Category: Legal Matters

Mogadishu Two members of Al-Shabaab have today surrendered to officials of the Somali National Army at 60th Division base in Baidoa town, the interim capital of Southwest State in Somalia.

Abdikadir Yusuf Aden and Salad Mohamed who served in the extremist group for a period of 6 years, have now chosen to renounce their affiliation and turned themselves in.

Source: Somali National News Agency

MOGADISHU— Somalia is hosting a summit of leaders from several neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa to discuss the fight against al-Shabaab, as a wide-ranging offensive against the armed group gathers pace.

The meeting in the capital, Mogadishu, drew leaders from three “brotherly neighbouring countries”, the Somali presidency said, posting pictures of the arrival of Kenya’s William Ruto, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Somali leader Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his counterparts are due to discuss a coordinated military offensive against the al-Qaeda-linked group, which has been waging a fight in the Horn of Africa nation for more than 15 years.

Security was beefed up in the city with movement restrictions and military patrols. Commercial flights have also been suspended.

“The major roads and streets in the city are closed today and there is no civilian movement allowed,” Abdulahi Hassan, a member of the national security agency, said.

The armed group earlier this month claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing and storming of a government building in Mogadishu that injured 16 people. Six members of the group were killed by security forces.

After taking office in May last year, Mohamud declared an “all-out war” on the fighters, rallying Somalis to help flush out members of the armed group he described as “bedbugs”.

In recent months, the army and local clan militias have retaken chunks of territory in an operation backed by US air raids and an African Union (AU) force known as ATMIS.

But the fighters who were forced out of the capital by AU troops in 2011 have frequently retaliated against the latest offensive with bloody strikes.

Despite being driven out of urban centres, the group remains entrenched in the countryside from where it has conducted numerous attacks in Somalia and neighbouring countries.

In the deadliest al-Shabaab attack since the offensive was launched last year, more than 100 people were killed in two car bomb explosions at the education ministry in the capital in October.

The group has also been active recently across the border in eastern Kenya. Security forces killed 10 al-Shabaab fighters earlier this month, a Kenyan government official said and recovered rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices.

In 2013, four young men armed with automatic rifles and grenades charged into the Westgate Mall in the uptown Westlands district of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. They went on a rampage, killing 68 people and injuring hundreds more, and sparking a traumatic four-day standoff with the Kenyan military.

Kenya is a contributor to ATMIS, the 20,000-strong AU force formerly known as AMISOM, which has a more offensive remit than its predecessor. The force is also drawn from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia, with troops deployed in southern and central Somalia.

The meeting comes a day after defence ministers and security chiefs of the four countries met in Mogadishu to prepare for the summit.

“This collaboration is expected to lead to the quick liberation of the country from the Kharijites [renegades] who have been dealt heavy blows on the battlefield in the past few weeks,” the Somali government said on Tuesday, using a government term for al-Shabaab.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Mogadishu, Somalia’s Court of the Armed Forces has on Thursday executed four Government soldiers by firing squad in Mogadishu after finding them guilt of committing killing cases separately.

Deputy Prosecutor, Mohamed Abdullahi Khalif said that the court carried out the execution of the four men who were all in the army sections, military, security and police and they were: Khalif Bukhari Awil Mohamud, Ali Mohamud Hussein,Abdirizak Ahmed Muktar and Mohamed Nur Sheikh.

The military court often takes actions against cases related to the terrorist militant group of Al-Shabaab and Government soldiers found of guilty killing civilians, work partners in friendly fire, or committing unidisciplinary practices.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Mogadishu, A technical consultation workshop was held in Mogadishu, Somalia on January 26-28, 2023, with government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, as well as Humanitarian and Development partners, on the preparation and development of a systematic Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan (FSCPP). Director Generals and technical representatives from government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies from Agriculture and Irrigation, Planning, Investment, and Economic Development, Somalia Disaster Management Agency, Livestock Range and Forestry, Fisheries and Blue Economy, Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, as well as partners from FAO, UNICEF, and Civil Society Consortia organizations, attended the technicalworkshop.

This workshop builds on bilateral consultations held by the government over the last few months to develop Somalia’s Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan (FSCPP) under the stewardship of the Ministries of Agriculture and Irrigation; Planning, Investment, and Economic Development, and in collaboration with the World Bank and other partners through the Somalia Crisis Recovery Project (SCRP).

The consultation workshop which involved both technical and policy level government officials included technical-level collaborations and provided an opportunity for the government institutions and partners to come together to review the working draft of the plan, help refine its proposed arrangements, and build consensus on next steps and the timeline for operationalizing the plan. The FSCPP is a national plan that seeks to mitigate the impacts of acute shocks that can significantly worsen acute food insecurity conditions in the country.

The Plan development process is government-led and owned, and it allows stakeholders to contribute to the FSCPP while leveraging existing systems where possible. It also serves as a living document for building capacity and ownership of national institutions over time, and it includes three core elements, namely: Element 1: The FSCPP details the operational arrangements for continuously monitoring and quickly identifying food and nutrition security crises; Element 2: The FSCPP details the operational arrangements for convening programmatic leads in a timely way across Government, humanitarian, and development partners to assess emerging crisis risks and scale up early action; and Element 3: The FSCPP details the operational arrangements and protocolsfor convening senior officials to help collectively recognize an emerging crisis and bridge operational and funding gaps.

As part of the next steps, further follow up consultations will be held over the coming months to further refine and detail the operational arrangements as may be required– including agency specific roles and responsibilities, timelines, protocols, etc. – for monitoring food security and nutrition crisis risks, scaling up programmatic responses to prevent and mitigate food security and nutrition crisis conditions, and escalating additional financing and programmatic needs to senior decision makers.

The plan brings together preparedness elements into a cohesive operational framework to support the systematic recognition of an emerging crisis and prompt timely joined-up action across government, humanitarian, and development partners to prevent and mitigate the impacts of future FNS crises. While the FSCPP is a World Bank requirement associated with receiving support from the Early Response Financing, it extends beyond the World Bank’s engagement and represents the country’s national plan.

The plan is expected to be completed in September 2023, following formal endorsement by the Federal Government of Somalia and other relevant / major food security partners leading programmatic responses in the country.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Mogadishu Court of the Armed Forces on Monday Sentenced IS Leader in Somalia, Abdukadir Moallim Mumin’s wife, Fartun Abdirashid Hussein to eight years prison term after finding her guilt of being member of the group and in-charge of finance issues.

Chairperson of the Court, Hassan Ali Nur Shute said that the Court completed her case procedure and found her guilty, and made the judgement today.

The Security forces arrested Fartun from Suqa-holaha neighborhood in Heliwa district in Mogadishu on March 23rd, 2022.

According to Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, Fartun had relations with late, IS leader, Bilal Al-Sudani who was killed by U.S. military after conducting an operation in northeast Somalia on January 27, 2023.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Mogadishu, 49 Al-Shabaab terrorists were on Wednesday killed in a planned operation at Dhagahow village, about 20 kilometers to Bal’ad district in the Middle Shabelle region by Somali National Army.

Ministry of Defense’s spokesman, Gen. Abdullahi Ali Anod confirmed to Somali National News Agency that the forces recovered weapons from the terrorists during the operation.

He said that one of the SNA forces martyred in the fight, adding that the forces are pursuing remnants of Al-Shabaab terrorists.

The Army killed 21 terrorist militants and injured others after the militants tried to raid SNA base at Hawadley area in Middle Shabelle region under Hirshabelle State two days ago.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Mogadishu, 20 Al-Shabaab terrorists were killed and others injured after Somali National Army preempted attack from the group at Goof-Gadud 30 km north of Baidoa, administrative capital of Southwest State, on Thursday.

The Minister of Justice of the Southwest State, Hassan Abdulkadir confirmed to the Somali National News Agency that senior commanders from the terrorists were among those killed in the counter attack.

Abdukadir said that five SNA forces martred during the fight there.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Mogadishu, A team of detectives from the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) of the Somali Police Force have completed a three-day intensive training on crime-related evidence gathering.

Organized by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) the 11 detectives who contribute to gathering and analyzing physical evidence critical in identifying and arresting criminal suspects were taken through forensic fingerprint evidence as part of gathering evidence and identifying suspects.

Speaking at the closing ceremony on Tuesday, ATMIS Police Logistics Advisor, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Timothy Kashinakazhi, said the training was to improve the capacity of the officers on handling complex criminal cases that require the use of modern scientific methods to unravel.

“ATMIS and the SPF have agreed on a number of capacity building trainings that will help build on knowledge and expertise. We are all committed to improving policing standards in Somalia,” said SSP Kashinakazhi. “

SSP Kashinakazhi noted that building the capacity of the SPF is important to the successful transfer of full security responsibilities to the Somali Security Forces (SSF).

The Commander of the CID Forensic Department, Maj. Mohamed Mohamud Ahmed, appreciates ATMIS for the support, noting that the training would help equip the detectives with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them thoroughly and professionally investigate crimes.

“If one does not know how to approach a crime scene, to collect, process and classify fingerprints found at the scene, it would be difficult to prosecute and convict a suspect,” said Maj. Ahmed, affirming that the CID is a core unit of the police force, and the training was important to managing suspects and securing convictions in courts.

ATMIS Police CID Advisor, Inspector of Police (IP) Esther Ahmadu, said the training was in response to a request by the SPF CID department, following a needs assessment conducted by the Federal Government of Somalia.

The ATMIS Police Lead Trainer, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP), Tity Conteh said the training had already been conducted in other Federal Member States, including Baidoa and Kismayo, and now in Mogadishu.

The Somali officers shared their feedback from the training.

“This training on fingerprints is critical to investigation, tracking criminals and resolving cases,” said Sergeant Mohamed Moalim Adan, one of the participants.

Another participant, Inspector of Police, Maryan Omar Mohamed, urged ATMIS to organize more of such trainings to help the country establish a professional Police force.

The participants were introduced to the history and external structure of fingerprints, types and patterns of fingerprints and the use and characteristics of fingerprints. The investigators were also taught how to file and classify fingerprints.

Source: Somali National News Agency