Dhaka (TIP): An Indian naval warship and a long-range maritime patrol aircraft extended assistance to a Bangladeshi-flagged cargo vessel after it was hijacked in the Indian Ocean, in the latest in a series of such support missions by the Indian Navy in the region.
The Navy said on March 22 that the safety of the crew held hostage by armed pirates was ascertained and the Indian Navy warship continued to maintain its presence in the close vicinity of the vessel till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia.
After receiving information about the hijacking of the ship, the Navy on March 12 deployed Long-Range Maritime Patrol aircraft (LRMP) P-8I.
The Navy said that on receipt of intimation, the LRMP was immediately deployed, and on locating the merchant vessel in the evening of March 12, it attempted to establish communication to ascertain the status of the ship’s crew members. “However, no response was received from the ship,” it said. (PTI)
Tag: Somalia
-
Indian Navy assists hijacked Bangladeshi-flagged cargo vessel
-
Islamist bombing near school in Somalia kills 8; 13 kids hurt
Mogadishu (TIP): An Islamist suicide bombing outside a school in Somalia’s capital killed eight persons and wounded 17, including 13 children, the latest in a string of deadly blasts this year in a country beset by political turmoil and drought. The bombing at around 7.30 am was claimed by al Shabaab militants, who said they were targeting a United Nations security convoy passing near the school.
A UN spokesperson in Mogadishu declined to comment. A staff member speaking on condition of anonymity said no international personnel from the UN were hurt but they had no information on whether Somali employees were hurt. — Reuters
UK MP told not to bring her 3-month-old baby to parliament chambers; shares email
Londn (TIP): British MP Stella Creasy has called for reforms to the parliament’s rule book after receiving an official email banning her three-month-old baby in the chambers.
Creasy shared the email she received. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said a baby in the chambers “certainly wouldn’t distract me or get in the way of me doing my job”.
The Speaker of the House of Commons on Wednesday announced a review of the rules around babies being allowed into the Parliament chamber after she complained she was banned from carrying her three-month-old into the House.
Opposition Labour Party’s Stella Creasy was informed it was against the rules to bring a child to a debate at Westminster Hall within the Parliament complex after doing so on November 23.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle asked the Commons Procedure Committee to look into the matter as he noted that it was “extremely important” for parents to be able to participate fully in the work of Parliament, which also has a nursery on the premises. Creasy, who took to Twitter after receiving an email informing her about the rule, has received the backing of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the matter.
“We completely understand the difficulties faced by MPs who are new mothers, new fathers or adopted parents and parliament has made some positive changes to becoming more family friendly in recent years, including on proxy voting,” a Downing Street spokesperson for Johnson said. “We want to make sure that all work places are modern, flexible and fit for parents. This is obviously a matter for the House. (TNS)
-
Tens of thousands of Muslims protest over Macron remarks after killings in France
Islamabad/Dhaka (TIP): Tens of thousands of Muslims protested in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Palestinian territories on Friday after killings in a French church prompted a vow from President Emmanuel Macron to stand firm against attacks on French values and freedom of belief. French Interior Minister Gerald Damarnin said France, the home to Europe’s largest Muslim community and hit by a string of militant attacks in recent years, was engaged in a war against Islamist ideology and more attacks were likely.
In Pakistan, police briefly fired tear gas at protesters who broke through security blockades in Islamabad in a failed attempt to demonstrate at the French Embassy against the printing in France of images depicting the Prophet Mohammad. Protests and gatherings marking the occasion were also held in the Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. In Bangladesh, tens of thousands marched through Dhaka, the capital, chanting “Boycott French products” and carrying banners calling Macron “the world’s biggest terrorist”.
“Macron is leading Islamophobia,” said Dhaka demonstrator Akramul Haq. “He doesn’t know the power of Islam. The Muslim world will not let this go in vain. We’ll rise and stand in solidarity against him,” he added.
Some Bangladeshi demonstrators also burned effigies of Macron and carried cut-outs of the president with a garland of shoes around his neck, a severe insult according to Islam.
a Muslim-majority district of India’s financial hub Mumbai, some 100 posters showing Macron with a boot on his face and calling him a “demon” were pasted on pavements and roads.
In Lebanon, security forces fired tear gas to drive back some 300 protesters including supporters of a local Sunni Islamist party who marched from a mosque in the capital Beirut to the official residence of the French ambassador.
