11 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Military vows to extend its offensives against al Shabaab to other parts of the country
- Al Shabaab militants driven out of Mogadishu AMISOM claims
- Somali president joins citizens in mourning attack
- Somalis in Minnesota condemn suicide bombing in Somalia
- Erdoğan calls for more security aid for famine-stricken Somalia
- Six foreign fighters seen in Mogadishu
- SOS Mogadishu fully evacuated for first time since 1985
- Italy to use military to guard merchant ships against pirates
SOMALI MEDIA
Military vows to extend its offensives against al Shabaab to other parts of the country
11 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, Bar-kulan, Kulmiye- 138 words
Somalia’s military chief, Gen. Abdikarin Yussuf Adan Dego-badan has promised to continue and extend the TFG forces’ offensives against the rebel group to other parts of the country.
Speaking to the media in the frontline, Gen. Dego-badan appealed to the youth not to be lured into militancy and urged those who are already involved to surrender and join the government forces in defending the public.
He thanked the general public for their support in ensuring that extremists do not hide in their areas, saying that their support has seen the government troops overrun militant bases in Hiliwa district.
AU and TFG forces have on Monday driven the rebel group out of its remaining stronghold in the capital, Mogadishu.
Areas liberated from the militant group includes SOS Hospital, former Pasta Factory and several other areas in the northern part of the capital.
Al Shabaab militants driven out of Mogadishu, AMISOM claims
11 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Risaala, and Kulmiye- 149 words
African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia have said they took control of the entire city from al Shabaab following yesterday’s deadly clashes in the capital, Mogadishu.
African Union mission in Somalia spokesman, Paddy Ankunda, said they, together with TFG troop,s flushed Islamist rebels out of their remaining strongholds in the capital Mogadishu.
Ankunda said they captured Huriwa district after a joint operation by the government and AMISOM on Monday morning.
He said they pushed al Shabaab to an area out of mortar range of civilians.
He added that it has been a big achievement to remove al Shabaab from the city and put an end to the fighting that disrupted so many lives, saying that protection of civilians from attacks like last week’s remains the biggest challenge.
The new offensive comes just four days after an al Shabaab truck bomber killed over 70 people in Mogadishu.
Six foreign fighters seen in Mogadishu
10 Oct-Source: Somaliareport- 123 words
Residents in Huriwa and Daynile districts of Mogadishu confirmed to Somalia Report that at least six non-Somali militant fighters joined hundreds of al Shabaab insurgents already fighting against government and African Union forces in the Somali capital.
The foreigners have been operating from Suqa-Holaha village, in Huriwa district, in the recent days. They were brought to the area to direct the latest hit and run attacks on the capital. Some of the foreigners are believed to be from Kenya, Pakistan and Yemen according to the resident who requested to be called Hamdi.
Hmadi told Somalia report that some of the foreigners pray at the local mosque in Suqa-Holaha village with several al Shabaab leaders including Sheikh Abdikadir Mumun, a senior preacher in the group.
IDPs in Puntland receive aid from Kuwait
10 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 153 words
Humanitarian aid delivery from the Kuwaiti government has been distributed to over five hundred internally displaced families in Waberi refugee camp in Garowe, Puntland.
The Kuwaiti aid comprising of flour, sugar, dates and cooking oil was channeled through a local aid agency, Puntland Agency for Social Welfare (PASWE), with each family receiving 10 kg of sugar, a sack of rice, a sack of flour and three liters of cooking oil as well as 2 kg of dates.
The beneficiaries are said to be needy families in Waberi refugee camp in Garowe who earlier fled parts of southern Somalia, including Bay and Bakol regions.
PASWE director Abdishakur Mohamud Gurey told the media that his agency has distributed the desperately needed humanitarian aid to over 500 needy families.
Puntland’s state minister for good governance Farah Isse Gashan called the distribution of the aid as a timely response to the humanitarian crisis facing the drought and famine victims in the area.
