DHARAARO XUSUUSTOOD: MAHADHOOYIN TUF LEH Qalinkii Prof. Gees - Dhacdooyin Ku Lamaanaa Wadda-hadaladdii Somaliland Iyo Somalia

Hargeysa (CYN) Lixdamaadkii ayaa idaacadda Jamhuuriyaddii Soomaaliyeed laga qaadi jiray heestaasi, markii Soomaali-weyn loo jibaysnaa. Dhowaan markii ergooyin ka kala socda Xukuumaddaha Soomaaliya iyo Somaliland ay ku kulmeen shir ay ku wadahadlayeen oo ay martigelisay Jamhuuriyadda Djibouti, ayaa arrimo xiisa lihi ka dhaceen oo i xasuusisay heesta kor ku xusan oo Reer Djibouti aanay jeclayn hore iyo gadaaltoona.

Shirka waxa ka qaybgallay Madaxweyne Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle, Madaxweyne Axmed Maxamed Siilaanyo iyo Madaxweyne Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud. Ergay ka mid ah qoladii reer Soomaaliya, ayaa isaga oo ka dayrinaya gooni-isu-taagga Soomaaliland yidhi; "Ma oggolin kala go’a, waxa qalad ahayd in la oggolaado inay Djibouti go’do.” Qoladii Reer Djibouti waa baa u beryey. Tolow qolada Kenya iyo Itoobiya ma ogyihiin in sheekadii Soomaali-weyn inaanay Shabaabka keli ku ahayn ee qolada Damu-jadiid ay la qabaan.

Waxa kale oo dhacday in qolada ergada reer Soomaaliya laga reebay qoladii Daarood, si ay u dhacdayba, deeto ay ku baaneen markii ay la hadlayeen Reer Somaliland, ‘Waxaynu isku nahay Irir ee dalka ha kala go’ynina ee aan is-garabsanee nagu soo biira oo Dawladda nala yeesha.’

Waxay moodayeen in ergada ay la hadlayaan ay wada Isaaq iyo Gadabuursi tahay, may filayn in laba Dhulwarsan ihi ay ku jiraan (Baashe Maxamed Farax iyo Siciid Jamac Cali) oo ah labada Guddoomiye-ku-xigeen ee labada Gole ee Baarlamaanka Somaliland, war la’aan ayaa Wadaadada hoday.

Waxa la sheegay in waaggii Dawladdii Siyaad Barre ka Madaxda ahaa uu soo booqday Muqdisho wefdi Reer Djibouti ah oo uu hoggaaminyey Xasan Guuleed. Markii la sheekaysanayey ayaa Siyaad Barre Xasan Guuleed ku yidhi; ‘Iska illaali kuwa Isaaqa ah.’

Waftiga Reer Djibouti waxa ku jiray Wasiir Jibriil Abokor, Xasan ayaa markaas yidhi; ‘Wasiirkan wafdigayga ka mid ah ayaaba reerkaas ah.’ Af kala qaad ayey noqotay, maanta tii oo kale ayaa dhacday. Waar qoladan Reer Djibouti ee Canfar, Carab iyo Qowmiyado kale iyo beelaha kala duwan ee Soomaaliyeed ka kooban ee haddana nabadda ku wada nool, maxaa yaab ka haysta qolooyinkan reer Soomaaliya ee kadeedan.

Sannadka cusub ee maanta bilawday ayaa loo ballansan yahay in wada hadalkii dib-u-furmo, kii noo hagaagee noqo loo hanweyn yahay, heestii Marxuun Maxamed Suleeebaan Tubeeec ayaynu ku soo dhoweynayanaa sannadka cusub.

Heestaasi waxay soo baxday bishii Jan.1964, muddo hadda laga joogo 51 sanno. Sannadkaas loo heesay waxa dhacay dagaal dhexmaray Dalka Itoobiya iyo Jamhuuriyaddii Soomaaliyeed.Meelaha xuduudaha, sida Togwajaale, Dabagorayaale. Ina guuxaa, Feerfeer iyo Doolo ayaa dagaallo ka dhaceen. Dagaalkaas waxa Togwajaale ku dhintay Askari Xalane la odhan jiray, kaas oo loogu magac-daray xerada weyn ee dhowaan Shabaabku weerareen ee ah Xarunta Ciidammada Amisom ee dalalka Afrika iyo xaafado badan oo magaalooyinka Soomaaliya ka mid ah.

Waxa isla waqtigaa dagaalku dhacay socotay doorashadii Baarlamaanka ee u horaysay ee labada dal ee midoobay (Somaliland iyo Somalia) ka wada dhacda. Waxaan ka mid ahaa shaqaalihii goobaha doorashada. Waxa aan ka hawlgalay meel cidlo ah oo geed hoostii ah oo teendho laga dhisay, waxaannu ahayn saddex arday iyo macallinkayagii oo la odhan jiray CABDULLAAHI CALI AXMED oo ahaa Reer Sheekh, dhawr askari iyo raadiyihii Booliska. Meeshu waxay ahayd laasas xooluhu ka cabaan oo la yidhaahdo XADHAN.

Dadka la rabay inay codeeyaan duniba wax kalama socon annaga qudhayadu wax kama garanayn siyaasadda iyo hawlaheeda. Dhibaatadu ilaa maanta jirtaa waa aqoon la’aanta dadweynaha Soomaaliyeed meel kasta ha joogee. Waxa la soo bawsaday oo aanay garanayn, xitaa kuwa wataa ayaa shanta loo geliyey.

Nasiib-wanaag, si nabadgelyo ah ayey noogu dhamaatay oo aan Ceerigaabo ugu soo noqonay. Ilaa maanta sidii ayaa loo wadaa oo weli lagama fekerin sidee wax loogu kordhiyaa ama loo beddelaa hawshan geedka hoostiisa iyo dadka tabaalaysan ee waxba ka warhayn waxa la kala macaashayo mararka qaarkoodna la isku dilayo.

Haddaba, sidee baa habkan wax looga beddela lagama wada hadlo ee waa la isku maagaa haddii la soo qaado. Runta marka la sheego magaalooyinka waaweyn ayuunbaa codayni ka dhacdaa, inta kale sanaadiiqda ayaa la soo buuxsadaa, sidaa darteed miyaan marna laga fekerin in bal lagu koobo diiwangelinta iyo codaynta magaalo madaxyada degmooyinka keliya ee Saldhigga Booliska iyo dugsiyada iyo maxkamadaha leh.1964 waxa Wasiirka koowaad ka ahaa Jamhuuriyadii Soomaaliyeed Marxuun Cabdirashiid Cali Sharmaake, ninka maanta Soomaaliya ka ah Wasiirka koowaad ee Cumar Cabdirashiid Aabbihii 

Qoladan Reer Soomaaliya waxay keeneen sheekadii reer Maraykan ee Bush 1, iyo Bush 2, Sharmaake 1,Sharmaake 2 iyo Caydiid 1, Caydiid 2 Shariif Sakiin 1 iyo Shariif Sakiin 2 laga barayba laga badi goorma ayey Soomaalilaandna ka bilaabmi doontaa sheekadani.

