March 14, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Explosion in Somali presidential compound-police, AU
14 Mar – Source: Al Jazeera/Al Jazeera – 67 words
An explosion hit the presidential compound in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, according to police and the African Union (AU). Paddy Ankunda, Spokesman for the AU’s AMISOM force in Somalia, told Reuters the blast was near the speaker of parliament’s house, which is inside the compound. Ankunda said they suspected the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device.
Somali rebel group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. It says one of its suicide bombers was responsible for the explosion and warned of more blasts. “What a victory, inside the so-called presidential palace, more explosions and bombers will follow,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for al-Shabaab’s military operations told Reuters. Al Shabaab claimed it had killed 17 people and wounded 30 but Somali police gave a lower death toll.
Key Headlines
- Explosion in Somali presidential compound-police AU (Reuters)
- Kenyan delegation visits Mogadishu (Radio Mogadishu SONNA)
- The Joint Security Committee meeting concluded their 12th meeting In Mogadishu (Office of the Prime Minister)
- 3 killed in fighting in south western Somalia (Bariga Afrika Shabelle)
- Turkey to host Somalia reconstruction conference next May (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Somalia Ethiopian hold talk on lasting peace and stability in Somalia ( Shabelle)
- TFG forces arrest university lecturer students in Mogadishu (BBC Somali Service Somalia Report Al Furqan)
- Ugandan military head outlines plan to clear Somalia of al Shabaab (Africa Review)
- AU force eyes securing south central Somalia by August (Reuters)
- Somali Islamist rebels vow to eject aid agency (New York Times)
PRESS STATEMENT
The Joint Security Committee meeting concluded their 12th meeting In Mogadishu
13 Mar – Source: Office of the Prime Minister – 303 words
The Joint Security Committee today concluded their 12th meeting in Mogadishu. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed, Ambassador Mahiga and Special envoy of AU to Somalia Boubacar Diarra. The participants in the meeting included Ministers, Mayor of Mogadishu, Representatives from Galmudug and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a. From the International Community, the participants were UK, US, EU, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, AU and AMISOM.
The meeting discussed on how to further and strengthen the security and also how the Somali army could get the necessary support for the accomplishment of their duties. The 2036 resolution of the UN Security Council was mentioned in the meeting which authorised additional troops to be incorporated into AMISOM. The troops, this time, are allowed to uses helicopters and fighter jets in pursuit of Al-shabab. The AMISOM forces will also take over from Ethiopian forces in places like Beledweyn and Baidoa.
Troops from Siera Leon will also join AMISOM by June this year and will be deployed to the Juba regions. Ahlu Sunna Wal Jam’a leader said that the forces of the group are ready to be amalgamated into the Somali Nationa Army.
Speaking about how the military will be supported logistically, the US representative in the meeting revealed that the US government will morally and materially support the Somali army in order for them to seize control of the security of the country. The Italy government also voiced to continue and double the support it was giving to the Somali government to completely flush out al Shabaab from the Somali scene.
This is the 12th meeting convened by the Joint Security Committee and held in Mogadishu as the security situation of the city has greatly improved. The meeting finally produced a unanimous agreement to continue the progress made and consolidate the gains and make undivided attention to complete liberation of the country.
SOMALI MEDIA
Kenyan delegation visits Mogadishu
14 Mar – Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA – 129 words
A high level Kenyan government delegation led by Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula has arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The delegation was received by top Somali government officials t and high ranking AMISOM officials at the Aden Adde International Airport. Wetangula is set to meet with several Somali government officials while in his stay in Mogadishu.
Kenyan military will now join the African Union force in Somalia and fight the al Shabaab following a UN Security Council resolution in February that increased the force’s strength to 17,731. Kenyan contributed troops to the African union mission in Somalia and Kenyan foreign minister’s arrival is related to the security and the fight against terrorist linked group of al Shabaab, officials said.
3 killed in fighting in south western Somalia
14 Mar – Source: Bariga Afrika, Shabelle – 174 words
At least three people have been killed and many others wounded after heavy fighting between al Qaeda linked al Shabaab fighters and local herdsmen in Gedo region, southwest of the country, a military official and residents said. Witnesses said the clashed sparked after al Shabaab insurgents based in location close to the town of Bardere ordered local residents to surrender their livestock for Zakaat. Two militants were killed in battle.
Lt. Colonel Aden Ahmed Hirsi, the spokesman of Somali government army in Gedo region told the Media that they are happy to see local fighting with al Shabaab rebels. He said local militias have confiscated weapons from al Shabaab during the war.
