23 Dec 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Today’s cabinet session passed the annual budget of 2012 (Source: TFG)
- Dinner prepared in honor of the Somali leaders in Puntland state house (Source: Office of the Prime Minister)
- Somalia’s Military Court says it will bring to justice the TV reporter’s killer (Source: Radio Kulmiye Shabelle Hadhwanaag Times and Radio Risaala)
- Gunman kills three aid workers in central Somalia (Source: Shabelle)
- Al Shabaab abduct youth for fighting due to attrition by TFG-AMISOM forces (Source: Radio Mogadishu Somalia Report)
- Government soldier murders a civilian in Mogadishu (Source: Shabelle)
- Foreign companies to start oil exploration in Somalia (Source: Jowhar Online)
- Probe killings reports Kenya told (Source: Daily Nation)
- Kenya TFG forces push Al Shabaab out of town (Source: Standard)
- Obama says will boost US aid to Horn of Africa (Source: Reuters)
PRESS RELEASE
The cabinet session of today passed the annual budget of 2012
22 Dec – Source: TFG – 144 words
Today, the weekly cabinet session was held at the cabinet headquarters in Mogadishu, chaired by H.E Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed (Jahweyn), the acting Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications. After long discussions, the cabinet unanimously endorsed the 2012 national budget. The national annual budget amounted to 126 million US dollars that includes domestic revenue and foreign assistance.
16% domestic revenue increment was estimated in this year as compared to that of the previous year, where the foreign assistance was estimated to decrease with the same margin. This reflects how the government is promoting its domestic revenue.
In the meeting, there were other deliberations on security and humanitarian issues presented by the Ministries of interior, Defence and Disaster Committee respectively. In conclusion, some government ministries tabled their quarterly developments. These reports are part of what the government terms as “the development week reports”.
Dinner prepared in honour of the Somali leaders in Puntland state house
23 Dec – Source: Office of the Prime Minister – 192 words
An occasion in which dinner was prepared in honour of the leaders who participated in the Garowe consultative meeting took place in the Puntland regional administration state house. The leaders were the president of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the speaker of the Somali parliament Sharif Hassan, the prime minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and his deputies Hussein Arab Isse, Abdiwahab Ugaas Hussein Khaliif, president of the Galmudug regional administration Mohamed Ahmed Aalim other guests of honours like ministers, legislatures, civil society, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama and representatives from the international community like UNPOS and IGAD.
The ceremony which was well designed was held in Puntland state house. Entertainment presentation was done by the Waaberi Puntland band and also the famous musician Ahmed Naaji Saad who read beautiful and patriotic songs which created emotions and revived sentiments.
The ceremony which was a dinner honour for the leaders presented an opportunity for the President Farole of Puntland and president Sharif of TFG to give a statement at the dinner. The two leaders gave a consistent message expressing their hope of a fruitful outcome of this high level meeting which is expected to end today.
SOMALI MEDIA
Somalia’s Military Court says it will bring to justice the TV reporter’s killer
23 Dec – Source: Radio Kulmiye, Shabelle, Hadhwanaag Times, and Radio Risaala – 122 words
The Head of Somalia’s Military Court Hassan Mohamed Mungab on Thursday unveiled that they will bring to justice the person who murdered Horn Cable TV reporter Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan His.
Mungab made the comments while speaking at a mourning occasion in Mogadishu on Thursday. The judge of the military court noted that they will track down the murderer and that he will ultimately be killed at the spot he murdered the journalist.
He said the court and the security officials are making deep investigations on the death of the reporter and hoped the results will come out soon. Over the weekend, Abdisalan His was shot dead by a gunman dressed in a government military uniform who subsequently managed to escape.
Gunman kills three aid workers in central Somalia
23 Dec – Source: Radio Shabelle – 101 words
Reports say a gunman has killed three aid workers in Matabaan District in central Somalia.
A gunman shot dead three World Food Programme [WFP] employees in the centre of Matabaan town. One of those killed was the head of a local NGO contracted by World Food Programme, which operates in Matabaan. The titles of the other two remain unclear.