Doorashadaas waxa ku guulaystay SYL oo tuulooyinkii sanaadiiqdu dhirta hoosteeda tiilay soo buuxsatay. Magaalooyinka waaweyn waxa ku guulaysatay xisbiyadii mucaaradka ahaa sida SNC iyo SDU. Gaar ahaan SNC oo ahaa xisbi uu sameeyey Marxuun Cigaal oo Waqooyi iyo Koonfur isugu jiray.

Marxuun Cigaal 1962 ayuu iskaga tegay Xukuumaddii Cabdirashiid, deeto waxa uu tegay dalka Ghana ee Galbeedka Afrika ku yaal oo uu madax ka ahaa Halyeeygii, Qoraagii, Halgamaagii dadka madaw Kuwame Nkruma oo ay saaxiib ahaayeen.

Nkruma lacag lagu sheego mar laba milyan marna saddex marna milyan iyo badh oo doolar buu soo siiyey Marxuun Cigaal, lacagtii waxa uu ku dhisay xisbigaas oo uu u bixiyey Somali National Congress. Sida madaxda qaarkood bankiyada dibadda kuma shuban guryana uma iibin reerkiisa, sidii uu lacagtii Aabbihii ina Xaadhxaadhato iyo guryahiisii uu Xisbigii SNL u geliyey ayuu lacagtanna u geliyey siyaasadda.

Wasiir uu Cigaal jeclaa oo uu dhawr jeer xil weyn u dhiibay dhinacan Somaliland ayuu ku arkay isaga oo wax qaadqaadaya, dabadeeto uu ku yidhl "Adeer, siyaasadda lacag lagama tabcado ee waa la geliyaa, xilkii waa kaa qaaday ee mashruuc lacageed soo samayso aan wax kaala qabtee adiga oo siyaasadda dibadda ka jooga.”

Waxa iyana waxyaalihii sannadkan galbaday agteena ka dhacay ka mid ahaa doorasho ka dhacday waddan Carab ah oo Afrika Waqooyigeeda ku yaalla. Waddanka Carbeed ee Tuunis ayaa doorasho Madaxweyne uga dhacday si nabadgelyo ah oo xor ah dhowaan.

  

Waxa ku guulaystay doorashadii nin dawladihii kala dambeeyey ee waddankaasi yeeshay ee kala ahaa 1- dawladii uu madaxweynaha ka ahaa Xabiib Burqiiba (1957-1987) 2- iyo dawladii uu madaxweynaha ka ahaa Ben Cali (1987-2011) ee dalkaas labadaba wasiir ka noqday oo da’diisu tahay 90 sanno.

Ku-quuso qudhaanjo dhalintii loo soo dhigayay, Ruug-cadaagii soo rogaal celi. Dadyewga Afrika iyo Asiya way xurmeeyaan da’da oo xigmad ayey u yaqaanan. Qolada Khawaajiyaashu si kale ayey u arkaan bal sheekadan Marxuun Cigaal eeg. Marxuun Cigaal ayaa isaga oo ah Madaxweynaha Somaliland booqday Dalka Maraykanka sannadkii 1999 bishii October isaga oo ay dalkaasi ugu dambaysay sannadkii 1969 bishii October, markaas oo uu ahaa Wasiirka koowaad ee dalkii Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliyeed.

  

Markii uu soo laabtay ayuu Golaha Wasiirada ka warramay socdaalkiisii waxa uu yidhi waxaan Mareykan ka raadiyey nin madax ahaa oo aan isniqiinay. Markaan telefoon kula hadlay ee aan is-waraysanay ayuu igu yidhi; "Waar Cigaal anigu waxaan ku jiraa guri lagu xanaaneeyo dadka waaweyn ee yaa adiga da’dan Madaxweynaha kaa dhigtay.”Si weyn ayaa loogu qoslay arrintaasi.

Marxuunku waxa uu caan ku ahaa kaftanka weliba isaga ayaa is xanaakadayn jiray iyo weliba beesha reer Saaxil. Maalin isaga oo khayriyada ka hadlaya ayaa waxa meeshii uu taagnaa u soo baxay daayeer, deeto askartii iyo hawlwadeenadii ayaa ku yaacay daayeerkii. Marxuun Cigaal ayaa dhawaaqay makarafoonkii oo furan, "Waar daayaa ninku waa igaranayaaye,” dadkii dhegaysanayey ayaa wada qoslay. Dadka kudhacaas lehi waa dadka isku kalsoon ee dulqaadka leh kuwaas ayaa isku yidhaahda wixii lagu odhan lahaa.

Waddada Berber iyo Sheekh u dhexaysa intaan laamiga laga dhigin, waxa baabuurtu mari jirtay meel buur ah oo la odhan jiray Gol-ceebeed. Baabuurta waqtigaas la haystay oo ahayd mid liidata, ayaa wax dhici jirtay inay dib uga soo cararto buurtaas oo ka bixiweydo jiifta, qaar badan ayaa ka dhici jiray. Kirishbooyga ayaa marka halkaasi la marayo kariirad la barbar carari jiray oo u dhigi jiray marka uu hakado baabuurku.

Maanta waxa halkaa maraysa Somaliland oo ka baxaysa Gol-ceebeed. Laba doorasho ayaa sugaya, waxa la sugayaa inay ka baxdo ama dib uga cararto Gal-ceebeed. Mudda kordhintu waa kariiradda Dawladda waxa loogu talagalay inta baabuurka la kicinayo inay sii hayso oo aanay dawladnimadu dhicin, hawshaas oo Guurtida loo xilsaaray, hase yeeshee ma beddelayso doorashada oo ah dalcad ka bixidda iyo gaadhitaanka berri amaan.

Waa ku-meel-gaadh inta la cilad saarayo baabuurka doorashada. Dad ayaa u hadla sidii ay tahay hab barbar socda doorashada oo la tartarsiinayo oo la kala dooranayo. Waa fadeexad haddii kal doorashadii timaadaba muran ka dhaco.

Prof. Maxamed Siciid Gees.