Somalis in Minnesota condemn suicide bombing in Somalia
11 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, Star Tribune- 95 words
Somali-American communities in Minnesota condemn the deadliest suicide bombing attack in Somalia’s history.
More than 100 people – many of them students – were killed last Tuesday in Mogadishu when a truck bomb exploded outside the Ministry of Education building. The insurgent group al Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the attack.
“If we don’t oppose them, vocally and any way possible, then they will take over Somalia,” said Abdulkadir (Ato) Mohamed, one of the event’s organizers.
Among those who spoke out was Abdirashid Addow, whose brother was killed in the blast: “it’s painful. My brother died, but the issue is bigger than my brother,” he said according to a translation. “Somalis should unite against the al Shabaab mindset, which is wrong.”
Al Shabaab abandon its bases in Suqa-holaha, Mogadishu
11 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 103 words
Al Shabaab rebel group in Mogadishu have pulled out of their positions in Suqa Holaha (livestock market) for fear of attacks from TFG and AU forces, locals say.
Reports say locals are fleeing their homes fearing deadly clashes between remnant militant fighters and TFG forces. However the area still remains calm.
Business centers and public transport in the area are reportedly operating as usual despite the prevailing tension in the area.
The area is one of the few areas under the control of rebels in the capital. AU and TFG forces have on Monday launched attacks on militant strongholds in north of Mogadishu.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali President joins citizens in mourning attack
11 Oct – Source: Daily Monitor ( Uganda) – 209 words
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and other Somali officials joined thousands of angry citizens at Cons Stadium in north Mogadishu on Sunday to demonstrate against the suicide attack that killed at least 100 people.
A Somali slogan ‘Maxaad igu maagtay oo ii gubtay?’ (What have I done to be burnt?) and a portrait of a burnt youth was the message to al Shabaab, the radical Islamist group that claimed the suicide attack last week.
Mr Mohamed Ahmed Nur, the mayor of Mogadishu, gave an energised speech, describing the leaders of al-Shabaab as a bunch of cowards. He challenged the Ameer (leader) of al Shabaab, Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubayr, and his spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rghe to come forward and commit suicide acts themselves. “If the heavenly reward you are telling the youth to motivate them to commit suicide is as sweet as you are preaching, then why don’t you kill yourselves to collect the reward,” Mr Nur said.
President Ahmed insisted that the al Shabaab militants are just thugs disguising under religious verses. The President said Somalia is under colonial rule through the ruthless clutches of al Shabaab. “We must unchain ourselves from the domination of al Shabaab,” the Somali President told the crowd at Cons Stadium.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/
EU warship F.G.S. K�¶ln disrupts suspect pirate action group
11 Oct- Source: Coastweek- 158 words
On 7 October EU NAVFOR warship FGS K�¶ln successfully disrupted a suspect Pirate Action Group’s (PAG) supply boat, a whaler, operating in the Somali Basin about 200 nautical miles East of Tanzania.
The whaler had been located previously by a Norwegian Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) under control of NATO Task Force 508, Operation Ocean Shield, which is also engaged in counter piracy operations.
After an attempted piracy attack on a merchant ship FGS K�¶ln searched and was assisted by a MPRA.
On 7 October the German naval warship detected a whaler with a crew of four persons.
Photos taken clearly showed that it was the same whaler which had earlier been photographed with a skiff, a pirate attack boat, in tow.
FGS K�¶ln conducted a boarding of the whaler and pirate paraphernalia was discovered. The four suspected pirates on board were transferred to the German frigate and whaler sunk.
The persons were subsequently landed to Somalia.
http://www.coastweek.com/3440_
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
African Union ‘drives al Shabaab out of Mogadishu’
11 Oct- Source: Telegraph / BBC – 712 words
Heavy fighting broke out after AU and Somali government forces attacked militant positions following what the AU force said were the deaths of at least 12 Somali civilians because of militants’ mortars over the weekend.