Two of the bodies were taken to Guri Ceel District in Galgudud Region, which is controlled by Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a. The victims were identified as of Muhammad Salat and Muhidin Yarow. Reports add that Ahlu Sunna fighters have arrested the killer.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Al Shabaab abduct youth for fighting due to attrition by TFG-AMISOM forces
22 Dec – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Somalia Report – 80 words
Al Shabaab militia started kidnapping youths after being confronted by critical security threats from the Somali national forces that started operations in areas under al Shabaab. The extremist started acts against the people of Somalia as they started abducting youths from Elasha Biyaha district and other areas where the displaced people were living. They are using force to take the remaining youths and ordered parents there to bring their children for registration to join so that they can help their defeated group.
Government soldier murders a civilian in Mogadishu
23 Dec – Source: Shabelle – 138 words
A Somali government soldiers on Friday shot and killed an innocent civilian man in Mogadishu’s Karan district, especially Djibouti village, witnesses said.
The soldier was said to have opened fire on the man while he was at the village of Djibouti of Karan district, where TFG police forces have been conducting a security operation. Witnesses added that the soldier was among government forces during the crackdown on criminal elements among residents at the village, according to officials.
Residents confirmed to Shabelle media that the TFG soldier suspected the young boy to be an al Shabaab sympathizer. Soldiers were accused by locals of targeting local teenagers in the village of Djibouti in Mogadishu’s Karan district during their crackdown. No statement about the killing of the civilian was immediately available from TFG officials so far.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Joint task force poised to assault al Shabaab
22 Dec – Source: Somalia Report – 618 words
During the last week of December, the Joint Task Force, a coalition force composed of Transitional Federal Government troops, the Kenyan Defence Forces and Ras Kamboni rebel fighters are poised to launch an assault on the al-Shabaab militants in the southern regions of Somalia.
The joint forces comprise around 8000 soldiers and, according to officials on the frontlines, they plan to attack al-Shabaab elements in the regions of Lower Juba, Middle Juba, and Gedo. Currently they are stationed in the countryside between Dhobley and Kismayo.
The Somali troops have finished their last military preparations, while the commanders of the Kenyan forces have concluded their training, and are conducting workshops acquainting them with the districts, villages, and the rough roads of the southern regions of Somalia.
The ground commanders of the JTF have insisted that by January of next year, al-Shabaab fighters will be wiped out from the southern portions of Somalia, and have vowed to seize control of the critical cities of Afmadow, Bu’alle, Bardere, and the strategic port city of Kismayo.
Abdi Ahmed Mohamed, the commander in chief of the Ras Kamboni brigade in the commercial town of Burgavo, spoke with Somalia Report by phone, saying the order of battle for the JTF includes 3800 TFG troops, 1600 fighters from the Ras Kamboni brigade and at least 2500 soldiers from neighboring Kenya. He pledged the expedition will conclusively end the existence of al-Shabaab from southern Somalia.
“To facilitate the eradication of the militants from the region, we are launching a massive ambush on three fronts in the lower Juba region and also two other fronts in Gedo. Our combined forces will wipe them out,” he said. Mr. Mohamed added that the JTF currently patrols and controls large swaths of Gedo and Lower Juba, from Luuq, Busar, the surroundings of Afmadow, Qooqaani, Diif, Ras Kamboni and Burgavo.
Mr. Mohamed would not say when they would launch their attack, nor the specific direction of their assault, explaining that he deferred to the orders from TFG leaders and Kenyan commanders. “We have solved the logistical problems of the forces, the roads have dried up. Now we are waiting for battle strategies from our commanders,” he added.
The Kenyan military forces crossed the border into Somalia on October 16, with the aim of wiping out the al-Shabaab militants who they blamed for a string of bombings and kidnappings along the coast and in north-eastern Kenya, but the Operation Lindi Nchi got bogged down by the rains and difficult terrain, and the Kenyans have not reached more than 200 kilometers inside Somalia.