Warbixin: SOMALILAND DIINTA ISLAAMKU MAXAY KA QABTAA, KOOXDA BEESHA CAALAMKA LAASCAANOOD-NA MAXAY KA AAMIN-SAN YIHIIN SOMALILAND

Jan 2, 2015

ن الحمد لله، نحمدُه ونستغفره ونستعينه ونستهديه ونعوذُ بالله من شرورِ أنفسنا ومن سيئاتِ أعمالنا، من يهْدِ اللهُ فلا مضِلَّ له ومن يضلل فلا هادي له. وأشهد أنْ لا إله إلا اللهُ وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أنَّ محمداً عبدُه ورسولُه ، بعثه اللهُ رحمةً للعالمين هادياً ومبشراً ونذيراً. بلّغ الرسالة وأدّى الامانة ونصحَ الأمّةَ وتركنا على المحجة البيضاء ليلها كنهارها لا يزيغ عنها إلا هالك فجزاهُ اللهُ خيرَ ما جزى نبياً من أنبيائه. صلواتُ اللهِ وسلامه عليه وعلى جميع الأنبياء والمرسلين، وعلى صحابته وآل بيته ، وعلى من أحبهم إلى يوم الدين.

Intaas dabadeed waxaa muddooyinkan aad u soo badanayey in kooxda beesha Caalamka ee ka hawl gasha magaalada Laascaanood ay ku dhex milmayeen siyaasadaha iyo xaaladaha ka taagan deegaanka,  innaga oo an la yaabayn sida fudud ee ay ugu dhex milmeen siyaasada maadaama ay hore u ahayeen ururkii Al-itixaad Al-islaami oo muddooyinkii ugu danbeeyey magaca uun laga badelay loona bixiyey Ictisaam, isla markaana Beesha Caalamka, Iyo Ictisaam isku Dhexmilan yihiin , sababtoo ah ururka Al-tixaad wuxuu ahaa urur siyaasadeed markii danbena yeeshay garabyo kala duwan ilaa ay ka dhasheen ururada ugu xag jirsan maanta deegaanka Soomaaliyeed.

Dhalinyarada aan aad ula socon taariikhda inaga oo aad uga sheekayn doona waxaan u guud maraynaa si kooban in ururkii la odhan jiray Al-itixaad Al-islaami oo isagu u diga rogtay ururka Ictisaam ayna ku hoos noolyihiin Kooxdan Beesha Caalamka uu markii ugu horaysay ku dhawaaqay in uu yahay urur siyaasiya diyaarna u ah in doorashada Soomaaliya ka qayb galo, sanadkii 1990kii xilligaas oo dawladii kacaanku doonaysay in ay distoorka wax ka badesho xisbiyo farabadana wadanka laga hir galiyo, Itixaadku wuxuu ahaa xilligaasi ururkii ugu horeeyey ee ku dhawaaqay in uu diyaar u yahay in uu doorashada isu soo taago, sidaasi daraadeed la yaab malaha in ay maanta ku dhex milmaan arrimaha siyaasadda.

Waxaana xilligaas jirtay in madaxweynihii Soomaaliya ilaahay haw naxariistee uu la yaabay oo la weydiiyey mar ay waraysi wargeys  ka soo bixi jirtay wadanka Sucuudiga oo tododbaadle ahaan jiray lana odhan jiray(Al-muslimuun) markii la weydiiyey ururo islaamiya ma ogolaanaysaan hadaa xisbiyo badan ogolaateen, uu ku Jawaabay Siyaad Barre oo adeer yaa gaalo ah, anigaaba muslin ah haddii aanu xisbi magac islaam wata ogolaano annaguna maxaanu noqonaynaa , wuxuuna ku soo gabagabeeyey Xisbigaygaaba xisbi Islaamiya ah maadaama aan anigu muslim ahay, Ilaahay haw naxariisto haddii maanta qabriga loogu wargayn lahaa oo la odhan lahaa Xisbigii hantiwadaaga kacaanka Soomaaliyeed dad aanu layn ayaa magaca Islaamka lagu laayey run ahaantii waa nixi lahaa oo murugoon lahaa.

Innaga oo maqaalkan ama fadwadan qofba siduu u arko  aynu ku eegi doono Diinta Islaamku maxay ka qabtaa Somaliland , maxayse aaminsan yihiin kooxda Beesha Caalamka , ayaan doonaynaa bal in aan dadka u bayaamino kooxda beesha caalamku in ay ku sifoobeen qaabkii reer banii israa’iil  u qarin jireen xaqqa iyaga oo danahooda eegana

,وَلاَ تَلْبِسُواْ الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُواْ الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ(42) سورة البقرة .

Markana ilaahay subxaanahuu watacaalaa isagoo la hadalaya Ah-lul kistaab, (Yuhuud iyo Kirstaan) ayuu ku yidhi maxaad xaqa u qarinaysaan , oo aad u inkiraysaan Nabi muxamed iyo Diinta Islaamka ee kutubtiina lagu sii sheegay

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَلْبِسُونَ الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (71) سورة آل عمران , 

Waxaa iska cad in danahooda ay ka horu mariyeen in ay diinta islaamka ku saleeyaan waxkasta oo ay qabanayaan , iyaga oo ummadda u sheega in ay wadaado yihiin , sunahana muuqaalkooda guud ka muujiya, gadhweyn la baxa, surwaalka ama macawista gaabsada, oo xaalku yahay (من برا هالله هالله ومن جوا يعلم الله) Muuqaalka guud Taqi-taqi, Gudaha Hoosena allaa og,

 Maxay ka qabaan midnimada iyo isku xidhnaan-shaha Soomaaliya, iyo muslimiinta , intaynaan u galin iyaga aragtidooda muuqata oo aan aad uga hadli doono, fikirka ay ka qabaan kooxda beesha Caalamka iyo wadaadada Ictisaam Laascaanood arrinta gooni isu taaga, aan eegno diinta Islaamku iyo  kisaabka quraanka kariimka ah, Sunaha iyo culimadu waxay ka yidhaahdeen midnimada ummad islaam ah, waayo halkan ayaa ah halka ay ku qotonto xukunka ay qaadanayaan kooxda beesha Caalamka iyo wadaadada Ictisaam, marka aynu qeexno waxa ay dinta islaamku ka qabto gooni goosadka Somaliland , maadama aynu nahay dad muslimiin ah, iyada oo xataa kan hadda guddoomiyaha gobolka ugu magacaaban Sonmaliland   ka mid ahaan jiray raggii masjidkii afgooye iyo masjid jaamaca Burco tafsiirka ka raacan jiray sideetameeyaadkii kana mid ahaa ururkii waxdada, ee markii danbe ku biiray Itixaad al-islaami, waxaad ogaanaysaa dhamaantood in ay diinta ku ciyaareen oo ay ilaahay uga biqiwaayeen sidii la amray,

Maxay diinta Islaamku ka qabtaa ilaalinta Midnnimada ummad muslin ah, maxayse ka tidhi qofkii kala fogeeya, Akhriso.

