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Flash Floods in the Somalian Agricultural Town of Bardhere Displaces Families and Destroys Farmlands

April 30, 2020

 

African soldiers in the Somali Shabelle region, April 25, 2020	Flash floods in the Somalian agricultural town of Bardhere in Gedo region, April 30, 2020

 

$1m for Qardho and nil to Bardhere puts to question FGS’ motive 53Shares  Share  Tweet  Email  Share

Hiiraan, Thursday April 30, 2020

MOGADISHU (HOL) -

Ongoing flash floods in the agricultural town of Bardhere in Gedo region have displaced hundreds of families and destroyed farmlands but the Federal Government is yet to provide any meaningful support.

Officials in the town told HOL the floods which started on Tuesday after Jubba River broke its banks have since destroyed 500 homes leading to displacement of families and heralding another round of humanitarian crisis.

Ads By Google Over 2000 farms have also been destroyed by the floods in and around the town. But the lack of response from Mogadishu has left local leaders reading a political motive.

“Though I am saddened by what happened to the residents of Qardho,” Gedo Deputy Governor Sheikh Mohamed Al-qadi said, “I do not know the political motive of allocating $1 million to Qardho when the government has not even talked about the situation in Bardhere.”

Al-qadi wondered why the Federal Government has not ‘even expressed concern over the losses suffered by the people in Bardhere’.

The Federal Government announced Thursday a $1 million aid package to support the affected communities in Qardho following flooding there that killed at least six people.

LIP SERVICE

Humanitarian Affairs Minister Hamze Sa’id Hamze made reference to the situation in Bardhere Thursday but did not indicate any government action to help the affected residents.

“The suitable step is to evacuate those people in the affected areas and move them to safe places,” the Minister said. “It is important we come up with plans to support farmers whose crops and farm machinery were washed away by floods in order to prevent further humanitarian crisis,” the minister added.

Support from the Federal Government to regional governments has more often than not been pegged on political patronage and other vested interests.

During the flooding in Beletweyne last October which displaced over 300,000, Somalis from all walks of lives sent in donations either in aid supplies or money.

Puntland sent trucks to Beletweyne carrying supplies as Somaliland dispatched a team with money to aid the relief efforts and even the government of Djibouti sent its support.

However, a source privy to relief efforts intimated to HOL, “The Federal Government is yet to honour its pledge of $500,000 to Beletweyne.”

Former President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and former minister Abdirahman Abdishakur have both questioned the government’s failure to respond to the Bardhere humanitarian situation.

https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2020/Apr/177977/_1m_for_qardho_and_nil_to_bardhere_puts_to_question_fgs_motive.aspx?utm_source=hiiraan&utm_medium=SomaliNewsUpdateFront

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US Reports Deaths Of Civilians In Somalia Air Strike

Shabelle, April 28, 2020

The United States admitted on Monday (April 27, 2020) that it had killed two civilians and injured three in an airstrike in Somalia early last year, in a rare acknowledgment of civilian casualties from US Africa Command military operations in the Horn of Africa country.

The deaths were mentioned in a debut quarterly assessment report by AFRICOM on allegations of civilian casualties raised in connection with its operations against militants in Somalia, Libya, and other African countries.

“Regrettably two civilians were killed and three others injured in a February 2019 airstrike. “We are deeply sorry this occurred,” AFRICOM’s commander, US Army General Stephen Townsend, said in the report.

The airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Kunyo Barrow in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region and the report said the intended target – two members of Somali armed group al Shabab – were killed.

The civilian deaths, it said, occurred as a result of US or al Shabab munitions that exploded during the airstrike.

It was the second known incident in which AFRICOM has acknowledged killing civilians in Somalia, where rights activists have accused it of long shrouding its operations in secrecy.

The first was an airstrike in April 2018 in El Buur in the Galgadud region of central Somalia in which AFRICOM reported it had unintentionally killed two civilians.

The United States has been conducting airstrikes in Somalia for years to help defeat al Shabab, which seeks to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government and set up its own rule based on an own strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

For nearly two decades al Shabab has been waging a campaign of bombings and shooting attacks on military and civilian targets including hotels and traffic junctions both in Somalia and neighbouring countries like Kenya.

A regional peacekeeping force, AMISOM, mandated by the African Union, also helps defend the Somali government.

AFRICOM’s move to publish quarterly assessment reports on civilian casualty allegations is a welcome step towards transparency, said Seif Magango, Deputy Regional Director for Eastern Africa at rights group Amnesty International.

He added, though, that the United States must follow up with “accountability and reparation for victims and their families”.

AMISOM Troops Repulse Al-Shabab Attack In Somalia

Shabelle, April 25, 2020

UPDF forces under African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) this morning repulsed an Al-Shabaab attack on their position near Barawe Airport in the southwestern lower Shabelle region of Somalia.

According to Defense Spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire, the UPDF forces in ambush, successfully blew two enemy vehicles loaded with dangerous explosives. The attackers according to Karemire, targeted Barawe Airport.

“No UPDF soldier was injured in the fight and high alert is being maintained,” He said.

Brig. Karemire said Mopping up operations to capture remnants of the attackers continue.

He also said the UPDF has been commended by the community for securing Barawe Airport by giving a bloody nose to the attackers.

The attack happened a few hours after the Head of AMISOM Amb. Fransisco Caetano Madeira extended a message of goodwill to the government and people of Somalia during the holy month of Ramadhan.

Muslims all over the world today welcomed the holy month of Ramadhan.

“As we fast and offer prayers to Allah, the Almighty, may all Somalis find peace and happiness during this month of Ramadan” he said in a statement released today.

He said AMISOM will continue working closely with the Federal government and the people of Somalia to make peace and stability a lasting reality in Somalia.

https://www.radioshabelle.com/amisom-troops-repulse-al-shabab-attack-in-somalia/ 

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