Past scepticism expressed by TFG military officials over whether Kenya had the capability to carry out a unilateral invasion of Somalia seems to have been borne out. The combination of autumn rains, the lack of an African Union mandate for the presence of Kenyan forces in Somalia, and also the lack of sufficient understanding of the densely forested and hilly southern regions of Somalia, all explain why the Kenyan military operation failed, said Ahmed Gulled Deeq, lieutenant colonel of the TFG forces based in Qooqaani.
The military commanders say they are ready to attack and are very enthusiastic to move on th strategic port town of Kismayo, al-Shabaab’s greatest stronghold in southern Somalia, and primary source of revenue.
A Kenyan officer who spoke to Somalia Report on condition of anonymity said it would not be easy to wipe out the al-Shabaab militants and capture the strategic areas of Afmadow and Kismayo, but that the logistics were in place and troop morale was high. He added that the Kenyan fighter jets have executed airstrikes on numerous al-Shabaab military bases in southern Somalia in preparation for the ground assault.
Somaliland: Residents protest in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike
22 Dec – Source: Somaliland Press – 232 words
Residents of Sool’s provincial capital of Las Anod took to the streets on Thursday to show solidarity with prisoners staging a hunger strike at the city’s main prison.
Angry protesters briefly blocked main roads with burning tyres and rocks as they demanded their release. The strike was sparked when the city’s prison warden informed the press that prisoners were on hunger strike for several weeks due to them being detained without trials for several years.
The Protesters chanted “free the prisoners or bring them to court” as they occupied main roads. Thursday’s strike disrupted traffic and brought the city to a standstill as all businesses shut their doors and local transport within the city was also suspended.
Local sources told Somaliland press that the prisoner’s conditions are getting worst since they have been on hunger strike for almost two weeks. There is an ongoing dialogue between the prisoners and the local government; however the prisoners demanded that they speak to senior figures from Hargeisa.
Foreign companies to start oil exploration in Somalia
21 Dec – Source: Jowhar Online – 254 words
The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] has announced that it has reached an agreement with three oil explorations companies which are now headed for various regions across the country. These companies, the government said, are to start the exploration of oil and minerals in various regions.
The TFG Minister for Energy and Petroleum while speaking to government controlled radio station said they have reached an agreement with oil exploration companies.
“We have entered into an agreement with several companies to help us explore natural resources in our country and these companies will for now be operating in regions that are peaceful. They will arrive in the country within a month or two,” said the Minister for Petroleum, Abdi Muhammad Dicisow. The minister said the former Central Somalia government had entered into a similar agreement with seven oil companies but before the arrival into the country, the central government had collapsed.
The minister also said the government plans to revive the national petroleum reserves, which were in the past controlled by the petroleum agency, will now be under the ministry of energy.
“The other plan that we are working on is the re-establishment of the national petroleum reserves. We will bring an end to the fuel that is being stored in containers and in storages. You are aware of the risk that carries particularly with fire,” added the minister. The minister for Petroleum has reached agreements with Asian companies that explore oil although some of these agreements often prove to be controversial.
Militants killed in a fatal road accident, Bay region
23 Dec – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 148 words
At least three militants have died and seven others were seriously injured after a vehicle they were travelling in crashed and rolled several times at Awdinle area, Bay region. The accident involved a pick-up-truck ferrying several militants from Baidoa to Bohol-Bashir between Gedo and Bay regions on Thursday.
The rebel fighters were allegedly joining other militant fighters in the area. The injured militants were immediately rushed to a rebel hospital on the outskirts of Baidoa for treatment. The cause of the accident still remains unclear as there were no official comments from the militia leaders in the region.
Early in November, at least five militants were killed and four others injured in a similar road accident at Ramo Adey area, 40 km from Dinsor town, Bay region. The rebel fighters were allegedly reinforcing other militant fighters in Lower Juba where a major battle with Kenyan troops awaited them.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Probe killings reports, Kenya told
22 Dec – Source: Daily Nation – 354 words
A human rights organisation on Thursday asked the government to investigate reports that 11 civilians were killed during air raids by Kenyan troops on Hosingow Village in Somalia. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement that the government should launch impartial investigations into the alleged killings during an air raid on Al-Shabaab camps near the Kenya border.