Ilaahay(SW) isaga oo ka hadlay midnimada waxa uu suuratul Al-cimraan aayadaha 103-104 ku yidhi.

﴿ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آَيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ (*) وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴾

( سورة آل عمران: الآية 104،103 )

Aayadahan ilaahay wuxuu inagu adkaynayaa in la ilaaliyo midnimada , looguna yeedho bulshada muslinka ah in la xoojiyo, umalayn maayo in ay kooxda beesha Caalamka iyo Ictisaamka Laascaanood xataa ku soo qaadi karaan Ayadahan masjiyada Laascaanood, waxaaba la sheegay in kuwa aaminsan kala goynta looga duceeyey masjidka Masjid Jaamac Laascaanood, oo nin Shiikh ah oo Laascaanoodi ahi oo intuu micrifoonka qabsaday ducu u dareeriyey kuwa midnimada ummada islaamka miinshaarta u qataay.

Aayad kale ilaahay wuxuu (SW) inaago waramayaa marka dadka xumaanta lagu shex beero ee lays ilaawo in la sii kala fogaado, taas oo aysan kuwa Hargeysa jooga ee Ictisamaka ah ama magac wadaad wataa aanay dadka uga digin waana cadaawada iyo buqdiga Hargeysa laga soo amaamudo ilaahyna (SW) wuxuu yidhi

﴿ فَنَسُوا حَظّاً مِمَّا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَسَوْفَ يُنَبِّئُهُمُ اللَّهُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ ﴾

 ( سورة المائدة: 14)

Waxa kale oo midnimada iyo walaalnimadu sida ay tahay uu Rasuulkeena suuban (NNKH) oo inoogu sheegaya dadka walaalaha ahi sida ay isugu damqadaan midnamadooduna ay u tahay mid aan laga maarmin, Xadiis saxiix ah oo uu wariyey Saxaabiga Nucmaan Ibnu bashiir wuxuu yidhi.

فعن النعمان بن بشير رضي الله عنهما قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:

(( مَثَلُ المؤمنين في تَوَادِّهم وتراحُمهم وتعاطُفهم: مثلُ الجسد، إِذا اشتكى منه عضو، تَدَاعَى له سائرُ الجسد بالسَّهَرِ والحُمِّى ))

حديث صحيح، أخرجه البخاري ومسلم

Xadiis kale oo uu wariyey Cabdilaahi Ibnu Cabaas(RC) wuxuu nabigeenu uga digay dadka muslimiinta ah in aysan noqon kuwo gaalooba oo islaaya , markay kala dheeraadaan , waxaana la gaadhsiiyey isdilka iyo kala qaybsanaanta kaalinta kaafirnimada wuxuuna Ibnu Cabas oo xadiiska warinayaa yidhi.

عن عبد الله بن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال: قال رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:

(( لا ترجعوا بعدي كفارا يضرب بعضكم رقاب بعض ))

حديث صحيح، أخرجه البخاري والترمذي

Aayadihii hore iyo axaadiistii waxaynu ku soo xusnay in laygu boorinayo midnimada iyo walaalnimada, aayadahan aynu soo qaadan doonaana waxa uu ilaahay (SW) inoogu sheegayaa in ummadiisu mid kaliya tahay oo dadka Muslimiinta ah laga waramayo, maadama rusul lala khidaabayo dadka markaas xaydaanka rumaynta ilaahay ku jiraana waa lala hadlayaa, wuxuna ilaahay (SW) yidhi.

﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحاً إِنِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ (*) وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً ﴾

(سورة المؤمنون: الآية 52،51 )

Midnimada umaddu waa waajib ilaahay ina farayo , waxaana lagu adkaynayaa dadka muslimiinta ah in ay waajibtahay lana adkeeyo, waxaana laynoogu sheegayaa in nin waliba goob yar ku farxayo, sida maanta jirta ee gobolaysiga ah, ilaahay(SW) wuxuu yidhi.

﴿ وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاتَّقُونِ (*) فَتَقَطَّعُوا أَمْرَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ زُبُراً كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ (*) فَذَرْهُمْ فِي غَمْرَتِهِمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ ﴾

( سورة المؤمنون: الآيات 54،53،52 )

Nabigeena Suuban(NNHK) isaga oo midnimada meel adag inaga tusaya, waxa uu xadiis saxiix ah ku sheegay halka diinta islaamu ka taagan tahay qofka midnimada iyo jamaacada kala dhantaala oo waxaaba la gaadhsiiyey heer ah in seefta loo qaadanayo waxa uu yidhi Cabdilaahi Ibnu Mascuud Xadiis saxiix ah oo uu nabagi(NNHK)ka warinayo.

عن عبد الله بن مسعود رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (لا يحل دم امرىء مسلم إلا بإحدى ثلاث الثيب الزاني والنفس بالنفس والتارك لدينه المفارق للجماعة) متفق عليه.

Hadaynu halkaa ku yara hakino daliilka Kitaabka iyo Sunaha oo aad u badan , aynu aqwaasha culimada muslimiinta casriyadii hore iyo kuwa manta eegno,  muxuu ka qabaa Ibnu Taymiyah midnimada iyo Tafaraaruqa, wuxuu yidhi Ibnu Taymiyaha ilaahay haw naxariistee, hana ka raali noqdee.

يقول ابن تيمية : ” وإذا تفرق القوم فسدوا وهلكوا وإذا اجتمعوا صلحوا وملكوا، فإن الجماعة رحمة والفرقة عذاب وهذه من صفات أهل البدع كما يقول شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية :

Wuxuu yidhi Ibnu Taymiyah” Haddii Ummaddi kala tagto way fasahaadaan, wayna halaagsamaan, haday midoobaana wax hagaagaan, awoodna way yeeshaan, Midnimada Naxariis ayaa ku jirta, Kala tagana Cadaab iyo xumaan waan sifooyinka dadka bidcada u saaxiibka ah”

Halkaas waxaa inooga soo baxaysa daliiladaas cad cad ee quraanka, axaadiista iyo aqwaasha culimada ku qotomaa in Somaliland tahay shay baadil ah, qofkii la falgala , la shaqeeya, niyada kala socda, aaminsan in ay tahay maamul loo khuduuco, mushahar ka qaata, ururadooda ka qayb gala, in uu danbi weyn ku dhacay walciyaadu bilaah, lacagta uu ka qaataan ay xaaraan tahay , aanuna ku quudin karin qoyskiisa iyo ubadkiisa, ninkii shiikh ah ee ka aamusa koob-kastuu joogana waa danbiile, hawgu horeeyaan wadaadada Laascaanood ku nool iyo kooxda beesha Caalamka, Wabilaahi tawfiiq iyo kulan danbe oo xiisa badan.

