11 Jul 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- President repeats his call for urgent humanitarian assistance
- Displaced Somalis pour into refugee camps
- Al Shabaab compel residents to contribute fighters
- Increasing piracy in Somalia’s Bari region worries Elders
- Brit special forces raid in Somalia
- Al Shabaab abducts children from suburb in western Mogadishu
- President Museveni pays tribute to bomb victims
- Terrorism remains a real threat
SOMALI MEDIA
President repeats his call for urgent humanitarian assistance
11 Jul – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle – 118 words
The President on Sunday repeated his call for urgent humanitarian assistance for drought displaced Somalis in Mogadishu and other regions in Somalia. President Sheikh Sharif also appealed to parliamentarians and government officials to play a key role in assisting those who have been displaced by the drought. The leader made the appeal while addressing parliamentarians in meeting held on Sunday. He also appealed to Somalis in the Diasporas to provide assistance, which is needed to save the lives of thousands of Somalis affected by the devastating drought.
Al Shabaab compel residents to contribute fighters
10 Jul – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 177 words
Residents are being forced to give up their sons as fighters or pay camels to al Shabaab in Adan Yabal district in Lower Shabelle region. Traditional elders in El-ba’ad, Hilowle-Gab, Ad-Adey, Nuur Dugle and Mohamed Said settlements in Lower Shabelle region have been forced to either bring a boy from every household to fight along side al Shabaab or pay two camels as a contribution to the militia. Speaking on conditions on anonymity to radio Bar-kulan, some of the elders have voiced concerns about the forceful recruitment of children by al Shabaab at a time when locals in the district are facing the effects of a severe drought. The elders have condemned al Shabaab’s actions, which they say evoke memories of mistreatment faced by many during Somalia’s colonial era.
2 killed as Somali forces, al Shabaab clash in southern Somalia
11 Jul – Source; Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye – 178 words
Two people were killed in fighting between Somali government backed by Ahlu Sunna Waljama (ASWJ) and al Shabaab in Garbaharey town, the regional capital of Gedo region, officials said on Monday. According to reports from Gedo region the armed confrontation started after al Shabaab fighters pounded volleys of artillery rounds into Garbaharey town where Somali forces are stationed. Sheikh Mohamed Hussein, the spokesman of ASWJ in Gedo region told Shabelle Media Network that fighting broke out when Somali government forces backed by ASWJ launched a surprise attack on al Shabaab military bases in the region.
Somali parliament to discuss Kampala accord once again
11 Jul – Source: Mareeg Online – 146 words
The transitional parliament of Somalia plans to hold another meeting in Mogadishu to discuss Kampala accord after yesterday’s meeting ended in disagreement and shouting, MPs said on Monday. The speaker of the parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden chaired the meeting that was held yesterday and was attended by President Sheik Sharif and the prime minister, Dr. Abdiweli Gas. Several lawmakers who spoke to the media said they would not approve the Kampala accord signed by the speaker of the parliament and the president in Uganda on 9th July, 2011.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=20358&tirsan=3
Al Shabaab abducts children from suburb in western Mogadishu
08 Jul – Source: Diirad Online – 164 words
Al Shabaab has abducted thirteen children between Afgoi district in eastern lower Shabelle region and Mogadishu. The children have reportedly been taken to al Shabaab training camps in Lower Shabelle region, families confirmed. “Thirteen young children have been taken hostages by al Shabaab fighters from Elasha Biyaha and Hawa Abdi residents. They (al Shabaab fighters) said the children are trained to fight infidels (TFG). All the children have been taken training camps in Lanta Buro,” said Shukri a mother of one of the abducted children who herself spent a night in a jail after she got angry from al Shabaab’s recruitment of her child.
http://www.diirad.com/news-in-english/3327-al-shabab-abducts-children-at-mogadishu-westernsuburb. htmlhttp://www.diirad.com/news-in-english/3327-al-shabab-abducts-children-atmogadishu- western-suburb.html
Somaliland grounds Djibouti Air over safety
10 Jul – Source: Somaliland Press – 240 words
The Civil Aviation Minister, Mohamud Hashi Abdi declared on Saturday that Djibouti Air operations in Somaliland have been suspended with immediate effect over safety concerns during a press conference held in his office. Mr Abdi said his office was alerted by passengers who raised concern about the airline’s safety and service operations. Somaliland Civil Aviation Safety Authority carried out its own inspection and undertook surveillance between the Berbera-Dubai routes.
