast while rushing to the scene of the first. The Aamin ambulance service said the second blast destroyed one of its responding vehicles.

    It was not immediately clear how vehicles loaded with explosives again made it to the high-profile location in Mogadishu, a city thick with checkpoints and constantly on alert for attacks.

    The United States has described al-Shabab as one of al-Qaida’s deadliest organizations and targeted it with scores of airstrikes in recent years. Hundreds of U.S. military personnel have returned to the country after former President Donald Trump withdrew them.

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