Prominent Gal-je’el clan leader dies in Hiran region

Mogadishu (Sunatimes) A prominent Gal-je’el clan leader has died in his rural home village, several Kilometers from Beledweyne town.

The deceased, Ugas Abdullahi Ugas Mohamed, died in his rural Buq-aqable village, where he has been ailing since 2003.

His exact age remains unknown to Bar-kulan. He was a grandfather and left behind 53 extended family members including his grandchildren.

His body is to be buried in a cemetery in the same village. Several Somali traditional leaders as well as local villagers are expected to attend his burial.

Meanwhile, Somalia’s Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has sent his condolences to the family and the entire Somali people over the death of the clan leader.

In a press statement, the PM said the country lost a great traditional leader and appealed to other traditional leaders to advocate for peace and stability in the country.

Kenya, Somalia delegation tour parts of Lower Juba

A joint delegation from Somalia and Kenya on Wednesday arrived in the border town of Dobley, along the Kenya-Somali border.

Led by Somalia’s deputy prime minister Hussein Arab Isse has, members of the delegation held talks with area elders, TFG officials and Raskamboni militia group officials in Dobley.

Isse who is also Somalia’s defence minister visited government soldiers who were wounded in the recent clashes with Al-Shabaab rebel fighters in parts of the region.

Isse appealed to the Kenyan government to allow their badly injured soldiers to receive medical treatment inside its country.

The joint delegation is expected to visit other areas in the region including Tabta and Qoqabi, where they are set to meet local elders and Somali government officials in the area.

Al-Shabaab apprehends ‘spy’ youths in Bardere, Gedo region

Al-Shabaab rebel group in Bardere town on Tuesday night rounded up five young men and locked them in for allegedly spying on their military activities and having links with Ahlu Sunna group in the region, reports say.

Some of the parents of the detained youths told Bar-kulan that rebel group fighters were illegally keeping their loved ones in custody, rubbishing the allegations against them.

They claimed the militia physically assaulted the detainees during their arrests, adding that they are being held in a secret location.

They also alleged that the militia threatened them if they try to come after the suspects, hindering their effort to secure the release of their loved ones.

Reports say rebel fighters arrested the five youths after they had engaged a religious debate with some rebel relatives.

Al-Shabaab leaders remained tight-lipped and gave no more details on the fate of the youths in their custody.

The incident comes hours after rebel fighters in Beledweyne town reportedly rounded up over 70 women and locked them in for failing to wear heavy veils.

Rebel leaders accused the women of failing to dress according to Islamic teachings and opted to put on short veils instead of long veils.

Al-Shabaab ordered the detainees’ relatives to bring them heavy veils within 24 hours before they are released. The militants threatened to continue holding those whose relatives fail to bring them heavy veils.

The group has earlier ordered all women in areas under its jurisdiction to wear veils and cover all their bodies or face punished for neglecting Islamic orders.

In July this year, Al-Shabaab rebel fighters apprehended over 30 women in Afgoye corridor for not heeding their orders.

Al-Shabaab said the women broke a rule ordering all women in rebel held areas to wear thick and broad veils when going out of their homes.

On October 21, 2011, the group has also killed two men in Afmadow town for allegedly spying for advancing Kenyan and TFG troops in parts of Lower Juba.

Al-Shabaab’s deputy leader in the area said the two were spying for Kenyan and Somali troops who are advancing into the town in efforts to flush out the rebel group from the region.

Pirates, armed militias clash in Mudug region over foreign hostages

Reports from central Somalia region of Mudug say a fierce fight has erupted between Somali pirates and armed militias in a remote village in the region, where three people were injured. The injured people were said to be combatants from both sides of the gangs.

The pirates and the armed militias clash in a remote area near pirate infested Amara village in Mudug region over two foreign hostages who were recently kidnapped from Galkayo town.

Confirming the incident to Bar-kulan, Ba’ad weyn village chief Mohamed Shahid Ahmed said the area administration dispatched a group of elders to the scene of clashes in efforts to quell the escalating violence in the area.

He said they are trying to make a breakthrough and halt further hostilities between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Galmudug regional governor Mohamud Gure Guled said efforts to secure the release of the two foreign aid workers kidnapped from Galkayo town are going well.