The minister said after the endings were reported to his office, they believe permitting the airline to continue to fly poses a serious and imminent risk to air safety. He said they have officially suspended the twice-weekly flights between the Djibouti capital and Berbera and Berbera and Dubai. Djibouti Air made its first maiden flight to Somaliland just two months ago when it delivered a Somaliland delegation including the President from Berbera to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
http://somalilandpress.com/somaliland-grounds-djibouti-air-over-safety-22930
Increasing piracy in Somalia’s Bari region worries Elders
10 Jul – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 155 words
Traditional elders in areas along the coastal strips of Somalia’s Bari region are worried about the increasing presence of pirates in the area. The elders say an increasing number of pirates are now flocking into various settlements along the coastal line after Puntland authorities waged full scale operations against pirates Bosaso, Garowe and Galkayo. Reliable sources from the coastal areas between Bargal and Hurdiyo in Bari region told Bar-kulan that elders from the region are meeting in a bid to curb increasing piracy related activity in the area. The pirates are now said to be holding a captive Danish family and their vessel in Rasu-bina settlement, near Bargal district.
Somali soldiers clash in Mogadishu
11 Jul – Source: Shabelle – 90 words
Two people were killed and others injured in fighting between Somali government forces on Sunday in Mogadishu, reports said. The confrontation erupted between the soldiers over the control of a house in Taleh neighborhood in Mogadishu’s Hodan district. Reports said that the injured soldiers were immediately taken to the local hospitals for treatment. No government official has so far made any comments about the incident.
http://www.shabelle.net/article.php?id=8615
Beled-Hawo pioneer dies at the age of 110
10 Jul – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 131 words
The pioneer of Somalia’s border town of Beled-Hawo has died in her rural home village, seven Kilometers from Beled-Hawo town, which is named after her. Hawo Osman Gurey, aged 110, died in her home in Amin village. Hawo is said to be the first person to settle Beled-Hawo early in 1910, where she first built a makeshift house before it was demolished by the colonial authorities.
Being the only makeshift house in a densely forested area, Somali travelers used Hawa’s place as a transit camp to break their journey before proceeding to their destined areas. Beled-Hawo, which means “Hawa’s Town”, is a border town along the Kenyan -Somalia border and it served as Gedo’s provincial headquarter before it was transferred to Garbaharey in 1985.
Somalia’s consultative meeting will be held in Garowe: Puntland
11 Jul – Source: Shabelle – 139 words
The President of Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland on Monday said that the forthcoming consultative meeting on Somalia will be held in Garowe in Puntland. In an interview with BBC Somali Service, the leader of Puntland said he held talks with the UN special envoy to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga about holding the meeting in Garowe.
http://www.shabelle.net/article.php?id=8612
Military court in Puntland sentences more 40 soldiers
11 Jul – Source: Mareeg Online – 160 words
More than 40 soldiers have been sentenced by the military court of the semi-autonomous region of Puntlnad in Bosaso town of Bari region in Puntland according to official. The attorney general, Mr. Abdikarin Hassan Warsame said that 50 of the troops were brought before the court in connection with crimes related to robbing civilians.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=20351&tirsan=3
REGIONAL MEDIA
President Museveni pays tribute to bomb victims
11 Jul – Source: New Vision – 441 words
President Yoweri Museveni has paid tribute to July 11, 2010 bomb victims urging the international community to take decisive action to end the Somalia tragedy. In statement released Sunday night, the President said Somalia is now a threat to the economies of Eastern Africa and the world.
