Archives for 2017

Activists say a suspected US-led coalition air raid struck a school sheltering displaced people near ISIL-held Raqqa.

The US-led coalition says its air raids have killed 220 civilians in Iraq and Syria since 2014 [File: EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Dozens of people were killed earlier this week in a suspected US-led coalition air raid that hit a school sheltering displaced people near Raqqa, ISIL’s self-declared capital in Syria, according to a monitoring group.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Wednesday that its activists had counted at least 33 bodies at the site near the village of al-Mansoura, west of Raqqa.

The group, which monitors Syria’s war via a network of contacts on the ground, said it believed the air raid at the school-turned-shelter had been carried out by the US-led coalition fighting ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and is also known as ISIS.

The air raid took place on Monday night, SOHR head Rami Abdulrahman told the Reuters news agency.

The attack was also reported by the activist-run Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently group, which said dozens of civilians were dead or still missing after the air raid.

The US-led coalition has escalated its aerial campaign against ISIL around Raqqa this month, causing numerous civilian casualties.

Earlier this month, the coalition said its raids in Syria and Iraq had unintentionally killed at least 220 civilians since 2014. But critics say the number is far higher.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Beirut, said the school in al-Mansoura housed many refugees who had fled the fighting in Raqqa.

“This is an area where the US-led coalition has been launching air strikes to break the defence lines of ISIL in Raqqa,” he said.

“Some say that more than 30 people were killed in the strikes, other suggest that this number could be even higher.”

A spokesman for the US-led coalition has previously said that it does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties and that it investigates those that are reported as a result of its air raids.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led group of militias backed by the US-led coalition, is fighting to isolate Raqqa ahead of an anticipated assault on the city, which the ISIL group has used as a command node to plan attacks abroad.

The head of the YPG militia, the strongest in the SDF, said last week that the offensive to retake Raqqa would begin in early April but a spokesman for the US Pentagon said no decision had yet been made.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

The conflict has since escalated into a multi-front war that has facilitated the rise of armed groups and drawn in international powers, including the US.

An African Union soldier from Uganda looks out over Mogadishu’s harbor. [AFP]

by The New Arab

Turkey will join the fight to defeat Somalia’s al-Qaeda faction by building its largest ever military base abroad in the East African country.

The $50 million base in Mogadishu will open in April and will help the Somali government train 500 new troops a year to fight al-Shabaab rebels.

An on-going war with the Islamist group, al-Shabaab, coupled with a nearly three-year drought has almost crippled the country’s economy – leading to the present day’s famine.

The facility is reported to be around 400 hectares in size and will house three military camps close to Mogadishu’s airport and the Port of Mogadishu.

Turkey has reportedly invested massively in Somalia through reconstruction and infrastructure development – including roads and hospitals – and has helped provide military aid since 2011.

Turkey had planned to train and rebuild the Somali army at the Mogadishu base for years, as troops have reportedly not been professionally trained or routinely received salaries – leading to major security problems in the country.

Turkey faces regional competition in the region from the UAE, which also wants to build up its military presence in the region.

The UAE signed a deal with the Somaliland parliament in February, allowing them to open a military base in the port town of Berbera.

“The military deal with UAE is a clear sovereign matter to reach international agreements with countries and will help our long running bid for recognition as an independent country,” said chairman of the political party UCID, Faysal Ali Warabe Warabe.

The UAE recently expanded its military presence in neighbouring Eritrea, to allow more military ships and aircraft to be based in the port of Assab.

There has been plenty of help for Somalia coming from Turkey in recent weeks.

Turkish Airlines announced on Friday it would send a plane filled with aid to help the millions of people that are facing starvation.

Celebrities and social media users, united under the hashtag #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia, raised money in support of famine victims in the country.

“As the only airline that connects Somalia to the world, we’ll be more than happy to deliver your love and assistance to Somalia on your behalf,” one Turkish Airlines pilot said in a video message posted on Twitter on Friday.

