tv Africa Eye BBC News January 12, 2020 3:30am-4:01am GMT
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iran's admission that it accidentally shot down a ukrainian airliner, killing all on board, has prompted angry protests on the streets of the capital, tehran. some demonstrators are calling for the country's supreme leader to step down. president trump has expressed his support for the protestors. air accident experts have flown from canada to iran to help in the investigation into the crash, in which 57 canadians died. prime minister trudeau has demanded a full and complete inquiry and says many more steps need to be taken. in total, 176 people were killed. the queen is to host crisis talks with princes charles, william and harry at sandringham on monday. it is in the wake of a decision by harry and meghan to step back from their prominent roles in the royal family. the summit is expected to look at a range of possibilities.
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now on bbc news, africa eye: my bloody country. jamal osman, a somali journalist, searches for answers to the cycle of violence that has ripped his country apart for the last three decades. this programme contains disturbing images. this was meant to be a safe haven. a place where children could grow up in peace, away from somalia's civil war. a place where people could live their lives. but what happened here injuly shattered that illusion. explosion.
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26 dead, 56 injured. lives changed forever. my name is jamal osman. i am a somali journalist who for years has been searching for answers to the end of a cycle of violence which has ripped my country apart for three decades. in kismayo, i thought i had found answers. a place which was secure. a place which was peaceful. a place which offered hope. but in my country, tragically,
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nothing is ever that simple. another day in somalia. another fighting patrol to the frontline, by the jubbaland armed forces. young somali men gearing up to kill other young somali men, the way it has been for much of my life. these soldiers are going to an area controlled by al—sha bab, the most powerful militant group in africa, and al-qaeda's affiliate in somalia. among them is an elite unit known as the rohan, meaning "the unseen." made up of former al—shabab fighters, they know their enemy well. commanderjalid reminds them how they are expected to behave.
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i am travelling with commanderjalid in an armoured vehicle. he is receiving regular updates from his informants inside al—shabab. while they are not telling us exactly where, they are planning to attack al—shabab. chanting. this is al—shabab. i am no stranger to them, having interviewed them many times. they are a formidable enemy. formed around 2006, al—shabab controls large swathes of territory in southern and central somalia, including parts ofjubbaland.
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they want to overthrow the somali government and establish a state based on their interpretation of islam. berhani village, 50 kilometres outside kismayo, jubbaland's regional capital. jubbaland forces search the area. they rush to a house where they are told al—shabab fighters are hiding. but they find nothing. it is typical of a frontline which is fluid, and of an enemy which is everywhere but nowhere. commanderjalid tries to win villages over to the jubbaland cause. residents must turn out, otherwise they will be seen as al—shabab members. but look closely. it is all old men, women and children.
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president madobe is popular here for creating a sense of peace and security. there has not been a major attack by al—shabab since he came to power seven years ago. by contrast, in the somali capital, mogadishu, major attacks are commonplace. the pomp and ceremony, coupled with the messages of security, is designed to remind everyone the presidential election is weeks away. and president madobe wants
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another four—year term. this is a man who has become one of the most powerful politicians in somalia. when i travelled to kismayo earlier this year, i was impressed with the society madobe has created. he has his critics who say he is an authoritarian figure who favours his clan. he has also fallen out of favour
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with the government in mogadishu. but madobe gave me hope that perhaps jubbaland offered a glimpse into what my country could be: a stable and peaceful place. on the plane here, i sat next to someone who agreed. ...and me, hodan nalayeh, the founder of integration tv and a proud somali, sharing somali stories all over the world... hodan nalayeh was a fellow somali journalist who grew up in canada but decided to return with the aim of highlighting developments in our motherland. in somalia, you just enjoy being an everyday person. i love it here. keeping kismayo safe is a complex politicaljuggling act, and president madobe needs to work hard, most especially in areas recently captured from al—shabab. military discipline is key to building public confidence
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in his rule. if soldiers kill a civilian — which has happened — they can't be executed. meeting with elders here is crucial. in somalia's clan—based society, these men hold the real power. if he keeps them happy he will keep this place safe, and more importantly, they won't give their sons to al—shabab.
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it is a dramatic transformation for a figure who was once an islamist fighter himself. he turned against his former jihadist comrades following two years of captivity in ethiopia. released in 2009, he went on to battle them for control of kismayo. in 2012, with the help of kenyan forces, he was victorious.
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others here have taken this same path. the rohan, a special unit made up of former al—shabab fighters. i met them to find out why they turned against their former comrades. their commander is abdelkader. but being a rohan is risky. abdelkader says he was targeted by al—shabab. today is abdelkader‘s day off, and he had time to see his family
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here, some without trial. jubbaland authorities say these men are all al—shabab. mohammed and ilyas are accused of killing this man. sheikh abdullahi made his name as an al—shabab preacher, but he later turned against the militants, preaching anti—al—shabab messages. he was executed in broad daylight in this city three years ago. mohammed and ilyas have agreed to talk to us.
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it is friday, weekend in somalia. a day of family and prayer. the president is here. in the late afternoon, families relax. our cameraman, ahmed farah, films them. suddenly, he hears a loud bang, and the children start running, scared and shouting, "explosion! explosion!" in that moment, seven years of safety and security in kismayo is gone.
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this is cctv footage of the explosion. it was an al—shabab attack on the medina hotel as people were taking afternoon tea. a suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the hotel gates. moments after these pictures were captured, three al—shabab gunmen stormed the hotel compound and the slaughter starts. ahmed, our cameraman, sped towards the sounds of shooting and grenade attacks with his driver and ourarmy guard. gunfire.
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and left two young sons behind. hodan will never leave kismayo — the city she praised to the whole world. she was buried alongside her husband farid, also killed in the attack, on the outskirts of the city. the attack has undermined everything president madobe has worked for, his authority diminished. in the aftermath, he heads to the airport to oversee the evacuation of the worst wounded. it is important to show he is in charge.
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before the attack, you could see local residents were going about their daily lives, which says this is a peaceful city, people were walking around late in the evening. but since the attack, the mood has changed. in august, president madobe was elected for another four years. will he manage to restore security here? perhaps. but i question whether there will ever be a time when somalia's cycle of violence
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isles, especially across the north and west. and the last of that wind and west. and the last of that wind and rain is still going to be had in the first part of sunday across central and southern parts of the british isles but it soon moves away, followed by a little feature there, just gathering the showers together and delaying the final clea ra nce together and delaying the final clearance of all of the cloud and rain from the eastern shores until about sort of late morning lunchtime and then it turns into a much brighter, much fresher feeling sort of day. one or two showers there from northern ireland, the bulk of the showers across northern and western parts of scotland and they will be wintry on the high ground, urged along by a notable southwest wind but nowhere near as windy across the piste as it was during saturday. but it will fill fresher across the north of england, northern ireland and much of scotland. further south it mayjust hold onto temperatures in double figures. the week to come potentially destructive winds, some heavy rain at times, it will be on the mild side again and you may have to wait until later in the week for dry weather.
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this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: anti—government protests after the iranian authorities finally admit accidentally shooting down the ukrainian passengerjet. as canada's air accident experts head to iran, prime minister trudeau demands a full and complete inquiry into the crash, in which 57 canadians died. the queen meets other senior royals on monday to discuss harry
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