He made the call in his remembrance statement on the eve of the July 11 al-Shabaab twin bombings in Kampala that left 76 people dead and hundreds of others injured. “As we remember our citizens who lost their lives at the hands of terrorist bombs planted in Kampala, on 11th July, 2011, I send my deepest condolences to their families. I want their families to know that we will never forget this tragic day. We will always mourn for the youth and vigor destroyed by senseless terrorists,” he said.
Ugandans today July 11, mark the first anniversary of the al-Shabaab twin bombings in Kampala. The memorial service led by the Inter- religious council of Uganda and the Uganda Christian Council is taking place at Kyadondo Rugby Club ground, Lugogo.
“At the same time, I want to appeal to our Somali brothers and sisters to help us so that we help them. We do not have any other interest in Somalia except ideological reasons of Pan-Africanize. We want Africa to be free of all foreign interference; including by these idiots called extremists. Those who died here in Kampala, where there was no war frontline, paid the ultimate price for our country’s commitment to Pan-Africanize. I salute each and every one of them,” he added. The President said the situation in Somalia has now evolved into a real problem for the whole Eastern Africa and even the world.
“Somalia is the exporter of terrorism in the whole area. The pirates have made shipping to this region very expensive since ships must make huge diversions in vain attempts to avoid the pirates. Therefore, Somalia is now a threat to the economies of Eastern Africa,” he said.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/759945
Great Famine of 2011: Tragedy looms in the Horn
10 Jul – Source: the East African – 150 words
In 1984, a Kenyan photographer and cameraman named Mohamed Amin shocked the world into action with his images of famine victims in Ethiopia. Today, 15 years after he was tragically killed in the crash of a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines flight off the Comoros Islands, famine once again stalks the Horn of Africa, threatening the lives of 10 million people in what the USAid-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Few Net) describes as one of the world’s most severe food security emergencies.
Perhaps no country in the region is as badly affected as Somalia. The Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) estimates that 2.85 million people — a third of the population — are now in humanitarian crisis and in need of urgent assistance, an increase of 42.5 per cent over the figure in December 2010. “We are no longer on the verge of a humanitarian disaster; we are in the middle of it now,” Isaq Ahmed, the chairman of the Mubarak Relief and Development Organization, a local NGO working in the south of the country, told IRIN on June 28. “It is happening and no one is helping.”
Indeed, the numbers coming out of Somalia paint a terrible picture of a population caught in a perfect storm of calamities: A two-decade long brutal conflict that has seen the country play host to one of the largest displaced populations in the world; the worst drought in a generation has precipitated a sharp decline in food production; rising food prices mean that even the little available is out of reach of the impoverished population; and funding shortfalls for relief agencies resulting from a faltering global economy.
Somali-Australian immigrants have a bright future in their new country
10 Jul – Source: the East African – 616 words
The feature on Somali-Australians published in the June 27- July 3 edition of The East African Magazine, tells the important story of some first-generation Somali-Australian immigrants in Melbourne. It provides some insights into the challenges that newly arrived migrants can face in re-establishing their lives in a new country — even a vibrant multicultural society like Australia’s. But it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Somali immigrants do not face these challenges alone. The Australian government and community groups offer a range of programmers and services to make the transition easier. Most importantly, I would like to correct the erroneous impression created by Ralph Johnstone’s article that – as the headline put it – “If you’re Somali, don’t bother to look for a job.” On the contrary, over time, many Somali-Australians are finding gainful employment. An important government-commissioned report was released last month on the economic, social and civic contributions of first- and second-generation humanitarian entrants to Australia. In it, Prof Graeme Hugo from the University of Adelaide found that only a minority of Somali-Australians experience an extended period in low-paid, low-status employment niches in the “secondary labour market.”
Al Shabaab kidnap two in Mandera
11 Jul – Source: the Standard – 88 words
Two Kenyan have been abducted by men believed to be Somalia’s Al Shabaab militant group last Friday. The two were taken away with their Land Cruisers by gunmen in Mandera`s Arabia Division. Security officials said the vehicles were carrying Miraa at the time of the incident and no recovery had been made by Saturday evening. An officer who was manning the area said the gunmen escaped with the vehicles towards Gadondow area in Somalia, usually manned by Al Shabaab militiamen.
