continue to bleed on the pretext of the war on terror, separatist media outlets including Somalilandpress.com and Garowe Online are busy misinforming the international community on the events in Galgala and else where in Somalia. Somalilandpress published this: Sheikh Atom receiving medical care in Badhan, Puntland accused of atrocities, a story so misleading and mind boggling–as evidenced by the authors lack of geographical knowledge of the contested region. According to his fictitious topographical map, the author portraits Galgala falls “120 kilometres east of Erigavo, the provincial capital, ” not knowing the fact that Galgala is more than 260 km from Erigavo, and has never been part of the Sanaag Region. Indeed, Galgala was, and still is part of the Bari Region, the largest Somalia’s region. In a similar fashion, Garowe Online (another fictive media outlet) has released several made up stories about the war in Galgala and outlying villages. Garowe Online has been misinforming the world about the root cause of the war in Galgala, now looming in the Almadow Mountains, and likewise under-stated the casualties of the war. Garowe Online is run by President Farole’s son, Mohamed who has no media background, but howsoever is in charge of Puntland’s muzzled media. Mohamed exaggerated his father’s account:”Puntland says 96 militants killed, urges Somaliland to ‘act against terror,” Mr. Farole (a.k.a Af-Qarooc). In contrary, the war in Galgala is clan based as reported by Alisha Ryu of the VOA East Africa Bureau. In her article: Clan Rivalry Complicates Terrorism Fight in Puntland , Ms. Ryu’s investigative report has pinpointed the reality on the ground and her story angered authorities in Puntland.
Somalia has topped the list of the Most Corrupted Countries , according to Transparency International, with the worst record institutional development and poor governance, and of course the media is not an exception. The Ministry of information and Media Affairs of the current TFG has no physical office and its assigned minister passes his time jewing mira (Cathinone rich green stimulant plant) and does meaningless periodical press releases. It’s equally disheartening to see, in a desperate search for information, media giants like Google and New York Times sourcing the same media outlets that propagate unfounded, and fictitious stories.
SomalilandPress and Garowe Online are the most misleading media sources both operated outside of Somalia. And in an effort to deceive the world community, those separatists websites have inundated a new kind of propaganda machine– the ‘war on terror’ misused to target unwavering Somalis. They have one thing in common: invent and spread baseless propaganda to win the hearts and minds of the international community in order to fulfill their their wishful dreams–diplomatic recognition as independent countries, an inherent clan motive dating back in the days when SSDF and SNM took arms to topple the then Somalia’s central government. Both websites have published number of imaginary stories pertaining to Galgala conflict, and hid the facts on the ground. However, independent media confirm the war as one between the notorious Puntland Intelligence Agency (PIS) and local militia leader called Sheekh Mohamed Said Atom.
Mohamud Ahmed serve as political analysts Terror Free Somalia Foundation
Email: maash68@gmail.com
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of terror free Somali
Abdirahman Warsame is the Executive Director of the Terror Free Somalia Foundation.a national grassroots organization that opposes terrorism and supports democracy in Africa. regular contributor American Thinker http://www.americanthinker.com/abdirahman_warsame/ . .Pajamas Media and .other American conservative organization
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