A lingering drought has caused widespread food shortages across the south of Somalia, leading to an impending famine status.
UNICEF warned last month that a potential 270,000 children were at risk of severe acute malnutrition due to the drought.

The Somali prime minister tweeted on 2 March that his “priority and first emphasis” was to “assist the people affected by the severe drought and build resilience”.

Devices larger than cell phones to be banned from carry-on luggage on flights from eight Muslim-majority countries.

The ban on cary-on electronic devices will affect at least nine airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways [AP]

by Al Jazeera

The US is barring passengers on flights originating in eight Muslim-majority countries from carrying any electronic device bigger than a mobile phone, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Senior US officials told reporters that nine airlines from countries in the Middle East and North Africa had been given 96 hours, beginning at 7:00 GMT on Tuesday, to ban the devices from the cabin.

Laptops, e-readers, cameras, tablets, printers, electronic games and portable DVD players are affected by the ban – which applies to direct flights to the United States – but they may still be stowed in the hold in checked baggage.

The DHS said the ban was necessary as “terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.

“Based on this information, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and Transportation Security Administrator Acting Administrator Huban Gowadia have determined it is necessary to enhance security procedures for passengers at certain last point of departure airports to the United States,” the statement said.

The ban will apply to nonstop flights to the US from 10 international airports serving the cities of Cairo in Egypt; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Casablanca in Morocco; Doha in Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul in Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, until the threat changes.

“DHS, in close cooperation with our intelligence community partners, selected these airports based on the current threat picture,” read the statement, adding that new airports could be added to the list.

“The new procedures remain in place until the threat changes.”

The procedures will affect nine airlines: Royal Jordanian Airlines, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad Airways.

Electronic devices will continue to be allowed on all flights originating in the US, whether domestic or international, according to the statement. Approved medical devices may be brought into the cabin after additional screening.

The move comes a week after President Donald Trump’s second bid to curb travel from a group of Muslim-majority nations was blocked by the courts .

US officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the ban was to be implemented in response to an unspecified threat the US government learned of several weeks ago.

The DHS also cited the 2015 downing of an airliner in Egypt, the 2016 attempted airliner downing in Somalia, and the 2016 armed attacks against airports in Brussels and Istanbul as evidence of groups seeking to target commercial aviation, including by attempting to smuggle explosive devices in various consumer items.

“Terrorist propaganda has highlighted the attacks against aircraft in Egypt with a soda can packed with explosives in October 2015, and in Somalia using an explosives-laden laptop in February 2016,” the DHS statement said.

“Terrorists have historically tried to hide explosives in shoes in 2001, use liquid explosives in 2006, and conceal explosives in printers in 2010 and suicide devices in underwear in 2009 and 2012. Within the last year, we have also seen attacks conducted at airports to include in Brussels and Istanbul.”

‘Baggage theft to skyrocket’

Brian Jenkins, an aviation-security expert at the Rand Corp., said there was concern about inadequate passenger screening or even conspiracies involving insiders – airport or airline employees in some countries.

Trevor Jensen, an aviation consultant and former airline captain, told Al Jazeera that keeping a large number of computers with lithium batteries in the hold also presented safety issues.

“I hope that we are not just knee-jerking here and that this is a credible threat – that the safety issues have also been very carefully thought through.”

Jensen questioned why, from a security standpoint, only some airports had been included in the measures.

“If this was a credible threat, I think they would be looking at other airports. Because, why couldn’t you fly from Doha, for example, into Zurich, and from Zurich across [to the US] … there are ways to get around it,” he said.

“Looking at some of these legs, the passengers flying on board are business people who do want to work in-flight. Security is first, but it’s got to be credible. And we’re not getting any more information to support that at the moment,” Jensen added.

Another aviation-security expert, professor Jeffrey Price of Metropolitan State University of Denver, said there was another disadvantage to having everyone put their electronics in checked baggage.

Thefts from baggage would skyrocket, as when Britain tried a similar ban in 2006, he said.