Terrorism remains a real threat
10 Jul – Source: New Vision – 287 words
Today July 11, marks one year since the terrorists carried out suicide bombings in Kampala, killing 76 people and injuring scores of others. Most of the victims were Ugandans, but there were also a number of foreign nationals killed in the blast. Many families still grieve over the death of their dear ones. Many more who were lucky to survive the attacks are still traumatized.
The suicide bombing was carried out against crowds watching the 2010 World Cup final match. Al-Shabaab, an Islamist Somali militia with close ties to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying it was in retaliation for Uganda’s support for peace-keeping operations in Somalia (AMISOM). Following the suicide bomb attacks, the Uganda Police jointly with other security agencies in the country and outside, mounted extensive investigations into the heinous acts. Scores of suspects were apprehended, many of them extradited from Kenya and most recently from Tanzania. As of today, 17 suspects are on remand pending trial in connection with the attacks.
The security agencies must be commended for the extensive investigations that led to the arrests. It is important to note that although a bigger number of people were arrested in days after the blasts, the majority were cleared. It means the security agencies carried out the investigations in a very professional way.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/14/759873
17 illegal Somali and Ethiopian immigrants held in Taita Taveta
10 Jul – Source: Nairobi Star – 148 words
Kenya Wildlife Services have arrested 17 illegal immigrants from Somalia and Ethiopia as they attempted to cross into Tanzania after walking through the sprawling Tsavo National Park. Tsavo east national park senior warden Samuel Rukaria and the Taveta AP boss Richard Munyoki said the 11 Ethiopians and six Somalis aged between 20 and 30 years were hiding in a valley near the Tanzania border. Police said the immigrants had no valid documents to be in the country while others were found with fake identification papers.
UN: Somalia is ‘worst Humanitarian disaster’
11 Jul – Source: Aljazeera – 674 words
The Head of the United Nations Refugee agency has described the situation in drought-hit Somalia as the “worst humanitarian disaster” in the world, after meeting with those affected at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.
The camp, located in the northeast and the world’s largest in the world, is overflowing with tens of thousands of refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and within Kenya. Antonio Guterres, the head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), visited the camp on Sunday, appealing for “massive support” from the international community for the more than 380,000 people estimated to be living in Dadaab.
“I have no doubt that in today’s world; Somalia corresponds to the worst humanitarian disaster. I have never seen in a refugee camp people coming in such desperate conditions,” he told Al Jazeera. “I saw a mother that had lost three of her children on the way here.” Guterres said that those at the camp were “the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable of the vulnerable”.
The UNHCR chief is on a tour of the region in order to highlight the plight of those affected by the drought. The World Food Programme estimates that more than 10 million people are already in need of humanitarian aid, with the UN Children’s Fund estimating at least two million children are suffering from malnourishment. Those children are in need of lifesaving action, the UN says. On Thursday, Guterres visited the Ethiopian camp of Dollo Ado.
“The mortality rates we are witnessing are three times the level of emergency ceilings,” he said. “The level of malnutrition of the children coming in is 50 per cent. That is enough to explain why a very high level of mortality is inevitable.”
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/20117114319179235.html
Displaced Somalis pour into refugee camps
10 Jul – Source: AlJazeera – 78 words
Thousands of Somali refugees fleeing drought in their home country are continuing to pour into the Dadaab refugee camp in neighboring Kenya. People have lost their homes, their livestock and their livelihoods. Many are preparing to be at Dadaab for a long time to come. Although Somalia is the worst affected by the drought in the Horn of Africa, some 12 million people across the region are also at risk.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/07/2011710184514798690.html
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Brit special forces raid in Somalia
11 Jul – Source: the Sun – 254 words
Brit special forces troops have mounted a daring secret surveillance operation inside terror hotspot Somalia for the first time. A crack team led by the Special Boat Service spent more than eight perilous weeks checking out ports where pirates dock hijacked tankers. Sources say it is the first time Britain has placed “boots on the ground” in the lawless African country – the worlds biggest terror breeding ground. The hand-picked team included Royal Marine Commandos who linked up with French Special Forces.
