25 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Regional bloc condemns al Shabaab attacks on Kenya
- Somalia offers condolences to Turkey
- Al Shabaab arrest traders in Elasha Biyaha
- TFG forces showcased weapons seized from al Shabaab in Mogadishu
- US pledges $100 million in East Africa hunger aid
- Drone strikes hit al Shabaab key bases in Kismayo
- Kenyan official: We are astonished at Somali president’s statement
PRESS RELEASE
Somalia offers condolences to Turkey
24 Oct – Source: TFG – 180 words
The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia conveys its heartfelt condolences to the Government and the People of Turkey following the tragic earthquake that hit southeastern Turkey on Sunday.
“The Government of Somalia extends its heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Turkey and in particular, to the bereaved families and assures them of its solidarity in these moments of deep sadness,” said Somalia Prime Minister, Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali.
“The entire Somali nation mourns, prays, and stands with the people of Turkey” Dr. Ali added. In an immediate condolence letter to his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday evening, Dr. Ali expressed his profound condolences and sympathies to the Turkish Government and people over this tragic event.
The Republic of Turkey is a great friend and firm supporter of Somalia, and has stood by the people of Somalia in the darkest moments, as it deals with the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and its worst in 60 years.
Prime Minister Dr. Ali stated that the Government of the Somali Republic stands ready to extend any support and assistance within its capability.
SOMALI MEDIA
Al Shabaab arrest traders in Elasha Biyaha
24 Oct – Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA. SNTV and Radio Bar-kulan – 163 words
Confirmed reports from Elasha Biyaha, located 15 kms South of the capital Mogadishu suggest that al Shabaab extremists have arrested a number of traders in the area.
Most of the traders were arrested after they tried to relocate to the government side after being subjected to a series of harsh measures by the group.
Some of the traders add that more than 21 traders were placed behind bars for going contrary to the al Shabaab directives. Most of the traders have been subjected to pay huge sums of money in fines by the group commanders, which has in turn caused a major outcry from the traders.
Reports of al Shabaab infighting has also been reported in most parts of the country with the members of the extremists group resulting to infighting among themselves after losing all their strategic bases in the capital and the South central regions of Somalia following a joint successful offensive by the Transitional federal forces of Somalia and the AU peace keeping Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).
TFG forces showcased weapons seized from al Shabaab in Mogadishu
25 Oct – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Somalia report – 60 words
Somali Security forces yesterday presented to the media weapons including bullets, bombs and guns seized during search operations in the districts of Wardhiigley, Hodan and Howlwadag in Mogadishu.
The director of anti-explosive devises group, Aden Fidow Bare, said that the security forces found some of the weapons in an al Shabaab storage facility located within a business in Bakara market.
Kenyan official: We are astonished at Somali president’s statement
25 ct – Source: Radio Shabelle – 142 words
The deputy parliament speaker of Kenya on Tuesday said that it is surprise that the president of Somalia to say they didn’t allow Kenyan military to enter his country. Speaking to radio Shabelle, Farah Moallim said that Kenyan forces will leave Somalia only if the transitional government can secure the security of its porous border with Kenya.
He said that Kenya has crossed the border into the Horn of African nation only to battle al Shabaab and assure its country’s security. The official also pointed out that al Shabaab have been committing vandalism activities in Kenya and Somalia for 13 years.
He said Kenyan military is committed to dislodging al Shabaab from southern regions. On Monday, Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, visiting Mogadishu frontlines, said his government and Somali people didn’t allow Kenyan forces to cross the border into Somalia.
Al Shabaab claim grenade attack in a nightclub in Nairobi
24 Oct – Source: Somaliweyn – 295 words
Al Shabaab Islamist faction in Somalia has proudly claimed to be behind the hand grenade which was hurled in Mwauras nightclub in the heart of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
An officer in the network of al Shabaab who has spoken to some of the local radio stations in Mogadishu, but shortened his name as Sheikh Abuu Yahya said that they are behind the hand grenade attack.
