Somalia

Somalia's al-Shabab bans mixed-sex handshakes

miotailtmilidh — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 22:57:07 +0000

Men and women have been banned from shaking hands in a district of Somalia controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab.

Under the ban imposed in the southern town of Jowhar, men and women who are not related are also barred from walking together or chatting in public.

Source: Somalia's al-Shabab bans mixed-sex handshakes

FREEDOM ENOUGH

Dean Omori — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:52:05 +0100

Somali adulterer stoned to death

DrPot — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:21:46 +0000

Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.
Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.
An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby.

Source: Somali adulterer stoned to death

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Guns given to Somali quiz winners

DrPot — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:20:52 +0100

The winners of a quiz organised by Somali Islamists have been given weapons and ammunition as prizes.......The quiz ran during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in the port city of Kismayo, and included questions about the Koran and Somali geography.
The winning team, from the city's Farjano district, reportedly won a rifle, two grenades, a landmine and office supplies worth $1,000 (£613). But the runners-up did not go home empty-handed, taking away an AK-47 and bullets.

Source: BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Guns given to Somali quiz winners

NewsSportsShowbizEmail & ToolsSky CustomersJoin Sky

Niluccio — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:35:54 +0100

Somalia's hard-line Islamist rebels beheaded seven people for being "Christians" and "spies", witnesses have said.

Source: NewsSportsShowbizEmail & ToolsSky CustomersJoin Sky

Analysis: Fighting in Somalia

fionamc — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:55:09 +0100

There's been an explosion of violence in the Somali capital Mogadishu over the last month. Dozens of people have been killed, and seventy-thousand people have fled the city. But Somalia has been in chaos for twenty years, despite numerous attempts to sort it out. Why do things only seem to get worse? Mary Harper examines the roots of the Somali problem

Source: Analysis: Fighting in Somalia

The Inside Story of a Pirate Hijack

fionamc — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:54:15 +0100

In this week’s Assignment Rob Walker explores the anatomy of a hijack. Since the beginning of last year, pirates have succeeded in seizing more than 70 ships off the coast of Somalia. Hundreds of crew members have been held to ransom, and millions of dollars have been paid to the pirates to secure their release. The BBC has had exclusive access to the people involved in one of those hijacks – the captain, the ship owner and the mysterious middleman – the pirates negotiator

Source: The Inside Story of a Pirate Hijack

Somalia: one week in hell – inside the city the world forgot

Niluccio — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:23:46 +0100

Few respites in this most ravaged of cities last long, and within days of our conversation the relative calm had given way to a more familiar story: running battles between the forces of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the notional president, and the more radical Islamist al-Shabaab militia. More than 200 people have been killed in these skirmishes and as many as 60,000 people have fled.

Source: Somalia: one week in hell – inside the city the world forgot

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | 'Thousands' desert Somalia forces

Wily Fox — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:52:33 +0000

More than 80% of Somalia's soldiers and police - about 15,000 members - have deserted

Source: BBC NEWS | World | Africa | 'Thousands' desert Somalia forces

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Mogadishu gets ambulance service

Wily Fox — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:14:01 +0000

he conflict-wracked Somali capital of Mogadishu has an ambulance service for the first time in nearly two decades.

Source: BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Mogadishu gets ambulance service

Western policy for Africa lacks coherence as attention flits from crisis to crisis

fionamc — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:11:49 +0000

Rarely have Africa's problems received as much international attention as in today's era of instant global media reach. And rarely has that attention been so fleeting. From the Horn of Africa to the Great Lakes region to Zimbabwe, one crisis after another flits across front pages and television screens in rapid succession. If it's not refugees, it's hunger and disease. If it's not pirates, it's insurgents. If it's not misgovernance, it's a lack of governance of any kind.

Source: Western policy for Africa lacks coherence as attention flits from crisis to crisis

UN envoy decries illegal fishing, waste dumping off Somalia

krease chan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:57:31 +0000

Because there is no (effective) government, there is so much irregular fishing from European and Asian countries

Source: UN envoy decries illegal fishing, waste dumping off Somalia

Government near to collapse, says Somalia leader

Niluccio — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:21:07 +0000

President Abdullahi Yusuf of Somalia has admitted that his government is on the verge of collapse and that Islamist groups now control most of the country.

In a speech to Somali MPs gathered in the Kenyan capital Nairobi at the weekend, Yusuf said that the government only had a presence in the capital Mogadishu and in Baidoa, "and people are being killed there every day. Islamists have taken over everywhere else."