They needed all their specialist skills to evade capture as they penetrated deep into Somalia. They also used high-powered rigs to sail up close to ships in port. It is understood they returned from the mission a few weeks ago. Pirates brazenly anchor hijacked vessels, march hostages to camps inland then negotiate ransoms for the return of crews and cargoes.
The cash is then funneled to the al-Qaeda-backed terror network Al Shabaab, which rules large swathes of the crisis-torn nation. An insider said: “There are countless ports where hijacked ships are docked. SBS troops built up a security picture. “They moved along the coast at will and used their elite training to avoid detection by the militant factions and warlords running Somalia.”
Time is running out fast for Somalia
10 Jul – Source: the Post – 1057 words
Once again, a drastic food crisis has hit the Horn of Africa, with more than ten million people at risk of starvation over the coming months if speedy assistance does not reach them. The culmination of a perfect storm of events, Somalia is the epicentre of the crisis with nearly three million people – more than one in three – now living in crisis.
I have worked in this region on and off since 2006 and responded to three droughts, but I have never experienced the scale of the unfolding situation in the south of Somalia, where people are now one step away from famine. As millions of people face a future with little prospect of food, a major funding shortfall is threatening to make famine inevitable, as access to communities improves.
Many will remember the devastating images of the 1984/ 1985 famine, when Live Aid brought the message of death and despair to our screens, or the image of an emotional President Mary Robinson visibly shaken by what she saw on a visit to famine-hit Somalia in 1992. Withtears in her eyes, Robinson spoke of her shame at what she had seen, saying that it was ‘‘not acceptable that human beings are in the degrading, humiliating situation in which they find themselves”, which she said diminished us all as human beings.
A quarter of a million Somalis died from hunger in horrific conditions that year. Many more would have died if agencies like Concern had not provided food, nutrition services and water to hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation. Against this haunting history of a country mired in conflict, donors may be torn between a desire to respond and feeling of utter helplessness that whatever they give will never be enough to force lasting change.
http://www.thepost.ie/news/world/time-is-running-out-fast-for-somalia-57347.html?
CULTURE/BLOGS/EDITORIAL
Editorial: We’ll always remember
10 Jul – Source: The Observer – 342 words
On July 11, 2010, loud explosions ripped through Kyadondo Rugby Grounds and the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kampala, killing 76 people and injuring many more. The mainly young crowds had gathered in the two entertainment venues, like many others in many places across the country and the world, to watch the finals of the football World Cup that was being played in South Africa. This senseless bloodletting was followed by excruciating pain, and tears, across the country, as Uganda mourned.
Exactly one year later tomorrow, the pain may have eased for many, but for some it remains as piercing as it did twelve months ago. While some wounds have healed, the scars are permanent. Over the last one month, moving stories in the press have chronicled the suffering and pain that this barbaric act meted on the victims and survivors.
For all of them, and for Uganda as a whole, life will never be the same again. A terrorist group named Al Shabaab, which is based in Somalia, was said to have claimed responsibility for the attacks. Indeed, this extremist group had warned several times and continues to warn of reprisals on Uganda for having its soldiers as part of the African Union (AMISOM) mission in the lawless Horn of Africa country.
Notwithstanding the extremists’ grievances, bombing innocent civilians should never be a method of work. Violence begets violence, and must never be an option. Likewise, extremism is a form of intolerance that must never be allowed to succeed.
Fortunately, the Ugandan spirit and way of life have not been broken as the extremists had probably wished. The places that were bombed have since recovered and it’s business as usual there. Extremists thrive on spreading fear but Ugandans have refused to be intimidated. However, let’s not delude ourselves that the threat is over. The terrorists will keep on trying, so we must not let our guard down. That’s why our security forces are called upon to remain vigilant to avert any further attacks.