Thousands of Palestinian worshippers rallied after Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, in Jerusalem’s walled Old City to condemn the republication of Mohammad caricatures in France. “A nation whose leader is Mohammad will not be defeated,” protesters chanted.
“We hold the French president responsible for acts of chaos and violence that are taking place in France because of his comments against Islam and against Muslims,” said Ikrima Sabri, the preacher who delivered the sermon at al Aqsa. In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinians trampled on a large French flag and burned other French flags. In Gaza, ruled by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, hundreds of Palestinians took part in anti-France rallies, chanting: “With our souls and blood we will redeem the Prophet.”
Thousands in Somalia turned up for Friday prayers in mosques where sermons were dominated by curses and condemnation of Macron and his government.
Abdirahman Hussein Mohamed, a shopkeeper in the capital Mogadishu, set aside all French products including face wash, perfumes and other cosmetics with a large sign, “NOT FOR SALE”.
“I will never sell those products…as long as France does not apologise. France insulted our Prophet,” Mohamed told Reuters. (Reuters) -
At least 56 dead as smugglers throw 300 African migrants into Yemen sea
DUBAI (TIP): At least 56 people have drowned over the past 24 hours, and dozens remain missing, after human traffickers forced 300 African migrants off two Yemen-bound boats and into the sea.
Survivors — all Ethiopian and Somali migrants — managed to make their way to Shabwa, a southern province along Yemen’s Arabian Sea coastline, the International Organization for Migration said.
The war in Yemen has left over 8,300 people dead and displaced millions since 2015, but the impoverished country continues to draw migrants from the Horn of Africa seeking work in prosperous Gulf countries further north.
At least six people drowned on Thursday after human smugglers forced 180 Ethiopians off their boat and into the choppy waters of the Arabian Sea, an IOM spokesperson told AFP. Thirteen people remained unaccounted for, the spokesperson said. The majority of the migrants appeared to be teenagers and young adults.
On Wednesday, traffickers also forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into the rough seas off Yemen to avoid arrest by local authorities, leaving at least 50 dead and 22 missing, IOM reported.
IOM teams, working with the International Committee of the Red Cross, found the bodies of 29 migrants in shallow graves along the coast of Shabwa, currently under the control of Yemeni troops backed by the United States. They had been buried by survivors.
“The smugglers deliberately pushed the migrants into the waters since they feared that they would be arrested by the authorities once they reach the shore”, an IOM emergency officer in Aden, where the Yemeni government is based, told AFP. Laurent de Boeck, IOM’s Yemen mission head, said the boat’s crew immediately returned to Somalia yesterday to pick up more migrants headed to Yemen on the same route. (AFP)
-
Nearly 70 dead in al-Shabab attack on Somalia military base
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (TIP): Heavily armed al- Shabab extremists have stormed a military base in Somalia’s semiautonomous state of Puntland, killing close to 70 people and wounding dozens more, officials said on June 8.
Residents said civilians, including women, were beheaded during the rampage. Officials called it the region’s deadliest attack in years, highlighting the twin challenges facing security forces from the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab and the growing presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group.
The attack began with a blast at the remote Af-Urur camp, roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the commercial hub of Bossaso, before the extremists overran the base and killed soldiers at close range, said Ahmed Mohamed, a senior military official. Close to 70 people were killed, though an exact death toll was not yet available, Mohamed said. Abdi
Hersi Ali, Puntland’s interior minister, said troops suffered causalities but he declined to give further details. Residents in the area reported chaotic scenes, with fighters beheading several civilians they encountered. One witness, Abdibasit Hassan, said women were among those beheaded. “The situation is grim over there. This attack was an unexpected one,” Mohamed said. (AP)
-
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to revive travel ban
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday asked the US Supreme Court to revive his ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority nations after it was blocked by lower courts that found it was discriminatory.
The administration filed two emergency applications with the nine high court justices seeking to block two different lower court rulings that went against Trump’s March 6 order barring entry for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days while the US government implements stricter visa screening.
The move comes after the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals on May 25 upheld a Maryland judge’s ruling blocking the order.
The administration also filed a separate appeal in that case. “We have asked the Supreme Court to hear this important case and are confident that President Trump’s executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement.