Residents in Mogadishu’s northern neighbourhoods fled explosions and gunfire as the troops made a push toward positions held by al Shabaab militants. Civilians often suffer heavily from the fighting in Mogadishu. Monday was no different, with at least eight killed and 20 wounded. It is difficult to know if civilian deaths were caused by pro-government or militant forces.
The al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fled Mogadishu in August in what its leaders said was a tactical pullout. But the militant group returned in a big way last week, setting off a truck bomb that killed more than 100 people as students tried to learn if they had won a scholarship to attend school in Turkey.
The AU force on Monday said the latest military battle was launched to push militants back from a range where their mortars can hit civilians. Spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said 12 civilians were killed on Sunday from such attacks. Ankunda said late Monday that the progovernment troops succeeded in taking over the last al Shabaab strongholds in northeast Mogadishu.
“The outer north and eastern fringes of the city must still be cleared, but key ground and buildings are no longer under the control of the extremists,” Ankunda said. “It has been a big achievement to remove (al Shabaab) from the city, and put an end to the fighting that disrupted so many lives.
But the challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week.”
Italy to use military to guard merchant ships against pirates
11 Oct- Source: Reuters- 174 words
Italy is to station military forces on its merchant vessels to guard against attacks by Somali pirates, shipping sources said on Tuesday, the day after another of its ships was attacked off the anarchic east African country.
The sources said Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa would sign an agreement later on Tuesday with the confederation of Italian ship owners to put military guards on board vessels in the huge area of the Indian Ocean at risk from Somali pirates, who have hijacked several Italian ships.
The Montecristo, an Italian cargo ship, was attacked by five men in a small boat off the coast of Somalia on Monday, its owner the D’Alesio Group said, and a pirate told Reuters by phone that it was under their control. The ship had 23 crew from Italy, India and Ukraine.
Somali pirates, operating from the shores of the lawless state in the Horn of Africa, have raked in millions of dollars a year in ransoms from scores of hijacked ships from around the world, including oil super tankers.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
SOS Mogadishu fully evacuated for first time since 1985
11 Oct- Source: SOS- 435 words
Over the past three days, SOS Children’s projects in Mogadishu, Somalia, have come under heavy artillery fire. SOS Children have evacuated our Children’s Village and SOS Hospital in the area to ensure the safety of all of our children, SOS mothers, and staff.
Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, has been at the centre of violent conflict between government troops and Al-Shabab rebels. The clashes have intensified in recent weeks, and have affected SOS services in the area. For the first time since SOS Children set up operations in Mogadishu in 1985, all of our facilities have had to be totally abandoned due to insecurity.
This Monday 10th October, artillery shells hit the SOS Hospital and pharmacy located in the city.
Sadly, one member of staff working for SOS Children was killed in the attacks. He was one of the laundry staff who had worked with our organisation since 1994. SOS Children took the decision to evacuate all patients and staff in the hospital to keep them safe from any further attacks. Speaking to Reuters, Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim, director of SOS Children in Somalia, said “The hospital cannot function at the moment. This zone has become a battlefield.”
SOS facilities were also affected by conflict in mid-August, when the SOS Children’s Village was evacuated. Thankfully, there have been no casualties in the Village, but one of the family houses was partially damaged. As a precaution, SOS Children took the decision to evacuate all families to safe houses 13km away. While security staff and a gardener remained on the premises, they too were evacuated for their safety late this Monday evening; and all are reported to be safe.
Erdoğan calls for more security, aid for famine-stricken Somalia
11 Oct – Source: Today’s Zaman News – 466 words
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on world nations to step up efforts to increase the security in strife-torn country to secure the safe flow of aid to the famine-hit Somalia.
Erdoğan, who is a leading public figure that has spearheaded a sustained effort to raise awareness over famine in the African country in the past few months, said in his article published by the Foreign Policy magazine on Monday that Somalia’s tragedy tests the notion of civilization and “our modern values.”
He said it is not realistic to consider Somalia’s plight as caused solely by a severe natural disaster and slammed the international community for leaving Somalia to its own fate.