“A prompt and impartial investigation is needed into what happened in Hosingow Village,” a senior Africa researcher at HRW, Mr Ben Rawlence, said. Mr Rawlence asked the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Al-Shabaab fighters to minimise harm to civilians.
On Wednesday, KDF spokesman, Maj Emmanuel Chirchir, said 17 Al-Shabaab militants were killed in a joint operation by Kenyan forces and TFG soldiers in Hosingo near Kismayu. Maj Chirchir said a senior Al-Shabaab commander and an administrator were killed in the two air raids.
On Thursday, Mr Rawlence said two Hosingow residents told HRW by phone that two military planes attacked the village on the afternoon of December 20. “The first dropped a bomb on makeshift huts, one of which was a school, they said, killing seven children and one woman. The second strafed the village with a machine gun, killing one woman and at least two men, all civilians.
“The witnesses said 24 civilians were wounded in the attack and had to be evacuated as there are no medical facilities in Hosingow,” the HRW statement said.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
Kenya, TFG forces push Al Shabaab out of town
23 Dec – Source: Standard – 557 words
Kenya Defence Forces and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops have announced they have advanced against the Al Shabaab in Somalia’s Gedo region. The news came as an alleged defector from the militia claimed he was forcibly recruited to fight with the militants.
And a TFG spokesman announced in Burhache town, about ten miles inside Somalia on Thursday, that Al Shabaab was increasingly using civilians as shields to avert Kenyan air-strikes and disputed allegations that Kenyan planes killed non-combatants in Hosingo, South of Somalia on Wednesday.
TFG spokesman Colonel Warfa Adan said Kenyan forces and their Somalia counterparts have captured great territory since October and killed hundreds of foreign fighters including Al Shabaab’s conscripts from Asian and African countries in Gedo.
TFG officials told The Standard that they have received information indicating the collapse of Al Shabaab’s structures in the wake of Operation Linda Nchi offensive, but remained cautious about some of the defectors. Military sources indicated that Al Shabaab forces are fleeing Garbaharey, the capital of Gedo, with artillery and small arms despite initial suspicion that they would try to retake towns taken from them after the rains had subsided.
http://www.standardmedia.co.
Centre in Mogadishu accommodates disabled Somalis
22 Dec – Source: Al Arabia – 184 words
Disability is perceived as an added burden in Somalia, a nation that lacks adequate medical provisions, a situation that makes it difficult for patients to get the help they need.
The physically and mentally disabled are usually stigmatized by their families, a stigma that extends to the rest of society, especially if they aren’t capable of caring for themselves. This forces many of them to beg on the streets or sell some of their personal belongings as a means of survival.
A Turkish charity in Mogadishu which is backed by Presidency of Religious Affairs, however, is hoping to change that by running a centre for the disabled, where they can eat and rest. “Around 300 people come twice a day for a meal,” said Kaya, a volunteer at the center.
Before seeking refuge at the charity center, Abdigadir Mohammed Sha’ir, who is partially paralyzed, lived on the streets and often went hungry. He says he is grateful for the help the center provides. The charity is seeing to expand to other parts of the city so that it can help more of the needy.
http://english.alarabiya.net/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Obama says will boost US aid to Horn of Africa
23 Dec – Source: Reuters – 111 words
President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the United States would boost its emergency aid to the Horn of Africa by $113 million.
Calling the crisis “urgent,” Obama said in a statement that the additional aid would come on top of the $870 million in assistance the United States has already provided to help countries hit by the worst drought in decades.
The crisis has left more than 13 million people at risk of starvation in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. “The heartbreaking accounts of lives lost and of those struggling to survive remind us of our common humanity and the need to reach out to people in need,” Obama said.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
KENYA-SOMALIA: Refugees injured in Dadaab crackdown
22 Dec – Source: IRIN News – 724 words
Dozens of refugees have been injured in a security operation by police in the Dadaab refugee camps, north-eastern Kenya, following six explosions since early November, one of which killed a policeman on 19 December.