“If the so called Kenyan government thinks that we are unable to carry out vengeance for its act of invading our territory, we are telling them that we can carry out attacks right inside its capital city Nairobi, and before anything happened we recommended them [the Kenyan government] to pullout its troops from Somalia, but they have turned deaf ears to whatever we have told them, this hand grenade at the nightclub bar is the beginning and there will be series other attacks which we are also planning in some other big cities in Kenya” said Abuu Yahya.
Al Shabaab had earlier claimed a suicide attack in the Ugandan capital which had left over 75 people dead, and as well threatened to carry out attacks in some cities in Africa such as Bujumbura and Addis Ababa. The Kenyan government has sent its infantry troops into Somalia at the beginning of this month after tourists and aid workers were kidnapped from inside the Kenyan territory.
http://www.somaliweyn.info/
Southern Somalia village is tense
25 Oct – Source: Shabelle – 120 words
Fighting is looming to erupt between Somali government soldiers and al Shabaab fighters as a tense situation is reported from the village of Busar outskirts of Elwak town in Gedo region of southern Somalia. Reports emanating from the region suggested that there is military movement in the area.
Local residents said they live in dreadful and gloomy condition because fighting can break out anytime. Some of the inhabitants have already started fleeing from their homes there, according to latest reports.
Monday’s battle in Busar village that was between Somali soldiers with the help of Kenyan military and al Shabaab has left at least three people dead and several more injured.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Drone strikes hit al Shabaab key bases in Kismayo
25 Oct – Source: Somali National News Agency – 110 words
Drone strikes have in the past two days targeted al Shabaab bases in the Lower Jubba regions and Kismayo port where key al Shabaab leaders were meeting.
Kismayo is al Shabaab’s nerve centre for operations and its main source of funding; the recent Somali government capture of Afmadhow has caused a deadly blow to the extremists group.
Drone strikes in the past have targeted key al Shabaab bases and killed key al Shabaab leaders, further weakening the terrorist group. Several al Shabaab commanders have been killed as aerial bombardments by planes in Kismayo seaport and airport are reported by local residents.
UN delivers medical aid to Somaliland authorities
24 Oct – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 114 words
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has delivered medical aid to Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland. The UNFPA delivered 42 tonnes of medical aid supplies to Somaliland’s ministry of health officials in Awdal region in efforts to support Mother and Child health care in the region.
Awdal regional medical coordinator Dr. Abdirahman Jamaa Ali received the aid from the UN officials. The coordinator thanked the UN officials for their support, saying that it was a timely help as the supply was much needed in the area.
UNFPA official Elmi Ahmed who handed over the medical aid to Somaliland authorities said the aid is meant to boost Mother and Child health care in the region.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Regional bloc condemns al Shabaab attacks on Kenya
25 Oct – Source: Africa Review – 215 words
The East African Community has condemned al Shabaab attacks on Kenya saying they could affect businesses in the region.
Deputy secretary general Beatrice Kiraso warned that if not dealt with, the militia threats would “greatly” undermine the progress of EAC integration.
“It seems Al-Shabaab and the pirates are networking and shifting their strategy to soft targets such as kidnapping of tourists and the likes,” Ms Kiraso said.
She spoke during the opening of workshop on the EAC Early Warning Mechanism that started at Impala Hotel in Arusha on Monday and ends Tuesday.
Residents claim top al Shabaab men roam town
24 Oct – Source: the Standard – 240 words
Anxiety gripped Kitui and Mwingi towns and surrounding environs when photographs of two suspected Al-Shabaab militiamen were published in The Standard on Monday.
The residents claimed that the two men, Ali Mohammed Rage and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis, were frequently spotted in the towns.
“We know these men. They are not new in Kitui and Mwingi towns. One of them runs a business,” a resident who requested anonymity said. Kitui Central DC Joshua Chepcheing’ confirmed the people’s concerns but said no positive identification had been made.
“I have information that the two men in the photographs look familiar but I can’t say with certainty they are the ones people claim roam the town. They may be the ones or not,” the DC told the Press in his office.
He called on the residents to be more vigilant and report suspicions characters suspected to be Al-Shabaab. The DC warned that Kitui County bordered the volatile North Eastern Province where some residents have been found to have close links with the terrorists.