At least five votes are needed on the nine-justice court in order to grant a stay. The court has a 5-4 conservative majority, with Justice Anthony Kennedy – a conservative who sometimes sides with the court’s four liberals – the frequent swing vote. Another of the court’s conservatives, Neil Gorsuch, was appointed by Trump this year.
If the government’s request is granted, the ban would go into effect. In its 10-3 ruling, the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said challengers of the ban, including refugee groups and others represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, were likely to succeed on their claim that the order violated the US Constitution’s bar against favoring or disfavoring a particular religion.
The March ban was Trump’s second effort to implement travel restrictions on people from several Muslim-majority countries through an executive order. The first, issued on Jan. 27, led to chaos and protests at airports and in major US cities before it was blocked by courts.
The second order was intended to overcome the legal issues posed by the original ban, but it was blocked by judges before it could go into effect on March 16. (Reuters)
-
ISIS claims first suicide attack in Somalia, kills 5
MOGADISHU (TIP): The Islamic State group has claimed its first suicide attack in Somalia, which police said Wednesday killed five people at a checkpoint in the northeastern port city of Bosaso.
The group’s self-styled news agency Amaq claimed the “martyrdom-seeking operation with an explosive vest” in a statement carried by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest at a checkpoint late Tuesday in the semiautonomous region of Puntland.
“Security forces stopped the suspect when he approached but he detonated himself leaving five people dead. One of the security officers and four civilians were killed in the blast,” said local police official Mohamed Dahir Adan.
The blast occurred near a hotel often used as a meeting place for local officials, witnesses said. “I think the bomber was trying to target the hotel but he was stopped at the checkpoint close to the hotel and he decided to detonate his explosives,” said witness Awke Mohamed. (AFP)
-
US may ban laptops on all flights from Europe
US may ban laptops on all flights from Europe
WASHINGTON (TIP): The Department of Homeland Security is considering banning laptops and other large electronic devices from carry-on bags on flights from Europe to the United States, a department spokesman said May 10. The action would extend a limited ban that was put in place in March+ . At that time, the United States and Britain barred passengers traveling through airports in 10 Muslim majority countries from carrying laptop computers, tablets and other devices larger than cellphones aboard direct inbound flights. The larger items were to be stowed with checked luggage.
The ban was put in place after intelligence showed that the Islamic State was developing a bomb that could be hidden in portable electronic devices.
David Lapan, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency had not decided whether to extend the ban. “We’ll likely expand the restrictions,” he said.
John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, is to brief senators on security topics Thursday, according to a Senate aide.
Officials did not say when a new ban might be imposed. A senior official with a US airline said that carriers had been in talks with government officials for weeks about the possibility of an expanded ban, mainly over the logistics of carrying it out. The particular problem is passengers connecting in Europe from flights originating in the Middle East and Africa.
An intelligence official, who, like the airline official, was not authorized to speak publicly about the potential ban, said it was being considered because of concerns that radicalized citizens of European Union nations+ or people with dual citizenship could target US-bound flights.
US officials have tried in recent years to increase the vetting of those traveling into the country. Last year, the Obama administration revised a program that allowed citizens of about 38 countries, mostly in Europe, to visit the United States without a visa on trips of 90 days or less.
The changes made it harder for travelers to enter the United States from Europe if they had dual citizenship in Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria, or had visited one of those countries in the previous five years. The rules were later extended to those who had visited Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Another government official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the new ban was being considered because the US government considered immigration policies in Europe to be lax. (PTI)
-
Somalia roadside bomb kills atleast 10 in minibus
MOGADISHU (SOMALIA) (TIP): A roadside bomb exploded and killed at least 10 people in a minibus in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region Thursday evening, a local official said.
Five others were injured and the death toll could rise, Nur Abdullahi told The Associated Press.
The massive bomb buried beside the road struck the vehicle near Gobweyn village, he said.
The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab claims control over parts of the largely coastal Lower Shabelle region, which has been a focus of efforts to counter the group by a 22,000-strong multinational African Union force.
Civilians often have been casualties in this long-chaotic Horn of Africa country. Now hundreds of thousands of Somalis are on the move as a drought threatens roughly half of the country’s population of 12 million.
New Somali-American President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who was elected in February, has promised to make security a priority as the weak central government tries to assert itself beyond the capital and some other urban areas. (AP)