Amiin Caamir & Sanadka Cusub 2015

Amir & New Year 2015

EGYPT TO PROVIDE SOMALIA WITH CUSTOMS, TAX EXPERTISE

Egypt has expressed readiness to benefit Somalia with its logistic and technical expertise in the fields of customs and tax policies.

The Finance Ministry said in a statement that Minister Hany Qadry Dimian, meeting with his Somali counterpart Hussein Abdi Halane, said Egypt was eager to support Somalia’s government and people on all levels.

The minister added that Egypt’s tax legislation addresses world taxation systems, and is highly appreciated by specialized world bodies. He pointed out that a number of Arab states had relied on Egyptian taxing laws in formulating their own legislation.

Dimian also welcomed participation by Somalia’s tax and customs authorities’ officers in training programs run by their Egyptian counterparts.

Source: Egypt Independent

A BOOK REVIEW: AMERICA HERE I COME: A SOMALI REFUGEE’S QUEST FOR HOPE, A MEMOIR BY HAMSE WARFA

By Adan Makina

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader- John Quincy Adams

Few in our age and time dare to write a book before retirement. However, one young man originally from Somalia put his time and effort by writing one in cosmopolitan America. The book, America: Here I come: A Somali Refugee’s Quest for Hope, by established Somali-American community leader, academic, blogger, essayist and author Hamse Warfa, is a memoir that is laden with profound historical narratives that pinpoint the author’s early childhood upbringing in beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged Somalia located in the Horn of Africa. Beautifully crafted, the book’s top cover features the blue and red colors of the American flag which could also translate to the colors of the two most powerful rival political parties-Democratic and Republican respectively.

Roughly 261-pages and published by Sunshine Publishing, the book is a memoir of a kid from Somalia who grew up in the sprawling city of Mogadishu-a city that was once dubbed the “Pearl of Africa” and the “Cleanest City in Africa”. Surrounded by loving parents, brothers, and sisters, and affectionate friends and friendly neighbors, Hamse found what he cherished most in life: a decent education and leadership acumen in oecumenical America. While some foreigners may have harbored negative perceptions of Somalia of the olden days, the author succinctly explains the pleasure and splendor and the lively perfection that shrouded the peaceful Somali nation those days. Somalia of old was a worldly paradise where a few foreigners dared infiltrate because of the visa restrictions and because of the heavy presence of the military regime in every corner of the country.

In his heydays, nothing about the lavishes of life escaped these young author. He attended the best school, lived in the best neighborhood, and socialized with children of like caliber who were mostly from affluent neighborhoods and were sons and daughters of the Somali governing bureaucracy.

The collapse of the central government in 1991 followed by social transgression and fragmentation and the dissipation of governance brought about many huddles for Hamse and his extended family. There was monumental displacement of civilians, massive death and destruction mainly in Mogadishu and its environs, economic asphyxiation, political traducement, social divide as a result of tribalism and clannism, food and water shortages, and a host of other social ills that turned the once peacefully arranged tables upside down.

It was in neighboring Kenya that Hamse and his dedicated, entrepreneurial family became refugees. After making many frightful flights and daring escapes within Somalia mainly in the southern part of the country, Hamse and his family settle in Dadaab Refugee camp. In Dadaab, they encountered a life of living in tents under the scorching sun of Kenya’s North Eastern Province. Dadaab, the biggest refugee camp in the world, houses hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia, and a good number of South Sudanese who eventually relocated to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Turkana land. Climatologically, Daddaab is located in a hostile environment teaming with wild beasts, armed militants, rapists, cattle rustlers, and brigands.

Lacking the required facilities to sustain an expanding refugee population, Dadaab has long been an area of hostility predating Kenya’s independence. In the past, even before refugees started streaming in as a result of the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1990 after the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu, Dadaab had its share of artificial absurdities that included tribal clashes, the Shifta insurgency, and repeated Kenya military operations.

The kids Hamse played with in harmony during peace times became fragmented and torn apart by a prolonged war that would continue for quarter a century. Driven by a destructive man-made whirlwind, a disproportionately destructive exodus ensued that ultimately sent the entire nation run berserk to various unspecified destinations globally. Each and every affected Somali suffered the brunt of the war. Some lost their entire livelihoods and became destitute within a short period of time; others lost their loved ones; while others opted to remain and be exposed to the horrors of raging wars and famine, disease, and displacement.

With the old adage ‘great leaders are born’ now replaced by ‘great leaders are made’, Hamse struggled tooth and nail in life to grab the best opportunities that came his way by climbing the ladder of success in leadership and entrepreneurship. Thus, with the opportunities he has in America, undoubtedly, the making of Hamse as a future leader, whether in Somalia or in the U.S., is obviously on course. Highly spirited Hamse went back to school in America to get the best education. Having obtained a master’s degree and then going uphill on wards on to enlisting in doctoral studies, a position that he is currently engrossed in, Hamse seems to be headed in the right direction in terms of leadership potential.
The author is a man with an iron will, dedicated, and determined to reap the benefits of hard work after many trials and tribulations. He has lectured in schools, partook in social activities, spoke in commemorations, assisted the elderly and needy, and above all, devoted a good portion of his spare time and energy to the upliftment of his struggling community mainly newly arriving Somali refugees setting base in America.

Without education, attaining the right leadership potential and catapulting to a higher status would have been impossible for the author of this book. Hamse’s leadership pursuit comes from emulating enlightening global great giants. With that in mind, I have the strongest conviction and belief that Hamse will remain a role model for many struggling Somali and African youth who wish to prosper locally, nationally, and internationally.

By Adan Makina
WardheerNews
Email: adan.makina@gmail.com

7 awful conflicts that were under-reported in 2014

By Ishaan Tharoor

2014 has been a brutal year. The death toll of Syria's ongoing civil war likely eclipsed 200,000, while the hideous rise of the Islamic State spurred a U.S.-led bombing campaign. A separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine led to thousands of deaths and clouded relations between the West and Moscow, which is believed to be aiding the rebels. And an Israeli offensive against Hamas militants saw whole stretches of the Gaza Strip reduced to rubble.

Sadly, there was plenty of other mayhem and violence that didn't make newspaper frontpages as often. Here are seven awful conflicts that merited more attention.

Pro-government Libyan forces, who are backed by locals, aim their weapons during clashes in the streets with the Shura Council of Libyan Revolutionaries, an alliance of former anti-Gaddafi rebels, who have joined forces with the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, in Benghazi Dec. 28, 2014. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

Libya

Libya was supposed to be a success story. In 2011, the U.S. famously "led from behind," as NATO air strikes helped a rebel alliance topple the long-ruling regime of dictator Moammar Gaddafi. But what followed has been a mess.