“We are being told to surrender the Al-Shabaab-linked persons carrying out the attacks, yet… the police, who we expect to protect us, are instead proving dangerous to our lives,” Isnino Ali Rage, chairman of the Dadaab refugee community, told IRIN on 21 December.
Camp residents said the police arrested dozens of refugees and beat up others in the operation, which started in the afternoon of 20 December and extended into most of the next day. Residents said the police were looking for explosives.
In Nairobi, police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told IRIN on 22 December that the objective of the operation was to weed out criminal elements in the camps “masquerading as people in need”.
“Nobody will create a safe haven for kidnappers, killers and makers of explosives; the operation will continue to ensure the camps are secure for the refugees, aid workers and police officers there,” Kiraithe said.
He said people linked to Somalia’s insurgent group Al-Shabaab were using Dadaab, which holds some 460,000 refugees, to plan attacks.
“Such people hide in these camps, enjoying relief assistance while planning attacks; the last three explosions in the area have targeted the police,” Kiraithe said. “The role of the police is to protect the refugees but if people among the refugees are targeting the police, then we must act.
In the past, allegations of extortion and rape were made against the police; we have learnt that this was meant to curtail our policing activities and allow those planning attacks to do so; that is why we are subjecting them to intensive policing. We want to weed out the criminal elements among them.”
http://www.irinnews.org/
Inside Somalia: Mogadishu comes back to life
22 Dec – Source: Global Post – 980 words
Street stalls sell piles of plump mangoes and stacks of freshly baked bread; a bookseller has set up shop on sheets of newspaper laid on the ground. Sidewalk cafes offer cups of sweet tea beneath shady trees; freshly painted murals on shop fronts depict items for sale: watches, computers, mobile phones.
A work team plasters over bullet holes and slaps a new coat of whitewash on an old wall. The K4 roundabout at this city’s heart has been repainted in pastel pink and sky blue. Donkey carts, minibus taxis, cars and 4x4s clog the road, horns beep, drivers shout.
Watching this hectic scene by the roadside stand two children, arms around each other’s shoulders, eating ice lollies. A little further up the road, at a place that two years ago was a frontline position, kids chase each other around abandoned sandbags.
There are still plenty of armed men around but almost all now have uniforms. This is a different Mogadishu than in recent years. The city has been slowly coming back to life since August when African Union soldiers pushed Islamist insurgents from the city center ushering in a peace not seen since 2006 when the grassroots Islamic Courts Union briefly held power.
“The time of the Islamic Courts was a gift from Allah: It couldn’t last,” said Ali Guled, a truck driver. “But the Shabaab that came after was the worst time in all Somali history so at least now we have some peace.”
The frontlines are now miles from the center of this damaged seaside capital of 2 million. Al Shabaab, an ally of Al Qaeda, and which has a penchant for brutal Shariah law punishments, is on the back foot but is not yet defeated.
“Security in Mogadishu is volatile. We face harassment everyday from the Shabaab,” said Col. Oscar Nzohabonimana, commander of the 4,500-strong Burundi contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
http://www.globalpost.com/
Turkish doctors start operating on Somalia’s in Mogadishu
23 Dec – Source: World Bulletin – 97 words
Turkish doctors have started operating on Somali people in the capital, Mogadishu. Turkish Health Ministry sent Turkish doctors to two field hospitals in Mogadishu, Somalia. Turkish doctors are examining patients, and operating on them when necessary.
So far, Turkish doctors have examined 70,000 Somali people and diagnosed child patients as suffering from diarrhoea, skin inflection and flu, and adults with diabetics, tuberculosis and kidney problems. “We mainly perform hernia and appendicitis surgery in Somalia,” chief doctor of one of the field hospitals, Musa Temel, told AA correspondent. Moreover, AA team watched a hernia surgery in the hospital.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?
RAF could give support in Somalia intervention
23 Dec – Source: independent – 389 words
The British Government is considering providing direct military assistance to international troops fighting Islamist insurgents in Somalia.
