Al-Shabab: Somali forces claim end to deadly 30-hour hotel siege
Somali forces claim to have defeated the militants who stormed a hotel in the capital after a bloody siege, BBC reported.
At least 12 people were killed in the deadly 30-hour ordeal, although local media reports the death toll could be even higher.
The assailants used explosives to gain entry to Mogadishu's Hayat Hotel on Friday before violently taking control and holding guests hostage overnight.
Islamist extremist group al-Shabab has taken responsibility for the attack.
"The security forces have ended the siege now and the gunmen are dead, we've had no incoming gunfire from the building in the past hour," an unnamed official told AFP news agency.
The hotel has been largely destroyed following intense bombardment by security forces throughout Friday night and Saturday, with videos showing explosions and smoke billowing from the building's rooftop. The BBC has not been able to confirm independently whether the attack has ended.A police officer told Reuters that two car bombs had been used to gain access to the hotel on Friday evening - targeting its front barrier and gate.
After the initial attack, a website affiliated to al-Shabab said a group of militants were "carrying out random shootings" after having "forcibly entered" the hotel - described as a popular location for employees of the federal government to meet.
"So far, we have confirmed 12 people, mostly civilians, died," Mohammed, an intelligence officer who gave only one name, told Reuters news agency on Saturday, according to BBC.
Security forces struggled to gain access to the floor for hours because the gunmen, who were holding an unknown number of people hostage, had reportedly bombed out the stairs needed for access as well.
The director of Mogadishu's main trauma hospital told AFP news agency that the facility was treating at least 40 people wounded in the hotel attack and a separate mortar strike on another area of the capital.
The group controls much of southern and central Somalia, but has been able to extend its influence into areas controlled by the government based in Mogadishu.
In recent weeks, fighters affiliated with the group have also attacked targets along the Somalia-Ethiopia border, which has raised concerns about a possible new strategy by al-Shabab, BBC reported.
The attack on Friday marks the first in the capital by the group since Somalia's new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May.
Signing of MoU with India raises high hopes for development of stalled West Seti Project
The 750-megwatt West Seti HydroPower Project based in the Sudurpaschim Province has entered a new phase of development with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nepal and India to this regard. Indian state-owned NHPC Limited and the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) signed the MoU to develop the much- awaited project on Thursday. The development of the storage type project listed as the project of national pride was a dream of Nepal for around forty years. Confusion over the implementation of the project was looming large with international companies: SMEC from Australia and Three Gorges from China, leaving the contracts to develop it in the mid. Now, the NHPC which carries a history of developing projects equivalent to around 7,300 megawatts in Himachal Pradesh, India and other areas has agreed to develop the West Seti and 450 –megawatt Seti River-6 Hydropower Project under a bundling model. As pledged by NHPC Chair and Managing Director Abhay Kumar Singh during the MoU signing ceremony, the Project will find its tentative shape within a year. Australian Snowy Mountain's Engineering Corporation (SMEC) has prepared a detailed project report in regard with the West Seti and China's State-owned China Three Gorges Corporation has also carried out re-study on the DPR readied by the SMEC. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Thursday's development has obviously provided a reason to believe that we need to wait a long time for our dream to come true. Nepali is making efforts to explore and reach with its untapped potentials for hydropower development which is its one of the top priorities. The decision to take the West Seti ahead is itself a significant achievement. The Arun III Hydropower Projects reports above 50 percent physical progress. Likewise, processes are ahead to develop the Lower Arun and Arun IV Projects in partnership with the Indian company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, known as SJVN, the developer of the Arun III. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who was present to grace the MoU signing-in ceremony declared the Project is crucial not only for the development of the Sudurpaschim but also for overall economic and social development of the nation. Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board Nepal, Sushil Bhatta, and Chairperson and Managing Director of NHPC, Abhay Kumar Singh, signed the MoU on Thursday. An understanding has been reached between NHPC and HIDCL regarding collaboration in the energy sector in the course of an investment summit organized by the Board in 2019. The proposer has to file an application for West Seti Hydropower Project survey permission within 45 days after signing the MoU. There is a provision that applications should be filed within six months for the Seti-6 project. An arrangement has been made where the company has to submit its report at the Board after carrying out a detailed project report within two years from getting survey permission. It might not take such a long time as all preparatory activities of the project have already been completed. The MoU has mentioned that different issues including estimated cost, market assurance, guarantee of financial sources should be incorporated in the report. The two sides would hold discussion for the Project Development Agreement (PDA) and the Board would facilitate it. The Indian Company-NHPC has already constructed hydropower projects generating more than 7,000 MW power. The company has expressed commitment to complete the project on time. NHPC to seek market in India The Board's meeting on August 8 this year had assigned NHPC to take charge of Project's works. The Indian company had proposed to seek a market in India for electricity produced in Nepal apart from making arrangements for financial and technical management of the Project. Following the visit of Nepali's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India in last April, the Project which was on 'hold' of the French, the Australian and Chinese companies from time to time is now bound to proceed in a new manner with a clear framework. The NHPC Limited has submitted an application to the Board to implement the Project through dialogues, the Board said. Board's 47th meeting had formed a committee coordinated by vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission Bishwanath Poudel to prepare a draft on the modality