Source: Government near to collapse, says Somalia leader

Al Jazeera English - Africa - Somali government 'near collapse'

Wily Fox — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:41:56 +0000

Somalia's president has said his government is "on the verge of total collapse" as opposition fighters have taken control of large parts of the country.

Source: Al Jazeera English - Africa - Somali government 'near collapse'

Somali Islamists approach Mogadishu, impose sharia

Niluccio — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:14:13 +0000

Islamist rebels moved on Friday into a small town on the outskirts of Somalia's capital near a checkpoint manned by Ethiopian troops, sparking fears among residents of renewed fighting.

This week's advance by al Shabaab militants toward the capital Mogadishu has raised the stakes in a two-year insurgency and is a setback for a fledgling U.N.-brokered peace process to end 17 years of conflict in the Horn of Africa nation.

Source: Somali Islamists approach Mogadishu, impose sharia

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Somalis grow fearful of Islamists

damianrafferty — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:25:06 +0000

Her 62-year-old aunt told the BBC that the teenager had in fact been raped by three armed men - and she took Asha to the police station to report it.

Several days later, after two suspects had been arrested, she was asked to return to the station with her niece...
Three days later, after Asha had been tried in an Islamist court, she was stoned to death.

Source: BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Somalis grow fearful of Islamists

Increased wave of attacks and violence put three million Somalis at risk of malnutri

fionamc — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:05:18 +0000

The deaths of at least 40 humanitarian or human rights workers this year alone, and the ever growing threat of attack by armed groups and militias, is putting at least three million Somalis at even greater risk of malnutrition and disease, said Amnesty International in a report published today.

Source: Increased wave of attacks and violence put three million Somalis at risk of malnutri

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Stoning victim 'begged for mercy'

damianrafferty — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:33:38 +0000

A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.

Source: BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Stoning victim 'begged for mercy'

Somalia stoning: A story that left me reeling in shock and sadness

Niluccio — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:51:38 +0000

Although I work on human rights issues every day at Amnesty, there are some cases which leave me with pure sadness. And this latest story from Somalia is one such incident.

You may have seen reports last week that a woman was stoned to death for committing adultery in Somalia – the first such execution for two years.

Source: Somalia stoning: A story that left me reeling in shock and sadness

Somalia: Girl stoned was a child of 13

fionamc — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:15:56 +0000

Contrary to earlier news reports, the girl stoned to death in Somalia this week was 13, not 23, Amnesty International can reveal.

Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was killed on Monday 27 October by a group of 50 men who stoned her to death in a stadium in the southern port of Kismayu, in front of around 1,000 spectators

Source: Somalia: Girl stoned was a child of 13

Islamist rebel administration in Somalia had 13-year-old rape victim stoned to death | World news | guardian.co.uk

damianrafferty — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:34:34 +0000

Amnesty International said the al-Shabab militia, which controls the southern port city of Kismayo, arranged for a group of 50 men to stone Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow in front of a crowd of about 1,000 spectators. A lorryload of stones was brought to the stadium for the killing.

Source: Islamist rebel administration in Somalia had 13-year-old rape victim stoned to death | World news | guardian.co.uk

Woman stoned to death for adultery after Somali court ruling

Niluccio — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:32:48 +0000

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Thousands of people gathered Monday to witness 50 Somali men stone a woman to death after an Islamic court in the southern port of Kismayo found her guilty of adultery, witnesses said.

Aisho Ibrahim Dhuhulow, who had been found guilty of extra-marital intercourse was buried in the ground up to her neck while the men pelted her head with rocks.

"Our sister Aisha asked the Islamic Sharia court in Kismayo to be charged and punished for the crime she committed," local Islamist leader Sheikh Hayakallah told the crowd.

Source: Woman stoned to death for adultery after Somali court ruling

Overcoming the threat to aid workers

fionamc — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:55:43 +0100

Earlier this month, the UN issued a report into the protection and security of its own staff and humanitarian workers.

In the 12 months to July 2008, it said that 63 aid workers were killed, including 18 in Somalia, 17 in Afghanistan, 14 in Sudan, six in Pakistan, four in Chad and one each in Burundi, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Uganda.

Fatalities in some of those countries have since risen.

Source: Overcoming the threat to aid workers

Cold War stand-off over pirates' weapons ship - Africa, World - The Independent

damianrafferty — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:55:49 +0100

Tanker laden with deadly military hardware remains under the control of hijackers off the coast of Somalia; Russia sends frigate to the Indian Ocean, joining US vessels as concern grows over fate of cargo

Source: Cold War stand-off over pirates' weapons ship - Africa, World - The Independent