Erdoğan said twenty years of political and social instability, lawlessness, and chaos have added enormously to the problems in Somalia and that the horrifying truck bombing of the Transitional Federal Government’s ministerial complex on Oct. 4 is just the latest evidence of this.
“The international community must not respond to this act of terrorism by retreating from Somalia, but by redoubling its efforts to bring aid to its people,” Erdoğan requested.
Somalia has been mired in violence since 1991, plunging the country into a chaos that has allowed Islamic extremists and pirates to flourish. The UNHCR estimates that a quarter of Somalia’s 7.5 million people are now either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees.
The Horn of Africa nation also has been suffering from its worst famine in 60 years: The US says 29,000 children have died since the famine began, and the UN says 750,000 more are at risk of starving to death in the next few months.
Al-Shabab fighters have compounded the suffering by preventing aid agencies from helping famine victims in areas under militant control in southern Somalia. They’re also vowing to increase their terror attacks “day by day” in an effort to defeat the weak, UN-backed Somali government.
He said nobody with common sense and conscience can remain indifferent to such a drama, wherever on Earth it may be and whichever people have to bear it.
“Our urgent intervention as responsible members of the international community,” Erdoğan said, “can contribute to the alleviation of the Somali people’s distress.”
He recalled Turkey’s efforts to rush aid to the African country, underlining that in the last month alone, approximately $280 million worth of donations for Somalia were collected in Turkey.
“The Turkish people’s generosity has served as an example to other donor countries as well as the international community, offering hope for the resolution of the crisis in Somalia,” he stressed.
Erdoğan also mentioned his historic visit to Somalia, along with a number of Turkish ministers, some members of parliament, bureaucrats, business people, artists, and families “to tell the people of Somalia that they are not alone.”
To talk or not to talk to al Shabaab
10 Oct- Source: IRIN- 1214 words
Al Shabaab insurgents remain a potent force in Somalia, but there is no public hint of talks on the horizon to reach a political settlement.
The suicide bombing by al Shabaab in Mogadishu on 4 October, which claimed the lives of over 100 people, underlined its ability to reach into the heart of the capital, despite its withdrawal from the city in August.
Its control of large portions of south-central Somalia requires international agencies to reach agreements with al Shabaab commanders to access the millions in need of food aid.
The internationally-recognized authority in Somalia is the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which came into being in 2004 and owes its survival to a UN-backed African Union stabilization force, AMISOM. The political legitimacy of the TFG is rejected by many in Somalia, and not just by those associated with insurgent groups. It currently controls most of Mogadishu and a few other pockets of territory in southern and central Somalia.
Al Shabaab (full name Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen) emerged in 2005 and brings together several different groups with different histories and objectives united in wanting to topple the TFG. (For a detailed analysis of the movement, its history and objectives, see Roland Marchal’s The Rise of a Jihadi Movement in a Country at War).
IRIN spoke to a cross-section of Somalis, humanitarian workers, analysts and observers about whether engaging al Shabaab in talks would help stabilize the country after more than twodecades of war:
Laura Hammond, a senior lecturer in the Department of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, said it was very important to talk to the group. “I think that the only option for trying to respond to the emergency in the south, and probably for the political future of Somalia, is to talk to al Shabaab. But I would not conflate these two things. What is important now is to negotiate with them on issues of access and service delivery.”
Hammond said it was important to have dialogue now at multiple levels. “Some of these [humanitarian] discussions are already going on, quietly, and they should be allowed to continue and not be influenced by political considerations.”
Mark Bowden, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said: “Most of the people in desperate need of assistance are living in areas controlled by al Shabaab. It is thanks to dialogue with al Shabaab that some humanitarian actors have been able to save lives in those areas. As humanitarians, our goal is to reach those in need, wherever they may be. We have the responsibility to talk and discuss with whoever will give us access to people in crisis.”
Sheikh Nur Baarud, a member of the Somali Ulamaa Council, a Mogadishu-based independent group of religious scholars which has in the past offered their services in opening up dialogue between al Shabaab and the TFG, and also engages in fundraising for relief work.