Mr. Hirsi also noted that al Shabaab wants the capital from the livestock to be used in the battle against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Kenyan troops who have invaded last year south-western parts of Somalia. Tension is said to be high in the areas where the fighting broke out and there are reports of military operations being conducted in the area by al Shabaab insurgents.
Turkey to host Somalia reconstruction conference next May
14 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 204 words
Turkey will host an international conference on the reconstruction Somalia next May, says Somali official. Somalia’s representative to the Arab League, Ambassador Abdullah Hassan Mahmoud, told Al-Bayan newspaper that the Istanbul meeting in will be attended by the international community including the Arab League and Turkey, which plays an important role in these endeavors.
He said the conference will discuss the reconstruction of Somalia, whose infrastructure was destroyed by the 21 years-old conflict in the country. Mahmoud criticized the Arab countries who criticized the Somali government for allowing the intervention of Ethiopian troops in Somalia, saying that the Arabs refused to participate militarily to stabilise the country.
He saluted the role played by Ethiopia and other forces in the country in efforts to fight al Shabaab rebel group. “We have asked the Arabs to participate, and they rejected to participate in that task, so why look at the sensitivity for the participation of neighbouring Ethiopia, which deal with us as equals and brothers under the protection of common interests between the two countries” he added.
Somalia, Ethiopian hold talk on lasting peace and stability in Somalia
14 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 143 words
The president of Somalia Transitional Federal government (TFG) Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa to talk on how to achieve lasting peace and stability in Somalia, reports said on Wednesday. Source say both officials during their discussion focused on the currently security situation in Somalia and the future of ongoing operations of Ethiopian troops against al Shabaab militants in parts of south and central Somalia.
Somalia’s president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is in Addis Ababa for two-day visit. Ethiopian troops crossed the border in November to fight Islamist insurgents of al Shabaab and the troops have captured Beledweyne in central and Baidoa town in south from the rebels. The visit of Somali President Mr. Ahmed in the neighbouring Ethiopia comes after the Africa Union said the Ethiopians would be replaced by troops from Djibouti, Uganda and Burundi.
TFG forces arrest university lecturer, students in Mogadishu
14 Mar – Source: BBC Somali Service, Somalia Report, Al Furqan – 64 words
TFG security forces entered the Somalia University Campus in Mogadishu and detained a university lecturer and several students. The TFG forces fired at the university students and threatened the students before they arrested them. TFG Security official confirmed that the university lecturer is still being kept under police custody as students were released by the TFG Security forces.
South Africa promises to support Somalia
14 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 215 words
The South African government said it will support Somalia government in efforts to revive its institutions and drafting the new constitution. South African Foreign Minister, Maite Nkoana Mashabane said her country will offer $13.2 million in financial assistance to Somalia to help establish the institutions of governance, and will work to help them draft a new constitution.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Somali Foreign Minister, Abdullahi Haji Hassan Mohammed, in Pretoria yesterday, Nkoana Mashabane said that a lasting peace in Somalia can be achieved through negotiations. She called all Somali armed opposition groups, including al Shabaab, to give up their weapons and join the peace process.
The South Africa government also said it has reached an agreement with Somalia to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. “The South Africa and the Somali government have just concluded an agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations,” Mashabane.
Nkoana-Mashabane said the move will allow both countries the opportunity to closely assess the situation in Somalia and propose interventions in partnership with Somalis and other key players towards the realisation of lasting peace in Somalia. Ndumiso Ntshinga, who is currently South Africa’s High Commissioner to Kenya, will be designated to Somalia until circumstances allow South Africa to open a mission in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
Hiiraan Security Committee calls for cooperation to tighten security
13 Mar – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Somalia Report – 52 words
The security committee of Hiiraan region met with the elders and scholars of Hiiraan and asked for their cooperation in order to tighten the security of the region. The spokesman of the committee told Radio Mogadishu that both sides agreed to work together to prevent anyone from creating insecurity in the region.
Al Shabaab appoints new governor Lower Juba region
13 Mar- Source: Somalia Report, Jowhar Online – 114 words
The al Shabaab militant group has reorganized their command structure in the Lower and Middle Juba regions, under regular attacks by the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF), Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops and pro-government Ras Kamboni militias.
A statement from al Shabaab’s political and regional relations office stated that the governor for Juba, Sheikh Abubakar Ali Aden, was replaced with Sheikh Abdirahman Hudeyf. Ma’alin Umar, until recently judge for the Banadir region, will fill Hudeyf’s previous position as Juba regional courts judge.