“Locals must play their patriotic duty of helping the Government root out the terror network. The business community must support the military action in Somalia by cooperating with the police to stop members of the terror network from sneaking into the county and the country,” he said.
The administrator asked owners of guesthouses to keep identity records of all visitors and urged them to report suspicious clients to the police.
The real cost of war against al Shabaab terrorists
24 Oct – Source: Daily Nation – 521 words
Until last week, the Kenyan military had cut itself out as a privileged class of people exempted from taxation and fed well enough to show their might during public holidays, at least in the eyes of ordinary Kenyans. This is why teachers won sympathy from the majority of Kenyans during their latest strike when it was revealed that Treasury had diverted Sh6.7 billion — meant to recruit new hands to alleviate a biting teacher shortage — to the Department of Defence (DoD) for a military pay rise.
Just weeks after Treasury moved to allay discontent in the defence forces over poor pay, Kenyan troops are pursuing Al-Shabab militia hundreds of kilometres into Somalia.
But as the troops capture more towns, taxpayers are faced with their first war bill since Independence, an expense that both the government and security experts reckon will be high.
Security experts admit that though it is too early to give an estimate of how much the country will spend on the military offensive, such battles have far reaching impacts on the economies of warring countries. For example, the United States is estimated to have spent more than a trillion dollars in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“Money for war is never put in the development budgets. It comes from the contingency fund. If this is not enough, then governments start evaluating what project to suspend in development budgets,” said Mr Simiyu Werunga, a security analyst.
The government has already hinted that the war, if prolonged, will put pressure on the national budget, coming at a time when it is already facing a Sh236 billion deficit in the Sh1.2 trillion Budget that Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta read in June.
Kenya police seize Somali-bound ship
25 Oct – Source: the Standard – 422 words
Police in Malindi have intercepted a ship in the high seas as it was heading to Kismayu in Somalia. Malindi OCPD Wellington Choka confirmed the incident and said they were holding seven crew members of the ship for interrogation.
On Monday, Choka said the ship was spotted by marine police officers who were conducting patrols along the sea. The officers pursued the vessel and ordered it to stop. On questioning, the crewmembers claimed they were from the port of Mombasa and were heading to Kismayu to deliver foodstuffs.
The OCPD said the ship was loaded with tealeaves but added that investigations were in ‘top gear’. “We are questioning them to know whether it is true they were only going to sell the tea leaves as they purport or they had another mission,” he noted.
He said the ship was at the moment under police custody and that the crew was pleading to be released so that they could sail back to Mombasa.
The Government has banned any movement of people or cargo in and out of Somalia after declaring the border closed.
http://www.standardmedia.co.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US pledges $100 million in East Africa hunger aid
25 Oct – Source: AFP – 629 words
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday pledged another $100 million in food aid to drought-hit East Africa amid warnings that millions of people face starvation, mostly in lawless Somalia.
Despite tight foreign aid budgets, Clinton said that food security was a critical priority for President Barack Obama’s administration whose “Feed the Future” initiative aims to address long-term reasons for global hunger.
Clinton said that the administration would also boost immediate food assistance by adding to the $647 million it has already committed to address the crisis on the Horn of Africa.
“I am pleased to announce that we are providing an additional $100 million, primarily in food assistance for drought-affected areas in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia,” Clinton said. “This new funding will help us reach more people and support our humanitarian commitment well into 2012,” Clinton told a forum held at the State Department on food assistance.
Clinton did not go into detail about the funding. The previous $647 million was distributed to aid groups and agencies including the UN World Food Program.
“It is the right thing to do,” she said. “If you come from a country as blessed as ours, with the food we take for granted, it is an obligation to try to help those who are in need.”
The United Nations estimates that more than 13 million people are in need of food assistance in East Africa. The region is suffering from its worst drought in years, which some experts link to climate change.
The worst-hit nation by far is Somalia, where tens of thousands of people are believed to have already died. The country has effectively lacked a central government for two decades, with the Islamist Shebab guerrillas controlling much of the country.
Ministry of Health and Arab League open training course for midwives
24 Oct – Source: Relief web – 333 words
The Somali Deputy Minister for Health Faisal Hussein Dahir, opened today a three-month training course for Somali midwives in an effort to improve the mother and child healthcare in Somalia. The Course brings together 30 participants from across the country and is being sponsored by the Arab Fund for Technical Support to the African Countries, which is an organ of the Arab League.
