18 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Kenyan defence foreign affairs ministers arrive in Somali capital
- One of Mogadishu’s largest streets re-opened after three years of fighting
- $1.2M in emergency medical aid arrives in Somalia
- Somali navy arrests Kenyan Tanzanian nationals on Mogadishu coastline
- President calls on Mogadishu cleanliness
- Foreign hostages seized from Kenya in al Shabaab stronghold
- Kenyan forces reach Elwak district Somalia
- Kenyan troops capture key al Shabaab towns
- Alert issued over al Shabaab threat inside Kenya
SOMALI MEDIA
Kenyan defence, foreign affairs ministers arrive in Somali capital
18 Oct- Source: Radio Shabelle, Radio Kulmiye- 115 words
Kenyan ministers and members of parliament have arrived in Mogadishu a few hours ago and were welcomed at the airport by officials of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
The Kenyan defence and foreign affairs minister and MPs are currently holding a meeting with high-ranking TFG officials at the presidential palace in Mogadishu.
The president, the prime minister and speaker of parliament are holding a crucial meeting with the Kenyan ministers regarding the entry of Kenyan forces into Somalia’s territory and how to beef up security, adds the source. Kenyan troops have frequently crossed the border into Somalia.
Al Shabaab deny implication in recent kidnappings, condemn Kenya
17 Oct- Source: Pro- al Shabaab website- Somalimemo.net- 358 words
Al Shabaab yesterday released a press statement denying any implication in the recent kidnappings in Kenya. Below is an excerpt from the statement which was distributed on al Shabaab propaganda websites.
“Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen hereby categorically denies all charges pertaining to the kidnapping of tourists and aid workers from inside Kenya. (…) They are not in any way, shape or form attributable to Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen”. The statement goes on to threaten the security of Kenyans, ‘call(ing) upon the Kenya public to (…) urge their government to immediately withdraw their troops from Somalia’.
Kenyan forces reach Elwak district, Somalia
18 Oct- Source: Radio Shabelle, Radio Bar-kulan, Mareeg Online- 131 words
A large number of Kenyan military forces have poured into Elwak, Gedo region in a bid to go after al Shabaab fighters whom they accused of abducting foreigners in Kenya.
Reports say armored military vehicles and heavy armed soldiers from Kenya could be seen in the town.
Col. Ahmed Mohamoud Abdi, the spokesman of Somali forces in Elwak, has confirmed the presence of Kenyan forces in the town. He added that military helicopters were accompanying the Kenyan forces.
The military officer underscored that the move by Kenya is aimed at battling al Shabaab militant group, which declared its allegiance to al Qaeda network. Moreover, Abdi said the town of Elwak has witnessed heavy torrential rains and washed up more 300 houses there.
One of Mogadishu’s largest streets re-opened after three years of fighting
17 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, Somaliareport- 63 words
Sodonka Street, one of the largest streets in Mogadishu, has reopened after being closed for almost three years due to fighting in the capital. The director of the sanitation and environmental cleaning in Banadir region, Hussein Abtidon, said that they are conducting cleaning programs for the second day in Hodan district. The government plans to resettle the people who were displaced from that district.
President calls for Mogadishu cleanliness
18 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA- 180 words
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has said that more emphasis needs to be placed on cleanliness and the renovation of Mogadishu to restore the lost glory of the once beautiful city.
Addressing hundreds who turned out in one of the districts of the capital, president Sharif called on locals to maintain the peace efforts initiated by the TFG and AMISOM forces in Mogadishu.
“The current peace needs to be upheld and the cleanliness of the capital is also one important issue; I call on all the Mogadishu residents to embark on a massive rehabilitation of the capital” president Sharif said.
“We managed to flash out the extremists from the capital but we shall continue with the operations until the whole of Somalia is placed under the control of the government”, president Sharif told hundreds in Banadir.
The head of state was speaking after meeting 16 district commissioners of the Banadir administration.
The president has in the past few days visiting key government installations including schools, hospitals, stadiums among other vital organs that have been affected by the two decade-long war.
Somali navy arrests Kenyan, Tanzanian nationals on Mogadishu coastline
18 Oct- Source: Radio Shabelle- 107 words
Somalia’s naval forces on Monday intercepted at least 7 foreign men with their boat carrying weapons.
In an interview with radio Shabelle, the Somalia’s navy chief, Admira, Farah Omar Qarre said the men onboard the boat were arrested while traveling near the Mogadishu coastline of Lido.
Qarre noted it was a fishing boat and that foreign men were accompanied by Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals.
The navy chief said the intercepted suspected were handed over to the TFG police to further investigate the matter. He stated the naval forces of the Horn of African nation are very vigilant and will continue protecting Somalia’s coastlines.
Deaths on the rise in Somalia’s IDP camps
18 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA- 198 words
At least 18 people, mostly children under the ages of five, have died in Mogadishu and several districts of Somalia after succumbing to famine acute malnutrition and diseases.
Nine children and nine adults died in the camps located in Mogadishu and Mataban in central Somalia and Garbaharey, in the South, according to medical sources.