Sheikh Abukar has commanded militants in the Juba regions over the last three years. Sources close to al Shabaab indicate the fired chairman is accused of failing to adequately defend against the KDF and TFG offensive.
Somalia insurgents expel save the children
13 Mar – Source: Radio Risaala, Radio Kulmiye – 108 words
Al Qaida-linked Somali insurgents say they are expelling British aid group Save the Children from areas under their control. A Tuesday statement from the al Shabaab militia says Save the Children distributed 4,470 cartons of expired porridge to children, was corrupt and offered bribes. Save the Children officials were not immediately available for comment.
Al Shabaab has expelled several aid organizations from its territory, including the Red Cross, the Danish Refugee Council and the U.N.’s World Food Program, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. Experts say the expulsions of aid agencies contributed to a famine in the group’s strongholds from July to January in which tens of thousands of people died.
Militants mull pulling out of Elasha Biyaha
14 Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Radio Mogadishu – 189 words
Al Shabaab militant group is considering pulling out of Elasha Biyaha, a rebel stronghold on the outskirt of Mogadishu, reports say. Locals confirmed to Bar-kulan that the militants were seen last night loading their military wares and other supplies into trucks heading towards Afgoye. The group has been secretly withdrawing from the area in the last few days after Somali government and the African Union forces in Mogadishu threatened to attack this rebel stronghold, according to locals in Elasha Biyaha.
In mid-last month, the African Union Force in Mogadishu expanded its territory by seizing control of two strategic sites between Mogadishu and Elasha Biyaha, heightening trepidation among the militants. The force seized control of Ali Janale area and the former Maslah building, few KM from Elasha Biyaha – without facing any resistance from al Shabaab rebel fighters.
After the fall of these two strategic sites, locals in Elasha Biyaha started fleeing their homes to safer grounds including Mogadishu. Public transport operators hiked the fare to Mogadishu after locals started fleeing their homes to escape imminent clashes in the area as the African Union Force advances towards this rebel held position outside Mogadishu.
Ethiopian Firm Awarded Tender For Construction of New Terminal at Berbera Airport
13 Mar – Source: Somaliland Press – 137 words
Somaliland Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Hon Mohamud Hashi Abdi has award an Ethiopian company construction firm a tender to renovate and construct a new passenger terminal at the Berbera International Airport.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Airport and Civil aviation Hon. Mohamud Hashi Abdi said out of a dozen bidders who took part in the bidding process we have decide to award the contract to Teleberham Ambaye Construction Company, the contract which worth is four million three hundred and Ninety thousand dollars which will be funded by the Kuwait government grant to the Somaliland government.
The minister also added that the work will commence at the airport, sooner rather than later and once it is completed it will generate much needed income revenue interim of tax and will satisfy passengers standards.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Ugandan military head outlines plan to clear Somalia of al Shabaab
14 Mar – Source: Africa Review – 220 words
The head of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), Gen Aronda Nyakairima, has unveiled plans to liberate the remaining southern and central regions of Somalia still held by al Shabaab, the radical Islamist group that opposes the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), by August. Gen Nyakairima during a visit Tuesday to Somalia said peacekeepers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, would seize four strategic areas in Somalia. Uganda has troops in the mission.
He said that the peacekeepers will aim to secure all Somali territory except Somaliland and Puntland, two semi-autonomous authorities in northern Somalia. The general said that Phase One would take place from Mogadishu as Ugandan and Burundian forces are bound to capture the Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle regions.
“The operation is going to be led by a Ugandan Commander,” said Gen Nyakairima. Using a military chart, he said that Phase Two will have joint forces from Kenya and Sierra Leone seizing Jubaland in southern Somalia under the command of a Kenyan general. The Third Phase would involve the liberation of Bay and Bakol regions in southwestern Somalia from al Shabaab by a combined Amisom force from Burundi and Uganda, under the leadership of a Burundian general.
Ethiopia resolute to ensure durable peace in Somalia: PM Meles
13 Mar – Source: Ethiopian News Agency – 278 words
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia would extend support for the lasting peace and stability of Somalia. While conferring with the Somalia President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed here on Tuesday the premier said Ethiopia is committed for the durable peace and stability of Somalia. He said the Ethiopia defense force with Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) security forces have freed strongholds of al Shabaab. The two sides exchange views as to how ensure sustainable peace and security in theses areas to enable the local people to establish its administration.