“We have been trying to start a dialogue [between the TFG and al Shabaab] since 2009, but every time they have refused. So to answer your question, we should not talk to them. There is no one to talk to and after what they did on 4 October I don’t see anything to talk about. Al Shabaab in my opinion is beyond talking. No one who has a basic understanding of Islam could carry out what they did. They are beyond Islam and beyond humanity. Actors have to engage in a discussion, whether it is suitable for them or not. It’s a long process.”
http://www.irinnews.org/
OPINION/EDITORIAL/CULTURE
We are getting it wrong on piracy
10 Oct- Source: Hiraan Online- 695 words
While state failure in Somalia provides pirates with an opportunity to operate relatively freely, the lack of effective security at sea gives them the opportunity to attack ships at relatively little risk.
Somali piracy is consequently the most substantial threat to the freedom of maritime trading nations to conduct their lawful pursuits peacefully since the end of World War II.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, there were 217 incidents resulting in 49 successful hijackings in 2010. Up until June 13th this year, there have been 154 incidents and 21 successful hijackings. Pirates are currently holding 23 vessels and 439 seafarers’ hostage.
In 2010, a record 1,181 seafarers were kidnapped.
The UN Monitoring Group Report (2011) has magically determined that piracy is itself a $140 million dollar business a year (in ransoms last year), putting the pirating business just ahead of al- Shabaab at number two with 100 million dollars. The pirates have expanded their area of operations as far north as the southern Red Sea and the coast ofOman, the Indian coast in the east, and attacked ships as far south as the Mozambique Channel India’s Prime Minister, Man Mohan Singh early this month warned that piracy was threatening ‘a large number of Indian seafarers’ and said that the domestic shipping industry’s growth depended on stepped-up maritime security. India is not the only country facing the challenge of piracy. TheAmericas, Europe and the Asian continent, all of which use the international trade lanes on theIndian Ocean have been equally affected.
The question is: Are we getting it right in the way we are trying to solve the problem? Am afraid, the answer is No. The approximate annual cost of the international naval flotilla is said to be $2 billion; six times bigger than the cost of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) since 2007. AMISOM seeks to restore the state of Somalia and subsequently a state of law and order. Without fear, pirates live on land and launch sea attacks from there. Why then shouldn’t we spend on land based measures, like supporting AMISOM than sea operations?
Bronwyn Bruton, Fellow of One Earth Future Foundation told the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, in July 2011 that creating alternative economic opportunities for the youth will reduce incidences of piracy off the Somali coastal waters. Development support, that provides alternative ways of livelihood will make piracy unfashionable. This support should lay down the infrastructure for local communities to police themselves. On the other hand, development support will reward communities that do not tolerate piracy, and penalize those that do. However, this can only be possible when there is a functional state and AMISOM seeks to restore Somali state.
http://www.hiiraan.com/op2/
War on terror ought to be our top priority
11 Oct- Source: Standard- 672 words
Since the al Shabaab tactically withdrew from Mogadishu they have struggled to keep their outfit relevant.
Their continued hold of Mogadishu proved counterproductive in the presence of proactive TFG soldiers backed by peacekeeper from Uganda and Burundi.
In pursuit of survival they have crossed our borders steal, kill, kidnap and destroy our economy. On the other hand our policy makers have been busy initiating dialogue to avert more attacks.
Mogadishu was a lucrative area where militants benefited by controlling businesses through illegal taxation.
They had imposed Taliban-like laws whose agenda was to scare and intimidate the residents to submissiveness.
The absence of uniformed and intimidating al Shabaab fighters could mean the presence of the militants in civilian clothing.
Their concealment means more attacks will rock Mogadishu through IEDs, suicide bombings and truck-laden bombs.
TFG soldiers will find it hard to hold Mogadishu without the much-needed help of military to secure the positions abandoned by militants.
Nairobi should play an active role in advocating for more troops and resources to secure the Somali capital. AU troops lack covert operations experience and airpower to bring al Shabaab to its knees.
http://www.standardmedia.co.