of development and investment of the West Seti and Seti River-6 Joint Hydropower Project. The Board had decided to implement the recommendations furnished by the Committee on the Project. Former Energy Secretary Anup Kumar Upadhyay viewed that there was no other better option than this Company which was owned by the Indian government and had specialization on the hydropower project. Upadhyay further expressed, "This project will proceed now onward since NHPC is technically and economically sound and can provide a market to the electricity produced here." The locals in the project sites were waiting forever to see the Project, initiated since 2036 BS, come to fruition. Lack of clarity on modality of construction, lack of decision on construction of transmission line, settlement of the displaced ones and no determination on market for the produced electricity among others had pushed the Project in limbo for a long time. Now the Sudurpaschim folks are confident that the Project works will move ahead. The Chinese company- Three Gorges – had also cited the same reason when it pulled out of the project. According to officials involved in the project, the Australian company, Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC), which was engaged in preparing the detailed project report (DPR) of the project since August 1989, submitted its report in 1992. The agreement signed with SMEC on the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model was never implemented. SMEC kept the project 'on hold' for 18 years although it kept on saying it was constructing the project. Deciding that 'enough is enough', the government itself took ownership of the project in 2011. SMRC had stated that it will sell the electricity produced from the project to India and transfer the project in its current condition to the government 30 years from the date of starting power production.
CPN (Maoist Center) fails to finalize office bearers today also
A Standing Committee meeting of the CPN (Maoist Center) held on Friday morning failed to finalize the names of the office bearers today also. Emerging from the meeting, party spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the meeting to be held on Saturday will finalize the names of the office bearers. The meeting held on Wednesday had finalized all the committees except the office bearers. It has been said that the names of Standing Committee members Dinanath Sharma, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Ganesh Shah, Pampha Bhusal and Haribol Gajurel have already been endorsed for the post of vice-chairperson. Leaders said that the names of Barshaman Pun, Janardan Sharma and Giriraj Mani Pokharel have almost been finalized for the post of deputy general secretary. Though Pun and Sharma have been claiming the post of general secretary, party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal decided to appoint them as the deputy general secretary after the duo failed to reach consensus. The general convention of the party held on January 22 had endorsed the names of 236 central members.
Chinese envoy to US Qin Gang says US to blame for tension across Straits
It's not China but the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and the United States that are changing the status quo of the Taiwan Straits, and Beijing's countermeasures following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the Taiwan region are justifiably strong, and are not an overreaction as a "pretext" for a "new normal". The remarks were made by Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang when he met with a group of US media representatives in Washington on Tuesday, two weeks after Pelosi's provocative trip to Taiwan, which came despite strong opposition from China, ChinaDaily reported. While the visit seriously violated the one-China principle and the commitments made by the US, some in the US do not recognize and correct their mistakes but choose to "confound black with white and reverse the narrative, slinging mud at China", Qin said. Last week, US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell claimed that China used the visit as a "pretext" to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan and to try to change the status quo. However, Qin said, "a basic fact is, the US side took the first step to provoke China on the Taiwan question. This has openly infringed on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." Beijing had made utmost efforts to prevent this crisis from being imposed on China, including expressing firm opposition at various levels and through various channels, and warning that if Pelosi made the visit, there would be very serious consequences and a firm and forceful response, Qin said. "To our regret, the United States chose not to listen," he said, and urged the US to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques. The joint communiques, including the August 17 Communique, constitute the political foundation for bilateral ties and are all based on the one-China principle, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday, which marked the 40th anniversary of the publication of the China-US Communique on US Arms Sales to Taiwan, commonly known as the August 17 Communique, according to ChinaDaily. "It was because ... the US recognized that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China ... that the two countries with different social systems and ideologies and at different development stages started dialogue and cooperation and achieved important outcomes that benefited both sides and the world at large," he said. However, the US has seriously violated the one-China principle by substantially relaxing restrictions on official exchanges with the Taiwan region, increasing military contact with the island and selling weapons to it on a larger scale and with enhanced capability. "The US must bear all the consequences for escalating tensions across the Taiwan Straits," Wang said. According to the spokesman, more than 170 countries have voiced their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to the US' provocation. Among them are 20 heads of state, seven deputy or vice-heads of state, and nine heads of government. In another development, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday that the Chinese mainland's punitive measures on die-hard "Taiwan independence" separatists, including banning them from entering the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, are completely justified, reasonable and legitimate. Anyone who endangers national sovereignty, security and development interests cannot escape justice, Ma said, after the Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan claimed that the sanctions announced on Tuesday are "null and void". Ma said that more necessary measures will be adopted to foil any attempt to split the country if the DPP authorities continue to support the provocations of die-hard "Taiwan independence" separatists, ChinaDaily reported.