Speaking during the opening ceremony the deputy Minister of Health called upon the participants to show responsibility and work in order to come out with concrete results capable of bringing significant improvement in mother and childcare in Somalia and reduce child mortality rate. “We are so impressed by the hard work and commitment of the midwives working in Somalia to save the lives of mothers and children” said the Deputy Minister. He thanked the League of Arab States for training and building the capacity of the midwives and for extending support to the health sector in Somalia in general.
Somalia has the world’s highest mortality rate for children under age 5, according to data released in September 2011 by UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. The mortality rate in 2010 stood at 180 deaths per 1000 live births, which now ranks among the worst in the world.
The Head of Arab League Mission in Mogadishu, Ambassador Mohamed Abdalla Idris said that in addition to political and financial support to Somalia, Arab League gives priority to human development and capacity building, because it believes that manpower is the real and durable wealth of Somalia. He promised support to the sectors that deliver services to the Somali people.
The opening ceremony was also attended by the Minister for Women and Family Care, Minister of State for Information, the Mayor of Mogadishu, the Mayor of Mogadishu, Director General of Health Ministry, the Ambassadors of Djibouti, Sudan and the representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) in Mogadishu.
http://reliefweb.int/sites/
U.S. keeping close watch on Al-Qaida in Africa
25 Oct – Source: NPR News – 774 words
A foreigner in Somalia
So imagine the reaction when a little over a week ago an unusual video appeared on Islamic websites. It was of a white man with a scarf twisted over his face standing before bags of grain and piles of clothes in a desert in Somalia. In the video, he was addressing the hungry at a local feeding station. He said his name was Abu Abdulla al-Muhajir, or “the foreigner.” And there was one thing US officials noticed about the man almost immediately: He was speaking nearly perfect English.
“Alhamdulillah,” or “Praise to God,” he began. “We are honored and blessed to take this opportunity to send our heartfelt greetings to our brothers and sisters in Somalia and we also take this opportunity to say we love you all for the sake of Allah and we sincerely relate to your suffering and affliction during this testing time.”
His English wasn’t quite unaccented and his word choice wasn’t quite right – but it was close. The young man went on to tell the crowd that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had sent him to Somalia to distribute food and clothing. “Al-Qaida, under the leadership of Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri, continues to highlight the plight of the (community) and continues to support them with every means at their disposal,” he said.
Possible links to Somali militia
Counter-terrorism officials say the release of this tape could mean al-Qaida is forging closer ties with the group that is controlling much of southern Somalia, an Islamist militia called al-Shabab. It has been fighting the transitional government in Somalia for years and, more recently, has banned most foreign aid organizations from the parts of Somalia where it has control.
A famine is sweeping through southern Somalia and the United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of Somalis have already died of hunger. Al-Shabab has been criticized for making the disaster worse by threatening NGOs that want to provide food aid.
The food station where the young man was addressing the Somalis was one of the few stations controlled by al-Shabaab. The group has forged ties with al-Qaida in recent months and US counter-terrorism officials, like President Obama’s counter-terrorism chief, John Brennan, see al-Qaida following a familiar pattern – the group takes advantage of chaos.
“Al-Qaida traditionally has taken advantage of areas that are wracked by conflict, turmoiil and lack of government, it is a safe haven they see to launch attacks,” Brennan told reporters recently. “Somalia is one of the most challenging areas of the world because it has this internal conflict, it has such a devastating famine and it is an area that al-Qaida has tried regularly to exploit.”
Against that backdrop, it is easy to understand why the video with this mysterious English speaker talking on behalf of al-Qaida got people’s attention. Intelligence officials are trying to determine who this young man is. They have done voice comparisons, taking the audio from this video and comparing it to recordings they have of foreigners they believe have joined al-Qaeda.
So far there hasn’t been a match. Then again, intelligence officials are asking why al-Qaida would send an English speaker to Somalia in the first place? The people he was addressing at a food station would likely only speak Somali.
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/