In 2014, Libya's fragile democratic transition unraveled into open civil war between a hodgepodge of Islamist militias and tribal factions. It has drawn in rogue generals and foreign governments, and led to an absurd situation of two parallel governments claiming authority over the war-ravaged nation. Militants are battling over strategic oil towns. Just this weekend, Libyan jets pounded militant positions in the city of Misrata, once famed for its brave resistance to the Gaddafi regime.

Smoke rises from a neighborhood near the Yemeni state TV headquarters during clashes between Yemeni troops and Shiite Houthi fighters in Sana'a, Yemen,  Sept. 20, 2014. (EPA/YAHYA ARHAB)

Yemen

Another country that saw the departure of long-ruling autocrat in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Yemen is in the grips of a disastrous civil war. A rebellion led by the Houthis, a political movement that draws key support from a prominent Shiite sect, has swept away the central government and opened what some warn may turn into a dangerous sectarian conflict between Shiites and Sunni militias, including units loyal to al-Qaeda.

Assam

In India's restive northeast, many ethnic and tribal insurgencies persist. Contests over land and resources have seen frequent clashes between an array of groups, including the indigenous Bodo tribe and Muslim settlers in the state of Assam, whom some claim are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The chaos over the years has led to tens of thousands fleeing their homes. Last week, an extremist faction of Bodo fighters massacred at least 72 people from another tribal community, prompting New Delhi to launch an extensive counter-terrorism operation.

Children look at the fin of a mortar projectile that was found at the Al-Abassi camp for internally displaced persons, after an attack by rebels in Mellit town, North Darfur in this March 25, 2014 photo. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

The Sudans

In the fledgling nation of South Sudan, some 10,000 people were killed and more than 1.5 million displaced amid battles between government forces and rebel groups since December 2013. It's a depressing state of affairs for a country whose birth in 2011 was midwifed by Washington.

To the north in Sudan, the conflict-wracked Darfur region saw further violence, and half a million displaced this year alone. Yet Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, told The Washington Post earlier this month that the situation is calm and that U.N. peacekeepers should leave.

Rescuers and residents gather at the charred scene following a bomb blast at Terminus market in the central city of Jos, which killed at least 46 people, on May 20, 2014. (AFP/Getty Images)

Nigeria

There were hashtags and outrage, but little respite for Nigerians living in the shadow of Boko Haram. The Islamist extremist group, which has links to al-Qaeda, continued its campaign of terror, carrying out bombings, massacres and kidnappings. Despite an intense Nigerian government counterinsurgency in the northeast of the country, Boko Haram has grown more brazen, launching raids into neighboring countries. It has abducted hundreds of people, including many women and children. The fate of the missing Chibok schoolgirls, whose plight won worldwide attention, remainsvery much unclear.

Pakistan

Earlier this month, Pakistan experienced its worst single terror attack: a hideous Taliban assault on a school in the city of Peshawar. Many of the dozens of young students slaughtered were children of military personnel; the Taliban justified the massacre as revenge for Pakistan's campaign against certain militant groups operating in Pakistan's remote tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan. Dubbed Operation Zarb-e-Azb -- a reference to the sword of the Prophet Mohammad -- the offensive has involved air strikes and some 30,000 troops on the ground. By mid-summer, nearly a million civilians had been displaced by the conflict.

In the aftermath of the Peshawar massacre, Pakistan has intensified its strikes on the Pakistani Taliban. But critics still wonder when the Pakistani state will confront a larger history of incubating extremist Islamist groups.

Somalia and Kenya

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group that's also connected to al-Qaeda, had appeared in retreat in recent years, pushed back by U.S. counter-terror operations as well as an African Union peacekeeping operation in Somalia, the semi-lawless country where the extremists are based. But its attacks have not stopped. In 2014, suspected al-Shabaab fighters carried out a series of terror strikes in neighboring Kenya, including the slaughter of non-Muslims on a bus in November and at a quarry site a few weeks later. The violence has led to heavy-handed reprisals by the Kenyan government and fears that religious and ethnic tensions may deepen in the East African nation.

SUUGAAN KA HADLAYSA TAKOORKA DADKA LA HAYB SOOCO SOOMAALIDA - Dulmi Diid Gabooye Qeybta 1aad Mr.Midgaan

Waa Barnaamij Xiiso Leh Oo Ka Hadli Doono Xaqiraada Heyb Sooca Iyo Takoorida Dadka Farsamo Yaqaanada Ah Ee Ee Bulshada Waxtarka U Ah Iyo Xadgudubyada Loo Geysto Iyo Sidii Loo Mideyn Lahaa Xoogoda Iyo Fikirkooda Looguna Dhisi Lahaa Maamul U Gaar Ah STATE DULMI DIID GABOOYE LAND

 

SUUGAAN KA HADLAYSA TAKOORKA DADKA LA HAYB SOOCO SOOMAALIDA - Dulmi Diid Gabooye Qeybta 1aad Mr.Midgaan

Waa Barnaamij Xiiso Leh Oo Ka Hadli Doono Xaqiraada Heyb Sooca Iyo Takoorida Dadka Farsamo Yaqaanada Ah Ee Ee Bulshada Waxtarka U Ah Iyo Xadgudubyada Loo Geysto Iyo Sidii Loo Mideyn Lahaa Xoogoda Iyo Fikirkooda Looguna Dhisi Lahaa Maamul U Gaar Ah STATE DULMI DIID GABOOYE LAND

 

The Glue-Sniffing Street Kids of Somaliland

Ismail Yahye, who works for the Save the Children campaign, used to be a Somaliland street kid himself. He despairs at the pipe dreams they are fed before relocating from Ethiopia—many leave home believing the rumors about how life is so much better in Somaliland.

Mohamed poses for the camera while Ibrahim takes a hit from a glue bottle behind him.

We know you’re busy. You probably didn’t have time to read every article we published on VICE.com this year. So we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorites and will be re-featuring them on the homepage until the end of 2014. This one originally published on January 21st.

On an ordinary night, after the sun sets over Hargeisa, Somaliland, Mohamed packs up his shoe-shine kit and heads to the storm drain where he lives when he’s not working. All things considered, it’s a good spot for the 12-year-old to sleep—the discarded snack wrappers and plastic bottles help keep him warm, and when the sun creeps in each morning the shadow of a nearby skyscraper shields him from the heat.

The skyscraper, which was built in 2012 and houses a company whose business is to bring high-speed internet from neighboring Djibouti, is one of the many symbols of Hargeisa’s relative wealth. The city itself is the crown jewel of Somaliland, a self-declared republic in northwest Somalia.

