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Al Qaeda grabs UK-funded aid in Somalia - News - World - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video

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UK taxpayer-funded foreign aid supplies worth nearly half a million pounds ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda in southern Somalia.

The supplies were seized from a warehouse by militant Islamist group al-Shabaab between November 2011 and February 2012, but the thefts were buried in the Department for International Development’s latest annual accounts. al-Shabaab is a cell of al-Qaeda, which last year, threatened to carry out an attack on Britain that would eclipse the horrors of 7/7 and 21/7 combined.”

The accounts said the £480,000 was written off following the theft of DfID-funded humanitarian supplies from the offices and warehouses of partner organizations, to which DfID had provided funding.

DfID’s partners claimed the thefts were unexpected, therefore, they had no time to prevent them or relocate the goods.

Recently, UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom criticized increases in aid spending, saying it was going to dictators to buy “Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris and Ferraris.”

“How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month, when we’re in this sort of debt, to Bongo Bongo land is completely beyond me,” he said.

The Daily Mail paper revealed last week that more than a billion pounds of aid was going to oil-rich Nigeria, which has its own space program, as well as to four other space-aspiring countries in the region.

Aid spending is set to reach nearly £11billion by 2015, to meet a pledge by PM Cameron that taxpayers should give away 0.7 percent of GDP every year to provide for the needy.

A spokesman for the TaxPayers’ Alliance said “this is yet more evidence of how hard it is to turn good intentions into genuine help for those in countries with deeply dysfunctional politics where security cannot be taken for granted.”

The country’s International Development secretary Justine Greening has, however, defended the Somalia operation, arguing that losses like this are inevitable in war-torn and volatile areas.

“This incident shows that often we are working in incredibly challenging circumstances,” the minister told BBC.

“It is regrettable that we lost supplies that were funded by the taxpayer but we were in Somalia precisely because of the terrorism threat and at a time of huge issues of piracy as well and it shows why we were there in the first place. We track exactly what happens to our money, we know exactly what we are investing in up front,” the minister said.

The Cabinet minister also defended Britain’s aid package to Nigeria, saying that the aid was spent on satellites for communications and weather forecasting, which she said would be crucial in helping farmers to achieve successful harvests and reducing the chances of a famine.

But the pacifying statements by the government didn’t make taxpayers less concerned over their funds going to the wrong places.

Four dead in military cargo plane crash in Mogadishu

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Fire fighters at the scene of the crash. PHOTO/AFP

MOGADISHU  - An Ethiopian military cargo plane crash landed and burst into flames Friday at Mogadishu airport, killing four crew members, officials with Somali security and AU forces said.

 "It was a military cargo plane and there were six crew on board," said one security official who asked not to be named.

"Four of them died and two were rescued," the official said.

 He said the aircraft, which crashed shortly before 0500 GMT belonged to the Ethiopian military.

A thick tower of smoke was seen billowing up from the crash scene and the airport was closed.

Sources at the airport said a series of explosions was heard as the fire spread along the plane, suggesting it was carrying ammunition or other inflammable products.

The African Union force in Somalia (Amisom) confirmed on its Twitter feed that the wrecked aircraft belonged to the Ethiopian airforce, expressing "heartfelt condolences to the government and people of Ethiopia following the loss of crew members."

The Ethiopian foreign affairs ministry in Addis Ababa was not immediately able to comment.

Ethiopia sent troops into south-west Somalia in 2011 to fight Shebab Islamist insurgents, alongside the Amisom force.

The Ethiopian troops have been crucial in dislodging the Shebab from a series of key towns.

Nick Kay, the UN special representative to Somalia, tweeted that he offered his "condolences" for the "tragic crash".

African leaders want disputed Somali city annexed - Connecticut Post

African leaders want disputed Somali city Kismayo be under centeral governement

KAMPALA, UGANDA — The Somali city of Kismayo "should be handed over" to the central government, regional leaders said at the end of a summit Sunday, a decision that puts pressure on Kenyan troops who face charges of backing a powerful militia in the disputed port city.