Lack of food, water and proper housing and healthcare system is to blame for the IDP’s woes. South Central Somalia is the worst affected region of Somalia. The UN has declared famine in six regions of Somalia.
Dozens have died in the past few months in Mogadishu camps due to an outbreak of measles, malaria and cholera.
A combination of poor sanitation conditions, scarcity of safe and clean drinking water and overcrowding has led to the spread of waterborne diseases in Mogadishu.
According to the United Nations, it is estimated that a quarter of Somalia’s population of 9.9 million are now either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees.
According to the United Nations, drought, high food prices and fighting in Somalia have increased the number of those in need of humanitarian assistance across the Horn of Africa to 13.3 million.
Puntland executes al Shabaab-related suspect
18 Oct- Source: Shabelle- 104 words
The high court of Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland on Monday conducted the death penalty against a man accused of committing murders and having links with al Shabaab.
Abdullahi Abdi Iman, the defendant who was executed, was charged by the court with plotting the killing of several people in Mudug region.
The general attorney of Puntland high court at Nugal region, Mohamed Hassan Osman told the reporters that the executed man has professed all the accusations, adding that he distinctly admitted that he was working with al Shabaab.
The conduction of the death penalty comes as insecurity activities and planned killings have increased in many parts of Puntland.
http://shabelle.net/article.
Al Shabaab threaten Kenya retaliation
18 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Shabelle, Kulmiye and Risaala- 186 words
Al Shabaab have on Monday warned Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia. Addressing the local media on the outskirts of Mogadishu, al Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage said that his fighters would attack the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Al Shabaab fighters were reported on Monday to be boosting defence and sending “hundreds” of fighters towards Kenyan and government positions.
Somali parliament member welcomes Kenyan military operation
18 Oct- Source: Mareeg Online, Shabelle- 92 words
One Somali parliament member named Adam Abdulahi Diriye has warmly welcomed the Kenyan military operation inside the Somali territory, reports said.
Mr. Diriye endorsed Kenya’s military interference in Somalia. Giving an interview to one of local FM stations in Mogadishu, Mr. Diriye said that al Shabaab have abducted aid workers inside Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and also several others before and thus had the right to secure the border and fight with al Shabaab.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Another victim dies in Turkey
18 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 147 words
The Somali government has revealed that one of the Mogadishu truck bombing victims who was flown to Turkey for treatment has died in his hospital bed in Turkey.
Justice and religious Affairs minister Ahmed Hassan Gabobe who heads a group ministerial committee tasked with overseeing the victims of the blast said Mohamed Hassan Mudey, who was a student in Mogadishu, has died in one of the Turkish hospitals treating the victims.
Mudey becomes the second student who died in Turkey while undergoing medical treatment following the October 4 truck bombing in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The minister also shed light on the plight of other victims in Turkey, saying that they are improving and responding to the medication.
Turkey has airlifted 36 critically injured blast victims after a suicide truck bomber struck a government building housing several Somali ministries, killing over seventy people and injuring hundreds of others.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenyan troops capture key al Shabaab towns
18 Oct- Source: Nairobi Star- 82 words
Kenyan troops have captured two towns in Somalia where al Shabaab are known to operate. The troops took Afmadow town 100 kilometres from the Kenyan border and are occupying another town named Qoqani. Afmadow is the town where two Kenyan soldiers, Evan Mutoro and Jonathan Kangogo, captured by al Shabaab militia on July 24, were detained before being taken to the coastal town of Kismayu. Defense minister Yusuf Hajji says the operation will go on until the al Shabaab militants are defeated.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
Al Shabaab say not related to kidnappings of foreigners in Kenya: media
18 Oct- Source: Coastweek, Xinhua- 77 words
Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab said on Monday that they are not behind the kidnappings of foreigners in Kenya, media quoted a statement of the group as saying.
According to the statement, al Shabaab denied all charges pertaining to the kidnapping of tourists and aid workers from inside Kenya.
The group, which controls much of southern Somalia, also said on Monday that they will fight against Kenyan troops which crossed over into Somalia to pursue the radical fighters.
http://www.coastweek.com/3441_
Kenyan troops push into Somalia
17 Oct- Source: Al Jazeera- 1:43 min
A Somali government spokesman has told al Jazeera that Kenya is providing logistical and training support in the fight against al Shabaab.
Somali and Kenyan troops have launched a joint operation to hunt down the armed antigovernment group in southern Somalia.
It follows a spate of abductions and attacks on Westerners in Northern Kenya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Alert issued over al Shabaab threat inside Kenya
18 Oct- Source: Nairobi Star- 51 words
Police have issued an alert in Nairobi of a possible attack by members of Somalia’s al Shabaab militant group and asked residents on the look out. Detectives have also been mobilized to ensure security. Defense minister Yusuf Hajji says the threats will have no effects on the ongoing military action in Somalia.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
Foreign hostages seized from Kenya in al Shabaab stronghold
18 Oct- Source: Coastweek, Xinhua- 364 words
Foreigners abducted from Kenya by armed gunmen from Somalia are being held in the southern Somali town of Kismayu, a key stronghold of Islamist al Shabaab which the joint forces from both countries are battling, a state radio in Mogadishu quoted senior military official as saying.