He said talks are currently underway to free the kidnapped Danish Demining Group staffs, who were taken hostage by armed Somali militias on October 25.

The two aid workers, an American and a Dane were kidnapped a week ago from central Somalia town of Galkayo while on assignment with the Danish Demining Group which clears landmines in the Horn of Africa country.

Galkayo straddles the border between the semi-autonomous Somali province of Puntland and the Galmudug region.

Earlier, a Somali pirate told Reuters news agency from Galkayo that a group of pirates was behind the abduction and the captives were being taken to a coastal haven.

Somali pirates have made millions of dollars from hijacking ships in the busy shipping lanes off Somalia and keeping the crews hostage until ransoms are paid for their release.

Kenya warns locals in rebel held towns of “imminent” air raids

Kenyan military officials have warned the residents of 10 towns in Somalia of “imminent” air raids.

Military spokesman, Maj Emmanuel Chirchir, said they were tracking two consignments of weapons destined for Al-Shabaab that had been flown into Somalia in the past two days, and would strike any rebel bases where the arms were delivered.

Maj Chirchir, however, declined to state the source of the weapons, saying, it would compromise the military operation.

He listed nine towns in one of his tweets: Baidoa, Bardhere, Dinsor, Afgoye, Buale, Barawe, Jilib, Kismayo and Afmadow, advising residents to avoid any contact with the militants so that they are not endangered in case of attacks.

He said it was an operational decision and the attacks would begin “any time” from Wednesday.

The military also warned the local community against being used as conduits to transport the weapons.

The warning comes a day after an international aid agency, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said its staffs in Marere, in Lower Juba Region, are treating dozens of injured people following Kenya’s Sunday airstrikes in Jilib that hit a camp for internally-displaced people.

Kenya’s military acknowledged carrying out an air raid but said it killed only Islamist militants. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Tuesday said they will investigate the alleged civilian deaths as a result of their air raid.

MSF said at least 3 people were reportedly killed and 52 others wounded, mostly women and children, when an aerial bombardment hit the camp for displaced people in the town of Jilib on Sunday.

Kenyan soldiers and tanks rolled into Al-Shabaab-controlled southern Somalia some two weeks ago to fight the insurgents and curtail their ability to launch cross-border attacks.

Baidoa residents flee their homes near rebel bases

Residents of Baidoa town in Bay region have started fleeing their homes around Al-Shabaab bases in the area after Kenyan military warned locals from going near rebel bases as such bases will be bombarded.

By Tuesday evening locals were reportedly seen packing their belonging to unknown destinations.

Farha Hassan Ali, a local resident told Bar-kulan that they decided to flee their homes around rebel bases in fear of aerial bombardment similar to that of Jilib on Sunday, where three people were killed and 52 others wounded, mainly children and women.

He said people started fleeing immediately when they heard the Kenyan warning.

The Kenyan government warned residents of ten towns in southern Somalia of immanent air raid, calling them not go near rebel bases in the area.

Kenya said it was tracking two consignments of weapons destined for Al-Shabaab that had been flown into Somalia in the past two days, and would strike any rebel bases where the arms were delivered.

The warning comes days after Kenyan air raid allegedly killed civilians in a camp hosting hundreds of internally displaced people. But Kenya rubbished the allegations.

Two international aid agencies, the ICRC and MSF have both confirmed that civilians were killed during the Kenyan attack on the camp.

Militants killed in a fatal road accident, Bay region

At least five militants have died and eight others seriously injured after a vehicle they were travelling in crashed and rolled several times at Ramo Adey area, 40 km from Dinsor town, Bay region.

The Tuesday night accident involved a pick-up-truck ferrying several militants from Baidoa to Kismayo.

The rebel fighters were allegedly reinforcing other militant fighters in Lower Juba where a major to battle with Kenyan troops awaits them.

The injured militants were immediately rushed to Dinsor hospital, where they area been treated while those killed during the fatal accident were taken to Baidoa for burial.

The cause of the accident still remains unclear as there were no official comments from the militia leaders in the region.

Early in September, at least two militants were killed and four others injured in a similar road accident at a village near Qansah-dere town, Bay region.

The incident occurred as the militants were traveling to Bardera, Gedo region, where they were trooping up in after loosing several towns in the region to the government troops.

By Fadumo Farah