Saturday, November 26, 2011

Locals take centre stage in Kenya Shabaab battle

Kenyan soldiers and the Al-Shabaab militia are using locals in a bid to emerge victorious in the military operation in Somalia. The Kenyan troops are using humanitarian assistance to endear the Somalis as they gather intelligence on the Al-Shabaab while the terror group is using the locals as human shields.During the Saturday's Operation Linda Nchi briefing, it emerged that the Kenyan soldiers are gathering information on the Al-Shabaab from the locals as they feed them to avert a humanitarian crisis.Speaking at the briefing, military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna said that they were receiving information on the whereabouts of the militants from the locals as they interacted with them. He also said that they had information that the militants were using the locals as human shields as well as weapon carriers.While defending the action by the army to feed the locals, Col Oguna dismissed claims by NGOs that the operation had interfered with humanitarian work worsening the crisis in the Horn of Africa country.“The needs of the local people are actually key as compared to the actual combat. Modern warfare has to also include humanitarian operations even as the soldiers pursue the militants,” said Col Oguna.He indicated that there are Kenyans among the Al-Shabaab militants who have been killed, injured or arrested. He, however, said that the Kenyan forces are not profiling those arrested for their nationalities but said that there are “foreigners” among those captured.
Col Oguna said that the training camps that have been taken out in the Southern region have the highest number of foreigners who have been recruited from Kenya and other neighbouring countries.He added that the militants have been moving from the camps that have been taken out and establishing new ones but the locals have been helping the Kenyan forces identify them.Col Oguna also revealed that a committee had been formed to probe an incident in which fishermen thought to be Kenyans were killed in the Indian Ocean by the Kenya Defence Forces. He said that the findings from the investigations will be made public.“We are very sorry about the incident if indeed those killed were Kenyans. But we also have to ask ourselves that if they were Kenyans, why they refused to surrender when asked to. All law abiding citizens should support the government as security is not just for the police and the army,” said Col Oguna.Speaking at the same briefing, Deputy Director at Foreign affairs division in charge of the Horn of Africa Lindsay Kipteness said that Kenya had embarked on a diplomatic offensive to seek more international support for the operation.He said that the Inter-governmental Authority on Development Head of States summit held in Addis Ababa on Friday had backed the operation and Kenya would now use the body’s organs to solicit more support from the international community.“The presidents who spoke at the summit also expressed their understanding and support for the Kenyan operation. Kenya also said it was willing to join Amisom forces as long as the mandate is changed to capture the current ongoings and allow the forces to move on the offensive,” Mr Kipteness said.According to Col Oguna, in the last week, the Kenyan forces have killed at least 15 Al-Shabaab operatives and injured others in the offensive especially in the south.He added that since the operation started, KDF has lost four soldiers through enemy fire, five others died in a helicopter crash at the beginning of the operation and 11 soldiers are currently in hospital.
Col Oguna also confirmed that one soldier had died during the Mandera grenade on Thursday where a KDF lorry drove over a landmine and was blown up. (READ: Kenyan soldier dies in Mandera landmine explosion)He added that the four other soldiers who were injured during the incident are now at the Forces Memorial Hospital. DN
Kenyan troops cut off Kismayu from militants

Kenyan troops have blockaded the port of Kismayu, effectively cutting off Al-Shabaab’s main source of revenue.The Kenya Air Force and Kenya Navy have been patrolling the skies above Kismayu and the sea.
As a result, operations at the busy port, which is served by a long jetty had significantly reduced over the last four weeks.Airforce pilots told the Nation on Wednesday after conducting aerial surveillance that five ships that had been docked at the port had departed leaving behind a few sailing boats and skiffs.Al-Shaabab has mainly relied on millions of dollars they collect from the ships that dock at the port.The ships bring in sugar and electronics which are mainly smuggled into Kenya. They take out charcoal destined for the Middle East.The militants also collect additional revenue from fishermen in Ras Kamboni and Bur Gabo.On Wednesday, Operation Linda Nchi also scored a major victory on the diplomatic front after the African Union backed the war against the militants and expressed confidence that it would succeed.Speaking in Nairobi, the AU special envoy to Somalia, Mr Jerry Rawlings, praised the discipline of Kenyan troops saying it had been tested during various UN missions they had undertaken around the world.“We are ready to support Kenya in its efforts and we have no doubt it will succeed. It had been provoked enough and its decision to take action was justified,” he said at the Department of Defence headquarters where he met Defence minister Yusuf Haji.Military spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir alluded to the advances being made by the Kenyan troops when he said on his twitter account that the fall of Kismayu was imminent.“Kismayu fall will surprise many. Let’s focus on the stabilisation of the controlled areas. Focus-Humanitarian assistance,” he tweeted.The capture of Kismayu is considered the ultimate goal of the operation to flush the Al- Shaabab out of southern Somalia, from where it has been launching incursions into Kenyan territory.Progress towards Kismayu has been hampered by rains inland in the Southern Sector, with Al-Shaabab now removed from Ras Kamboni, Bur Gabo and Kolbio towns.In Nairobi, Mr Rawlings appealed to the Kenyan forces and Amisom troops to exercise professionalism so as to reduce civilian casualties as they intensify the operation to defeat the rebels.


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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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