African leaders said in a statement at the end of a summit in Kampala, Uganda's capital, that Kismayo's airport and seaport should be under the control of Somalia's central government, which has struggled to assert its authority there despite the exit of al-Shabab militants.http://media.ledger-

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud attends the closing meeting for the African Union Mission in Somalia AMISOM at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Uganda capital Kampala Sunday Aug. 4, 2013. Regional leaders say they want Somalia’s central government to take control of Kismayo, a disputed port city that has been the scene of fighting between rival militias.

STEPHEN WANDERA — AP Photo

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/08/04/2616927/african-leaders-want-disputed.html#storylink=cpy

The statement said a "multinational force" should be urgently deployed in Kismayo. It also urged the central government in the capital, Mogadishu, to "reintegrate" into the national army all the militias that have no links with al-Shabab militants.

The Kampala summit was organized under the banner of the African Union peacekeeping force deployed in Somalia, known as AMISOM, and was for countries that have troops in Somalia. The prime minister of Ethiopia and the presidents of Uganda, Kenya and Somalia attended the summit.

The decision on Kismayo puts pressure on Kenya, whose troops in the strategic Somali city have been accused of backing one militia, the Raskamboni brigade, against others in deadly fighting there. The Raskamboni brigade —which helped Kenya to push al-Shabab militants out of Kismayo last year —is led by Ahmed Madobe, a Somali warlord who has established a local administration in Kismayo that is independent of the central government. Madobe is a key power broker around Kismayo, although he is not backed by the federal government in Mogadishu.

After the Raskamboni brigade took the upper hand in fighting for control of Kismayo, Somalia's government said last month it wanted a "more neutral African Union force" there, an apparent indictment of the conduct of Kenyan troops in Somalia.

Kismayo is important for Kenya, which seeks a friendly buffer zone near its border with Somalia — one of the main reasons it sent troops to Somalia in late 2011 to fight the rebels of al-Shabab, Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaida. But the rival militias now at war there appear to be interested in the economic engine of Kismayo. Its port generates large and reliable income, and has been the export point of Somali-made charcoal that the U.N. has deemed illegal.

In a letter to the African Union, Somalia's government recently accused AMISOM Section Two — a contingent of African Union forces operating in Kismayo — of launching "a targeted offensive against civilians" and of arresting Col. Abbas Ibrahim Gure, a Somali army official sent to Kismayo by the central government.

Kenyan officials have repeatedly denied taking sides in the Kismayo conflict, saying they are in Kismayo to keep the peace.

Some analysts say fighting in Kismayo is distracting from the main goal of battling al-Shabab, who still stage lethal terrorist attacks even in Mogadishu.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/08/04/2616927/african-leaders-want-disputed.html#storylink=cpy

Somalia recent news and the creation of Dutch Coast Guard

  

August 1, 2013: The peacekeeping force now consists of 4,040 Kenyan, 6,223 Ugandan, 5,432 Burundian, 850 Sierra Leonean, and 999 Djiboutian troops. There are also several thousand Ethiopian troops who constantly move back and forth across the Somali border as needed. There are a few hundred other foreign military and paramilitary personnel in Somalia, but no one will officially admit they are there (despite the occasional photo). In all, al Shabaab remnants now face some foreign peacekeepers and a growing number of fairly reliable local police and soldiers. Al Shabaab has become little more than a terrorist organization, using extortion, kidnapping, and theft to survive and finance enough attacks to keep its name and reputation in the news.

The new Somali government is having problems collecting taxes. So far this year five tax collectors have been killed, compared to ten for all of last year. The businesses who are expected to pay taxes have had two decades of unpleasant experience with clan militias, warlords, and terrorist groups “collecting taxes” and have developed clever, and sometimes violent, ways to avoid paying. The government tax collectors are seen as little different from the criminal groups when it comes to extorting money from merchants. Establishing a fair and acceptable tax system would be a major achievement for the new government.

The UN accused Eritrea of paying some Somali warlords to help keep al Shabaab going. Eritrea was also accused of bribing Somali government officials to obtain information about the government and to maintain some access to government officials. This is believed to have played a part in the government releasing al Shabaab prisoners last year. Eritrea also passes on information obtained from Somali officials to al Shabaab, which has long been supplied with cash and weapons from Eritrea. The UN also continues to release audits of aid money that show Somali officials continuing to steal most of the money they have control over. For this reason, as much aid as possible is spent under close supervision by foreign aid officials.