Senior Foreign Office sources said discussions had taken place about providing help – including air reconnaissance or support – to African Union troops helping Somalia’s weak, American-backed, transitional government.
While the use of ground troops has been explicitly ruled out it is believed there could be some role for Britain following the successful Nato air operation in Libya. As well as air power, SAS and SBS units are stationed with the US-led Horn of Africa Task Force based in Djibouti.
The Somali government, which has been fighting insurgents known as al-Shabaab, has little influence outside the capital Mogadishu.
The number of peacekeeping troops in the country has increased significantly in recent months and British officials are examining how to extend their own influence further. “Certainly in the wake of Libya there are ongoing discussions about what assistance we might be able to provide in Somalia,” said one source. “At this stage, the areas we are looking at are equipment and money.”
Both the US and French have been actively involved in Somali military operations – the Americans carrying out drone strikes from the southern Ethiopian port of Arba Mich, while the French are ferrying in equipment. A French helicopter-gunship crashed at the southern port of Kismayo, while, it is claimed, providing supporting fire for Kenyans flushing out al-Shabaab positions.
Farah to help Somalia’s famine victims
22 Dec – Source: Press Association – 1:31 min
Long distance running star Mo Farah launches the ‘Mo Farah Foundation’ with wife Tania to help bring aid to starving people in Somalia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
Can Somalia survive as a nation?
22 Dec – Source: Global Post – 907 words
In the latest bout of political feuding Somalia’s Speaker of Parliament was ousted Dec. 13. Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, a wily politician and wealthy businessman who has himself engineered the downfall of numerous political challengers in the past, lost a vote of confidence conducted while he was abroad.
Political paralysis and ingrained corruption have left the backers of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) frustrated even as they continue to fund the administration and its parliamentarians into a critical eight-month period due to end with a new constitution and elections in August 2012.
“One of the biggest challenges that we have faced is the frequent change of leadership. One transition after another, the leadership changing every other time,” said Wafula Wamunyinyi, a senior Mogadishu-based official with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), summing up the feeling of many in the international community. “By the time [a leader] knows something and has a plan to execute, he is gone!”
The current Prime Minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, is the third to be appointed under President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed since the start of 2009. Ali took office in June. His predecessor lasted eight months. The one before him managed a year-and-a-half.
The Islamist insurgents of Al Shabaab are fighting on three fronts — against AMISOM in the capital, Kenya in the south and Ethiopia in the west — but doubts about whether the TFG would be capable of governing even a peaceful country remain.
This month Ban Ki-moon became the first UN Secretary General to visit Mogadishu since 1993. It followed previous high-profile, and until now rare, visits from Turkey’s prime minister, Britain’s development minister and the UN’s top humanitarian official.
Ban’s presence was seen as a vote of confidence in the TFG and an encouragement for it to try harder and do more for Somalia’s beleaguered people who receive next to nothing in the way of services from the government.
“I believe we are now at a critical juncture — a moment of fresh opportunities for the future of Somali people,” said Ban. “On the political front, to bring a new measure of stability and possibilities to people’s lives. On the military front, to consolidate gains. These gains should be sustainable. On the recovery front, to help break the cycle of famine, poverty once and for all.”
Ban’s optimistic tone was tempered with the warning, “We have a very limited window of opportunity.” His visit and words went down well with government officials. “Ban Ki-moon’s visit was a true testament to the improvements we have made in the area of security,” said Prime Minister Ali.
http://www.globalpost.com/
Parliament erupts in fighting
22 Dec – Source: Global Post – 103 words
Somalia’s parliament is a sign that the country is making progress toward returning to normal, right?
Well, not judging by this video of fighting in a parliamentary session on December 21. The Somalia Report website writes that he fighting erupted when parliamentarians were trying to choose a house speaker to replace Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, who had been impeached. A committee was established to select a new speaker, but then 10 members of parliament who support Sharif Hassan arrived and protested.
The other members of parliament fought back and a wild brawl followed. Particularly impressive debating style from the man on the table.