13 Killed as Al-Shabab bombs target AU Troops in Somalia

At least 13 people were killed when two vehicles packed with explosives went off as they were driven towards a base for African Union troops in the Somali capital, according to officials and witnesses.

The first blast happened near an entrance to the base, which is beside Mogadishu's main airport, and the second at a nearby checkpoint manned by Somali government forces. 

White smoke could be seen billowing over the city after the blast on Tuesday.

"Thirteen people died in the two suicide vehicle explosions," Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesman for Banadir administration, the local government, told Al Jazeera by phone from the scene of the blasts. 

"Nine of the dead were security for the UN and three were civilians. Five people were also injured in the explosions," Abdifatah added, not giving details of the 13th death.  

A journalist at the scene said ambulances were ferrying the wounded to hospital.

The al-Shabab armed group told Al Jazeera it was responsible for the attack.

"Our Mujahideen targeted Halane which is base to the foreign forces occupying our Muslim country. We have killed dozens of them," Abdulaziz Abu Muscab, a spokesman for the group, said.

AMISOM, the African Union peacekeeping force, said on Twitter that it condemned the attack.

"These senseless attacks ... aim to disrupt the lives of ordinary Somalis," it said. 

Farhan Haq, spokesman for the UN secretary general, also denounced the attack.

"It is disturbing, both the attack and the scale of the attack," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"It's clear that the explosives in the trucks were of immense firepower," Haq said, adding that if the guards had not stopped one of the cars from entering the UN premises, there "would have been considerably more damage and loss of life".

It is not the first time that the armed group has attacked the AU force's heavily fortified headquarters in the city. In December 2014 fighters from the group breached the base's security perimeter before engaging troops in a gun battle that lasted several hours and killed at least three soldiers.

The AMISOM force, deployed to Somalia since 2007, currently has some 22,000 soldiers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti.

They have managed to push al-Shabab out of the capital, but the group still holds large swaths of territory and frequently launches hit-and-run attacks.

Aljazeera Report

A Report on Mogadishu Car Bombings

 

 

Around 7:45 p.m. on Friday night, a powerful explosion followed by heavy gunfire heard in most parts of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, officials said.

 

A car bomb was set off near SYL - Somali youth league hotel next to Villa Somalia, the heavily fortified presidential palace of Somalia, killing more than 20 people, including soldiers and civilians.

Minutes later, a second car bomb exploded at the peace garden, not far from the SYL hotel compound, where the most casualties happened, according to the security officials.

Al shabaab claimed responsibility for the both attacks, saying it targeted the areas, where are frequented by senior Somali government officials, business people, Journalists and diaspora.

Medical sources say at least twenty other people were wounded in Tonight's twin car bombs in the horn of Africa capital.

 

 

AllAfrica

 

 

UN Condemns Al-Shabaab Attack On KDF Troops in Somalia

 

 

The United Nations has condemned Friday's attack on Kenya Defence Forces troops in an African Union Mission (Amisom) base in Somalia.

 

The UN Security Council affirmed their support to reduce the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and armed opposition groups in Somalia, urging more efforts to cut off finances for the terrorist group.

 

"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the attack on 15 January 2016 perpetrated by Al-Shabaab in El-Ade, Somalia, which has resulted in a number of deaths and injuries," it said in a statement.

 

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attack, commending the efforts of the Amisom troops working for peace in Somalia.

 

"He affirms that this attack will not diminish the resolve of the United Nations to work hand in hand with the African Union and AMISOM to support the people and Government of Somalia," said a statement issued by his spokesman.

 

The Security Council members underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism to justice and hold accountable those responsible for the attack. They urged all states to cooperate with relevant authorities in that regard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 15-member body paid tribute to all international actors working to bring peace and stability in Somalia.

FAST RESPONSE

While also condemning the attacks, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira also commended the fast response by its troops.

 

"Attacks such as this further demonstrate the vile nature of Al-Shabaab, whose sole purpose is to spread terror and continue the destabilisation of Somalia.

"Our resolve can only be rejuvenated, to fight on until Somalia is freed of all elements of terror," he said.

 

On Friday morning, Al-Shabaab militants attacked an Amisom camp in El-Adde, in Gedo Somalia, killing an unknown number of KDF soldiers.

 

The Kenyan military confirmed the deaths but did not give the number of those killed in combat, saying efforts to "consolidate" returns from the battlefield were still ongoing.

 

Some media reports, quoting Al-Shabaab forces, said that 60 Kenyan soldiers were killed, while other sources indicated a higher death toll.

 

Other unconfirmed reports indicated that a number of KDF personnel who survived the ambush could have been taken as Prisoners of War (POWs).

 

 

allafrica.com

Somalia takes Kenya to ICJ over sea border

The Somali government has submitted its dispute with Kenya over their sea border to the International Court of Justice.

The disputed ocean territory stretches for more than 100,000 sq km.

Tests have shown potential reserves of gas in the area.

The dispute has been going on for the last six years, keeping investors away because of a lack of legal clarity over who owns potential off-shore oil and gas reserves.

The BBC's Rage Hassan says Somalia wants the maritime border to continue along the line of the land border to the south-east, while Kenya wants the sea border to go in a straight line east.

Somalia's Attorney General Ahmed Ali told the BBC that his government would present a 150-page document arguing its case at the ICJ, which is UN's top judicial body, based in The Hague.

Kenya's Attorney General Githu Muigai told the BBC that Somalia had no right to claim what is Kenya's territorial water. He also confirmed that some concessions have been given to foreign companies to explore oil and gas.

The application comes days after the Kenyan government said it had received a pledge from Mogadishu that it wanted to solve the case out of court.

In 2014 the ICJ gave Somalia the go-ahead to file the case after efforts to settle the dispute outside the court had failed.

The ICJ has asked the Kenyan government to respond by 27 May 2016, after which hearings will begin formally.

It may take several years before the court rules on the matter.

READ MORE... 

Al-Shabab Kills 9 at Mogadishu Hotel

 
 
MOGADISHU—Al-Shabab militants on Friday attacked a major hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least nine people, including a Somali ambassador.
Witnesses said the attack on the Maka al-Mukarama hotel began with a car bomb explosion outside the facility, and then an unknown number of gunmen stormed inside.

Gurey Haji Hassan, co-owner and manager of the hotel, said the gunmen entered through the back door after detonating the bomb and seized control of the facility.

Somali government special forces known as the Gashaan entered the hotel to hunt down the gunmen. Gunshots and blasts, with ambulance sirens in the background, were heard as security forces fought with the terrorists, attempting to free those trapped inside the hotel.

Witnesses told VOA that militants were still holed up in the hotel at nightfall.  They said guests had locked themselves in their rooms and were calling security forces to tell them where they were located.

An official at Mogadishu’s Medina hospital told VOA’s Somali service that Somalia’s ambassador to Switzerland, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari Bari, was brought to the hospital with serious injuries from the attack and later died.

Also killed was a Somali-American woman from Virginia who returned to Somalia last year to work as a consultant with the Somali central bank.  Relatives told VOA that Farhiya Bashir Nur was in the hotel at the time of the attack.

A journalist at the scene of the attack told VOA that the initial blast killed at least three soldiers and two civilians.  Police said some of the attackers had also been killed.
Mohamed Tifow, Somalia’s ambassador to Germany, was rescued by the country’s security forces from his hotel apartment.

“I was not harmed,” he said. “Thank God the Somali national security forces came to my rescue, brought me a ladder and rescued me from my apartment.”

The hotel is popular with politicians, members of parliament and Somalis from the diaspora and has been attacked at least three times before.

Hassan said local officials had downplayed security threats against the hotel.
“I have been refused [permission] to erect a roadblock outside,” he said.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack soon after it began. The al-Qaida-linked group is known for assaults on large buildings, such as the Westgate mall in Nairobi in 2013 and Somalia’s presidential palace, which it attacked twice last year.

Source: http://www.africanopinion.com/?p=15691