Yusuf Hussein Dhumal, a senior Somali military commander among top leaders of the government offensive said that intelligence they have received suggest the foreign hostages seized from Kenya after cross border raid by gunmen have been brought to Kismay0, 500 km south of Mogadishu, radio Mogadishu reported.
The official did not give details if all four hostages were in Kismayu.
Two Spanish female aid workers, a British woman and Frenchwoman were taken hostage during the past several weeks.
A joint military operation by Kenyan troops and Somali government forces was launched on Sunday to pursue the hostage takers who officials from both countries believe are linked to al Shabaab.
http://www.coastweek.com/3441_
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
$1.2 million in emergency medical aid arrives in Somalia
17 Oct- Source: AlertNet- 444 words
A shipment of $1.2 million in urgently requested medical aid arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 11 – the most recent delivery in AmeriCares’ large scale emergency response to help ease profound human suffering in the famine-stricken region.
The escalating humanitarian crisis in Somalia has claimed tens of thousands of lives amid dire predictions that unless humanitarian aid increases, three quarters of a million people could perish in the next few months. Outbreaks of cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhea, malaria, respiratory infections and measles remain a daily reality for 1.5 million refugees in congested camps – creating an urgent need for chronic care medicines.
AmeriCares has responded with a strategic delivery pipeline of medicines, supplies, and nutritional supplements, focusing on enabling primary care in settlements and shelters to help countless innocent children and adults living in overcrowded camps in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu, as well as in Kenya and Ethiopia. To date, AmeriCares has delivered:
- Over 179,000 course treatments of medicines to provide a broad range of primary care services and support surgical procedures
- A daily supplemental meal for 8,000 malnourished children and adults in need of nutritional stabilization
- Water purification to provide 34,400 people with a two month supply of clean drinking water
- Infrastructure for a field hospital in the Kambioos refugee camp, located 3 miles from one of the complexes in the Dadaab camp
“One out of every three people in Somalia suffers from acute malnutrition, which weakens immune systems and increases risk of disease,” said AmeriCares SVP of Global Programs Christoph Gorder. “Our deliveries of antibiotics, nutritional supplements and basic medicines and supplies will help save countless lives.”
As news of the famine unfolded, AmeriCares delivered an initial shipment of medicines and supplies to help mobile medical teams treat 15,000 patients. Additionally, AmeriCares provided a partner organization working the Mudug region of Somalia with an Emergency Medical Module to serve an additional 15,000 patients, enabling our partner to expand four primary health facilities and two medical health units in the central-north region of Somalia. New shipments of nutritional supplements and water purification supplies are currently underway.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/
Watchdog says world sea piracy hit new high with more attacks in Somalia, Benin
18 Oct – Source: The Washington Post / AP – 311 words
Sea piracy worldwide has surged this year, with Somali pirates intensifying their attacks and Benin emerging as a new hotspot, a global maritime watchdog said Tuesday.
There have been a record 352 attacks in the first nine months of this year, up 22 percent from a year ago, the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center said in a statement. Somali pirates accounted for 199 attacks of those attacks, a 58 percent increase from last year, as they expanded farther into the Red Sea.
The pirates also showed unprecedented boldness by hijacking a chemical tanker at anchor in an Omani port in August, the center said.
While attacks are up, Somali pirates managed to hijack only 24 vessels, down from 35 in the same period last year. That is thanks to international naval policing and onboard security measures, the group said.
“Somali pirates are finding it harder to hijack ships and get the ransom they ask for,” said International Maritime Bureau Director Captain Pottengal Mukundan. “The navies deserve to be complimented on their excellent work. They are a vital force in deterring and disrupting pirate activity.”
Globally, the organization said pirates took 625 hostages, killed eight people and injured 41 in the nine-month period.
It said the coast off the west African nation of Benin has seen 19 attacks, with eight tankers hijacked. There were no such incidents in 2010.
In most cases, pirates force the ship to sail to an unknown location, where they steal ship cargo and the crew’s belongings before releasing the vessel.
Benin has begun joint naval patrols with neighboring Nigeria. The center hailed this as a positive step but said the capture and punishment of pirates is the best deterrent.
Al Shabaab advancing for combat in Somalia
17 Oct- Source: Euronews- 1:06 min
Somalia’s al Shabaab rebels are advancing for a confrontation with Somali and Kenyan government troops.
The troops began a huge offensive by land and air against the rebels at the weekend.
According to a resident of the al Shabaab controlled city of Kismay0, fighters in armed vehicles are en-route to face troops in the city of Afmadow close to the border with Kenya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Kenya refugee camp fears after aid worker kidnaps
17 Oct- Source: AFP- 56 sec
Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres has pulled most of its foreign staff from Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp – the world’s largest – after two Spanish aid workers were kidnapped there. Kenyan troops crossed the border into war-torn Somalia on Sunday to attack Islamist al Shabaab rebels accused of being behind the kidnappings.