Some Somali pirates, frustrated at over a year of failure (in the face of more effective naval patrols and better security on merchant ships), have switched to providing armed guards for foreign ships fishing illegally off the Somali coast. The payoff is not huge but it’s steady cash and relatively safe. The main danger is from other pirates attempting to rob the fishing ships or hijack them. Many pirates have returned to smuggling (people to Yemen or goods into Somalia). Many pirates are former fishermen and have returned to that business.

July 30, 2013: The government signed a deal with The Atlantic Marine and Offshore Group (a Dutch company) to organize and run a coast guard to protect ships off the Somali coast and deal with smuggling and other illegal activities. No details on how or when were given.

July 29, 2013: Al Shabaab released two of three Kenyan officials they had kidnapped 18 months ago. This was a negotiated deal and no other details were revealed. It was claimed that no ransom was paid.

July 27, 2013: In Mogadishu a car bomb went off outside the residential compound of the Turkish embassy, killing a Turkish policeman, two other security personnel, and a local civilian. Two other terrorist gunmen, who attempted to get into the compound, were shot dead. Al Shabaab took credit for the attack and the Turks said they were staying.

July 24, 2013: In Mogadishu a car bomb went off in a failed attempt to kill a Somali politician. One person died and two were wounded.

July 21, 2013: Ethiopia announced that the recent withdrawal of its troops from Baidoa was carried out because the AU peacekeepers now had control of the town and that security there was good. Other Ethiopian troops in Somalia would stay until they could be replaced by government or peacekeeper forces.

July 20, 2013: In Kismayo a land mine intended for peacekeepers instead killed a civilian and wounded two others.

July 18, 2013: In Nairobi, Kenya civilians reported what appeared to be a roadside bomb to police, who came and disarmed it. There are still pro-al Shabaab Somalis living in Kenya to try to carry out terrorist attacks to protest Kenyan peacekeeping efforts in Somalia.

Two Spanish aid workers (both doctors) kidnapped in 2011, while working at a Somali refugee camp in Kenya, have been released. This was a negotiated deal and no other details were revealed. It was claimed that no ransom was paid.

July 17, 2013: In Kismayo two journalists were wounded while covering a landmine explosion just outside the city. It is believed that one of the two militias fighting for control of the city were responsible.

July 16, 2013: In Kismayo a roadside bomb wounded three Kenyan peacekeepers.

Turkish staff in Somalia Al Shabaab claim the attack

MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) — Blood and body parts littered the ground outside Turkey’s embassy in Somalia on Saturday afternoon, the grisly result of a blast that police said left six dead and nine wounded.

A minivan packed with explosives went off around 5 p.m. in the heart of Mogadishu, just a few meters from the Turkish diplomatic post, said police Col. Ahmed Mohamud.

When it was over, two Somali security guards, a university student and three attackers were dead, according to Mohamud.

Turkish embassy sources said that two of its staff members were among the wounded.

Somali police and Turkish embassy guards, meanwhile, converged on the scene. Mangled buses and cars ended up in a disfigured heap, while the windows of numerous nearby apartments were shattered.

Al-Shabaab — a militant Islamist group with connections to al Qaeda — claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We are behind the martyrdom explosion,” the group claimed via Twitter. “The Turkish were our main target.”

Saturday’s bombing was the second major attack in Mogadishu in a few days: On Wednesday, at least one person died in the capital after a bomb hidden in a lawmaker’s car blew up.

The targeted member of Parliament, Sheikh Adan Mader, and other lawmakers were out of the car when the blast occurred and were unharmed, police said.

Designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government in 2008, al-Shabaab has waged a war with Somali’s government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law in the country.

Its forces were pushed out of Mogadishu in summer 2011 by Somali and other African forces, raising hopes of a return to relative security in a city after about 20 years of violence.

But the militants have persisted by maintaining control of large rural areas of southern and central Somalia and staging guerrilla-style attacks. In one such attack that al-Shabaab took credit for, in June, at least 14 people died and 15 were wounded in an attack on U.N. headquarters in Mogadishu.

In addition to its volatile security situation, Somalia has been plagued by famine.

A May report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network, found that 258,000 Somalis had died in the famine between October 2010 and April 2012. Half of the famine victims were children younger than five.