The two countries are working a successful works in security areas, PM Meles said and added the two countries agreed to further enhance their cooperation in this regard. He said the two countries would work closely to address the drought and humanitarian crisis in Somali with partner other partners.
After the discussion Somalis president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told journalists his country valued the efforts of the Ethiopian government in ensuring dependable peace and stability in Somalia. He said the relation between Ethiopia and Somalia is getting cemented.
The president said the two countries have agreed to further bolster their cooperation in the areas of peace and security. He said Somalia needs Ethiopia’s support as it clearly revealed in dismissing the al Shabaab, the terrorist sect from towns of Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU force eyes securing south, central Somalia by August
14 Mar – Source: Reuters – 294 words
The African Union’s peacekeeping force in Somalia hopes to drive Somali Islamist militants out of the country’s central and southern regions by August, when the U.N.-backed government’s mandate expires, Uganda’s top army general said on Tuesday.
Since its inception in 2007, the force, known as AMISOM, has focused its military campaign against al Shabaab rebels on the capital, Mogadishu. However, it expects to deploy troops into former rebel strongholds now held by Kenyan and Ethiopian troops after the United Nations voted last month in favour of increasing troop numbers to more than 17,700.
“The (African Union) will deploy its troops in southern and central Somalia as soon as possible. We hope Somalia will be completely peaceful before coming August,” General Aronda Nyakairima, chief of Uganda’s defence forces told reporters. AMISOM has until now consisted almost entirely of Ugandan and Burundian troops. The increase in troops numbers is to a large extent to bring Kenyan forces fighting the insurgents in the country’s southern tip under its command.
Explosion in Somali presidential compound-police, AU
14 Mar – Source: Al Jazeera/Reuters – 67 words
An explosion hit the presidential compound in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, according to police and the African Union (AU). Paddy Ankunda, Spokesman for the AU’s AMISOM force in Somalia, told Reuters the blast was near the speaker of parliament’s house, which is inside the compound. Ankunda said they suspected the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device.
Somali rebel group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. It says one of its suicide bombers was responsible for the explosion and warned of more blasts.
“What a victory, inside the so-called presidential palace, more explosions and bombers will follow,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for al-Shabaab’s military operations told Reuters. Al Shabaab claimed it had killed 17 people and wounded 30 but Somali police gave a lower death toll.
Somali Islamist rebels vow to eject aid agency
14 Mar – Source: New York Times – 93 words
Al Shabaab Islamist militant group, which still controls a few large patches of Somalia, said Tuesday that it was expelling the Save the Children aid agency because it had distributed expired food and tried to bribe al Shabaab officials. Al Shabaab, who are vehemently anti-Western, have kicked out several other aid agencies in recent years. Save the Children, based in Westport, Conn., said that it was looking into the allegations and that it would continue its operations in other parts of Somalia. Al Shabaab’s area of control has been steadily dwindling in recent months.
Dangerous waters: Running the gauntlet of Somali pirates
13 Mar – Source: BBC – 984 words
Nato navies operating off the coast of Somalia have warned of a recent increase in maritime piracy. I decided to experience first-hand what seafarers go through.
I joined them not on a warship – which pirates avoid – but on a merchant tanker, the 112,000-tonne MT Sea Legend, carrying 90,000 tonnes of gas oil from the Gulf of Oman, through the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia, past the Bab al-Mandab Strait and up the Red Sea to Suez.
It is a 2,628-mile, eight-day voyage that sailors call “the route of fear”. Several ships have been approached and attacked in the past few days. More than 100 sailors are still being held to ransom on the Somali coast.
Official: Invest in children for peace in Somalia
13 Mar – Source: AP – 774 words
Adan Abdi worries that the students in his class show too little interest in education. That might be a common complaint among teachers, but Abdi’s concerns go further: His students are interested in playing war. Abdi is a teacher in southern Somalia, a region that has been dominated by militia violence for years.
“Students here are not so much interested in learning because they can see a lot of people carrying guns,” said the 22-year-old English teacher. “Small guys like them are carrying guns, when they go from (school) to their houses … they pretend to be fighting using sticks like guns.
“That’s what they have in their hearts. Their intention: That they will fight when they grow older,” Abdi said. UNICEF says an entire generation of children has grown up knowing only conflict and fighting in many parts of Somalia, and possibly thousands of children have been trained in combat. Sikander Khan, the top official for the U.N. children’s agency in Somalia, says there is an increased need to invest more in Somalia’s youth and children to give long-term peace a chance to prevail.