Although Somaliland’s sovereignty has yet to be formally recognized by any other country or the UN, it has its own democratically elected government and a 30,000-strong military. Its nascent borders contain valuable natural resources—the Turkish oil company Genel plans to drill for oil there in the next two years—and the bustling northern port city of Berbera, which are two good reasons Somalia doesn’t want the region to secede. The government in the terror-torn capital, Mogadishu may also be clinging to the hope that Somaliland’s peace and prosperity could spill over into the rest of the region. But whatever the contours of this convoluted political landscape, at the very least Somaliland feels like a separate nation; houses in Hargeisa fly the tricolored flag the region adopted in 1996 instead of Somalia’s sky-blue standard.

Just a few decades ago, Somaliland was a broken place. Under the rule of Siad Barre, a ruthless dictator who took control of Somalia in 1969, nine years after the end of European colonial rule, Somalilanders were brutalized and disenfranchised. Barre forbade any explicit mention of the clan lines that have long divided the region from Somalia, and his troops infamously opened fire on protesters outside Hargeisa’s soccer stadium in 1990. After Barre was ousted in 1991, Somalia fell into a deadly civil war that is still being fought 23 years later. For over a decade, Hargeisa remained a tattered, smoking shell of a city.

Slowly, however, things started to change. The city has been bombing-free since 2008, which by the standards of its geopolitical neighborhood is a minor miracle. The region’s relative safety has persuaded thousands of wealthy Somalilanders who fled the unrest for the US, Europe, and Asia to return to their homeland, bringing their Western cash with them. The now autonomous region has its own currency, 16 universities, and more than 200,000 students enrolled in primary and secondary schools. If southern Somalia is a nation by name only, then Somaliland is its antithesis—a country in all but name, at least officially.

No matter how prosperous Somaliland might become, it’s doubtful that any of that good fortune will trickle down to Hargeisa’s homeless children—young outcasts living completely on their own who are at best ignored and at worst abused and treated like vermin. They are a near-constant presence, crawling around the shadows of alleys and squares in a city where poverty and wealth butt heads on nearly every street corner: shiny new office blocks sit beside ancient shacks, currency traders have set up open-air stands where they display piles of cash, Hyundais brush past donkeys down the city’s sole paved street.

Behind that street is a café that serves up coffee and soup to midmorning breakfasters. This is where I first met Mohamed. “Salam,” he said quietly after I introduced myself.

Mohamed told me that if he sleeps too close to the skyscraper that shields him from the light of dawn, a security guard beats him with an acacia branch until he bleeds. I noticed that he had an old lemonade bottle tucked under his filthy sweatshirt. It was filled with glue, perhaps the only escape he has from his harsh existence. He took huffs every few minutes as he spoke to me: “I could stop. I could definitely stop. But it’s hard… And why?”

According to the Hargeisa Child Protection Network, there are 3,000 to 5,000 homeless youth in the city, most of whom are Oromo migrants from Ethiopia. Around 200 a year complete the voyage through Somaliland and across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen, where they attempt to cross the border to Saudi Arabia and find work; many more don’t make it.

For more than four decades the Oromo have been fleeing persecution in Ethiopia, where they have long been politically marginalized. Mohamed arrived in Somaliland as part of this ongoing migration. Five years ago, he told me, his family made the 500-mile trek from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, to Hargeisa. The Somaliland government claims up to 80,000 illegal immigrants—mostly Ethiopians—reside in its territory. Many of them trickled in through the giant border of Ogaden, a vast, dusty outback on the edge of Ethiopia’s Somali Region (the easternmost of the country’s nine ethnic divisions, which, as the name implies, is mostly populated by ethnic Somalis). Some travel in cars arranged by fixers. Others make the long journey on foot. Almost all won’t make it past the border without a bribe. Given their options, a few bucks for freedom seemed liked the best deal for Mohamed’s family. But after their migration, things only got worse.

Outside downtown Hargeisa’s central market.

A short time after his family arrived in Somaliland—he’s not sure exactly when—Mohamed’s father died of tuberculosis. Quickly running out of options, he left his mother in a border town called Borama to try to eke out a living, working whatever job was available some 90 miles away in Hargeisa.

Instead Mohamed ended up where he is now, wandering around the city with his friends and fellow Ethiopian migrants Mukhtar and Hamza (all three have adopted Muslim-sounding names to better blend into the local population). Their days mostly consist of shining shoes for 500 Somaliland shillings (seven cents) a pop and taking many breaks in between jobs to sniff glue.

On a good day, the boys will combine their meager earnings and pay to sleep on the floors of migrant camps on the outskirts of town, where persecuted people from all over East Africa live in corrugated shanties in the desert. If they don’t shine enough shoes, it’s back to the storm drain. “I live in the walls,” Mukhtar said. “No one knows me.”

Though they fled Ethiopia to escape persecution, the Oromo migrants often endure even worse treatment in Hargeisa. The first time I met Mohamed’s friend Hamza he was plodding through the crowd at an outdoor restaurant, offering shoe shines in the midday sun. An older man dressed in a cream apparatchik suit like a James Bond villain sitting next to me shouted at the child, who cowered, turned, and ran away. “Fucking kids,” he said to me in perfect English. “God can provide for them.”

Reports by the local press on Hargeisa’s growing homeless- youth population have done nothing to help the kids’ reputation. The authorities have told journalists that street kids are the city’s gravest security threat amid a backdrop of tables covered with gruesome shivs, shanks, and machetes supposedly confiscated from the wily urchins. “The grown-up street children have become the new gangsters,” local police chief Mohamed Ismail Hirsi told the IRIN news agency in 2009.

Officials are similarly apathetic to the notion of helping the young migrants get out of their rut, likely because Somaliland and Somalia are already dealing with enough horrific humanitarian crises without having to worry about another country’s displaced people—in 2012, the number of Somalis fleeing their own country topped a million.

Somaliland boasts “a vibrant traditional social-welfare support system,” according to its National Vision 2030 plan—a grand scheme unveiled in 2012 that aims to continue to improve the region’s standard of living. The plan also acknowledges that “there are, however, times when vulnerable groups such as street children, displaced people, young children, and mothers are excluded from traditional social safety nets [and] the government… has a responsibility to intervene.” So far, the only evidence that the government intends to follow through with the plan is a struggling 400-capacity orphanage in Hargeisa. Unsurprisingly, government officials in Somaliland refused repeated requests for comment on this issue or any other issues pertaining to this article.

At the Somaliland government’s last count, in 2008, the region’s population was 3.5 million, but with so many people flooding in from the south and Ethiopia each year, it’s impossible to say how many hundreds of thousands more live there now. It’s hard to assign all the blame to the burgeoning nation’s embattled and overwhelmed authorities; there’s simply no room and too few resources to think too deeply about glue-addicted kids roaming the streets.

One claim that the government can’t make is that these kids have chosen to live in squalor; for them, there are no viable alternatives. Somaliland offers no government-funded public education—schools are generally run by NGOs, and other private groups rarely accept Oromo children as students. Even if they did, enrollment would be a nightmare because the vast majority of these kids are without identification, homes, or relatives living nearby. They’re often left on their own to scratch out an existence in a city that hates them and offers them next to nothing.

Ismail Yahye, who works for the Save the Children campaign, used to be a Somaliland street kid himself. He despairs at the pipe dreams they are fed before relocating from Ethiopia—many leave home believing the rumors about how life is so much better in Somaliland.

“The main reasons they come here are for economic prosperity and job opportunities,” he said. “They pay bribes at the border and come by foot. They can’t return. They’re trapped.”

The Hargeisa Child Protection Network reports that 88 percent of the city’s homeless children have suffered some form of sexual abuse or harassment. All of the boys I met denied having been raped or abused during their time on the streets, but my fixer told me he strongly believed that they were too ashamed and scared to admit to any such incidents.

Mukhtar stands outside the Ethiopian café where he shines shoes every day.

In this very unfriendly and inhospitable city, a Somali American named Shafi is one of the few residents who goes out of his way to help the kids. In another life, Shafi was a drug dealer in Buffalo, New York, a job that landed him in prison before he cleaned up his act and decided to return to the city of his birth to do good. Now he provides Hargeisa’s street urchins with the occasional meal, helps them organize games of soccer or basketball, and finds safe places where they can stay at night. But he is only one man and knows he can’t save them all. Most still end up sleeping in the drains, left to die of starvation or diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid fever. “I’ve carried quite a few dead children through these streets,” he told me.

Many kids earn small amounts of cash doing menial tasks like shoe-shining and washing cars. Others find work running alcohol, which is illegal in the Muslim state. If you ever find yourself at a party in one of Hargeisa’s sprawling, plush villas, chances are the gin in your gimlet was smuggled into the country by a kid who sleeps in a gutter.

It was with Shafi’s help that I was first able to meet Hargeisa’s Oromo children. He told me the best place to find them was around the convenience stores they visit daily to buy fresh glue. On our first attempt and without much searching, Shafi and I found a couple of kids who appeared to be homeless hanging out in an alley near a school. We spoke with them for a bit, and when I felt that everyone was comfortable I pulled out my camera. Before I could take their photos, a guy who said he was an off-duty cop appeared out of nowhere. He approached us, shouting at me in gravelly Somali and quickly confiscating the bottles of glue from the kids.

“He called you a pedophile,” Shafi translated, adding that it would benefit me to reimburse the boys for their stolen solvents.

After the cop left, one of the boys grew somber. “I hope I stop using,” he said. As he spoke I noticed the painful sores etched across his face. “I just miss my family. I haven’t seen them in years. I’m alone and no one helps me.”

The stigma that surrounds these children is such that even those trying to help them are treated with suspicion—as are reporters hoping to tell their story, as I found out the hard way one night while Shafi and I were trying to track down Mohamed and his friends.

It was a typical breezy fall evening, full of the usual scenes: men sipping tea and debating loudly, women and children hustling soup and camel meat, a mess of car horns cleaving the air. Shafi was sure the kids were nearby, but that didn’t mean much because they usually try to remain hidden so as not to cause a scene.

It didn’t take much time to spot Hamza’s tattered bootleg Barcelona soccer jersey peeking out from behind the edge of a wall. As we approached, more kids appeared from behind parked cars and emerged from alleys, and some even popped out of a nearby storm drain. Within minutes more than two dozen homeless children had surrounded us, clamoring for cash and posing for pictures. An empty square in the middle of town had suddenly transformed into a glue-sniffers’ agora.

Our time with the kids didn’t last long. A couple minutes later an old man who was lounging outside a nearby café decided he’d had enough, sprung to his feet, walked over to us, and began hitting me and the kids with his walking stick.

Some of the children scattered. Others stayed, presumably with the hope that holding out for the payout from the Western journalist would be worth the licks. In a surreal moment, as the old man continued to swing his stick and scream, one boy, who said his name was Hussein, walked over and, huffing on his glue pot, told me about his hopes and dreams. “I want to be a doctor,” he said, staggering about and staring straight through me. “Sometimes I dream when I get hungry. But there’s no food here, no help. I expected a better life. I don’t now. But sometimes, I wish.”

Just then, a scuffle broke out—the old man had lured a couple of his friends into the argument, and they came to the collective decision to grab me and smash my camera. Shafi and my driver, Mohammed, struggled to hold them back.

Two cops arrived on the scene soon after the scuffle. Instead of punishing the old man for attacking the kids and trying to destroy my camera, they dragged me off to a festering cinder-block carcass covered in graffiti that serves as the local jail.

“You cannot photograph the children without their permission,” the more senior cop said, pointing to my camera. “They do not want you to photograph them.”

Shafi translated as I tried to explain to the policeman that that the kids were clearly desperate forsomeone to be interested in their plight, and that they were even posing for pictures. That’s when I stopped, realizing that the subject wasn’t up for debate. It was clear that writing about or photographing these street children was taboo.

In the end, I compromised by deleting most of the photos I had taken and then sat in a corner of the jail while my driver, Mohammed, and my captors read one another’s horoscopes outside the gates.

A couple hours later I was released. Mohammed was waiting for me outside, and he immediately pulled me aside to tell me something that I had already accepted the moment I entered the jail: my reporting on the children had come to an end.

Mohammed looked unnerved. “We can leave now, Insha’Allah… The kids thing is over. They are invisible.”

Source: bharatpress.com

U.S. military bombs senior leader of al-Shabab terrorist group in Somalia

By Maggie Ybarra

A U.S. military drone dropped bombs on a senior leader of al-Shabab in Somalia Monday, striking another blow against the Islamic terrorist network.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement that the airstrike took place in southern Somalia, near the town of Saakow. Adm. Kirby did not identify the leader who was targeted in the airstrike.

The military carried out the operation just days after al-Shabab leader Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi surrendered to Somali police. Hersi had a $3 million bounty on his head.

The U.S. military was still searching Monday for evidence that the airstrike was successful, one senior defense official said.

“We’re still assessing the results of this operation,” the official said.

It was not known whether the senior leader of al-Shabab was traveling with other members of the terrorist network during the drone attack. No civilians were injured, Adm. Kirby said

“At this time, we do not assess there to be any civilian or bystander casualties,” he said. “We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information, when appropriate, as details become available.”

In September, the U.S. military killed former al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane in a drone strike. At the time, Adm. Kirby depicted the death of Godane as “a major symbolic and operational loss to al-Shabab.”

Over the past few years, al-Shabab supporters have seized control of towns, bombed restaurants popular with foreigners, banned the Internet and whipped women for wearing bras.

Source:  The Washington Times