“We need to make sure that this generation receives quality basic education, access to social services and protection from violence and abuse,” he said. “This will stop them being sucked into the continuing violence and they will then be able to make a positive and lasting contribution to the future of Somalia.”
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“As KDF joins AMISOM, United States has pledged military and fiscal support to Kenya, joining AMISOM whose operations in Somalia might be wound up towards the end of the year, KDF exit strategy is of great importance, and it manifests within the AMISOM expiry further depicting great planning and providence in the KDF military intelligence.”
AMISOM Benefits after Kenya Defense Forces Re-hatting
13 Mar – Source: Intelligence Briefs – 504 Words
Though what KDF got was merely a meager of what military intelligence and war planners at defense headquarters in Kenya wanted, the outcome of the UN funded AMISOM re-hat was worthy. KDF senior personnel will get 16-slots at AMISOM headquarters out of the available 80. Such a number is big enough to command both respect and strategy execution.
Another beneficial aspect of the arrangement is the independence of KDF to operator within its current sectors hence its a continuation of their operation under new command structure and funding arrangement.
Third is the fiscal benefits to the Kenyan coffers as UN through AMISOM funds the operation to rid Southern Somalia of militants of al Shabaab background; As such,Kenya will not financially facilitate the operation hence making huge savings home.
Equipment to be provided by the United Nations and used by KDF will be owned by KDF after the end of theAMISOM operations in Somalia further arming the army with a few free resources and facilities.
“Enter the talks the Somalia’s TFG president proposed to have with Somaliland administration. Who is entitled to talk on behalf of the unionists who support Khaatumo state of Somalia? Is it Puntland or Somaliland? In a speech on the finalisation of Puntland Constitution , president Abdirahman Farole of Puntland welcomed the TFG’s call for talks with Somaliland but insisted on the role of Puntland in the talks as “ Somaliland has attacked Puntland territories .””
Khaatumo State and TFG-Somaliland Talks
13 Mar – Source: Mareeg/Raxanreeb -1134 Words
The VOA Somali Service reported that the office of the Somali prime minster has reversed the Transitional Federal Governmen’s (TFG) decision to recognise Khaatumo State. Upon returning to Mogadishu yesterday the prime minister, Dr Abdiweli Ali, declined to comment on the recognition or non-recognition of Khaatumo State of Somalia formed nearly two months ago after politicians and traditional leaders and convened in the Taalex district.
The silence of the prime minister is as damaging to his political and academic reputation as the role he allegedly has in reversing the decision after being pressured by Puntland president to challenge the Somali president’s decision to recognise Khaatumo State.
“I am saying the enemy at home and its aliens in the country are primary cause of the Ethiopian, Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti occupation towards Somali soil. The invasion of foreign troops to Somalia was the product of visceral rage some of it based on legitimate concerns, others based on wrongful prejudice, but all of it fuelled and encouraged by the enemy at home. Therefore, without the enemy at home, the foreign occupation seems never to have been happened.”
SOMALIA: ‘The enemy at home is worse than occupation enemy’
13 Mar – Source: Somali Midnimo – 1492 Words
In this article, I make a claim that will seem surprising at the outset. It would not be far from the truth to say that the enemy at home is left in Somalia the responsible for causing the occupation. The enemy at home includes the warlords, Khat dealers, smugglers, local NGOs and spies.
In reality, most of Somalia was stabilized in 2006 by the Islamic Courts movement itself, which reopened Mogadishu’s port and ensured the physical security of Somalis for the first time nearly two decades.
Top tweets
@KSAfricaHack US Africa official says resolving African conflicts a priority – focus on #Somalia http://wp.me/
@Pansomalism No qabiil. One people One religion One #Somalia http://pic.
@Scott_M_Weber Somali children in Kenyan refugee camps need #peace in #Somalia in order to go home. See this sobering clip http://ow.ly/1Io0eA @
@impinews South Africa finally joins the race to solve #Somalia http://bit.ly/
@ShrewdAfrican Ugandan military head outlines field plan to clear #Somalia of Al-Shabaab. Any militants reading this? http://bit.ly/z0YUIw @
@johnnyangel10 #Somalia: Al-Shabaab forbids you to Save the Children http://www.
@robynleekriel There has been an explosion at Villa Somalia, the presidential palace in #Mogadishu, say #Somali police. An improvised explosive device.
Image of the day
A suicide bomber struck a restaurant adjacent to Somali Presidntial palace ‘Villa Somalia’, causing deaths and destructions. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility.