21 Jun 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- IDPs from Bondhere return get back to their homes
- Food prices swell crisis expected to deepen
- Life in war-torn Mogadishu slowly gets better
- Barise says the TFG forces are not part of the political stalemate
- Training for soldiers begins in Gedo region
- Government forces took control of Bohol Bashir
Titres Principaux:
- Des déplacés internes de Bondhere retournent chez eux
- Les prix alimentaires grimpent alors que la crise semble s’approfondir
- Barise affirme que les forces du GFT n’ont rien à voir avec l’impasse politique
- L’entraînement de soldats débute dans la région de Gedo
- Les forces gouvernementales ont pris contrôle de Bohol Bashir
- La vie à Mogadiscio s’améliore petit à petit
SOMALI MEDIA
IDPs from Bondhere return to their homes
21 Jun – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 138 words
The TFG forces and AMISOM have today resettled the internally displaced persons from Bondhere after the AMISOM and government forces captured the area. Somali force commander Abdikarim Ahmed Yussuf Dhago Badan informed the residents of Bondhere to return back to their homes and to work with the government forces in the area. The commander asked the residents to inform them of any suspicion and to cooperate with the government forces.
The residents thanked and expressed their utmost happiness with the efforts of the government and AMISOM forces and pledged to cooperate with the government forces to maintain security in the area. The Deputy Force Commander, addressing the residents, said the AMISOM forces are committed to bring about peace in the country.
Secret information obtained by officers says al Shabaab plan blasts against Villa Somalia
21 Jun – Source: Mareeg Online – 159 words
The Officers of the Transitional Government of Somalia for Villa Somalia said on Tuesday that they have received secret information indicating that al Shabaab militias were planning blasts targeting government offices in Mogadishu.
He said, ‘we know that al Shabaab militias want to attack the government centers in Villa Somalia, so we highly tightened the security and we are ready for any attack against us. This is not different from their former threats. We made more checkpoints inside the palace in order to search vehicles and people to protect against any insecurity activities.’ The Commander said that there had not been any suspects captured for the case so far.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=20094&tirsan=3
Barise says the TFG forces are not part of the political stalemate
21 Jun – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 165 words
The Police Commissioner of Somalia Abdullahi Hassan Barise said the soldiers of the government will not be affected by the political differences in the country and that they will continue with their security operations. Mr. Barise who contacted Radio Mogadishu said the police are continuing with their security operations meant to maintain security and order in Mogadishu, which he said hasn’t changed since the government squabbles have started.
“The operation is going smoothly and was previously in effect to arrest those who carry weapons without proper permission. The operation is unchanged” said Barise. Abdullahi Hassan Barise said the soldiers have their own rules to follow and that they are not involved in the politics of the country in any way. “The armed forces have nothing to do with politics, they are carrying out their duties, they have their own regulations and directions. Their duties are not tied to the current situation of the country” Mr. Barise said.
Training for soldiers begins in Gedo region
21 Jun – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Radio Risala – 136 words
The interim Minister for the Ministry of Defense of Somalia Abdihakim Mohamud Haji Fiqi has yesterday opened training for new TFG troops who will be joining the government forces’ operation in Gedo region.
Abdihakim said about 700 soldiers are to undergo training in a center in Gedo region, where many soldiers have in the past completed their training. He said the soldiers to be trained were originally scheduled to be 1000 and that the number will be completed. The minister also pointed out that the youth who will be trained have taken the tough decision of defending their country. He said that they are the leaders of their country and that they are the ones who will shrug off foreigners who caused problems and forced the people to be displaced.
Government forces took control of Bohol Bashir
21 Jun – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 131 words
The government forces have yesterday captured Bohol Bashir in a fight. The area is strategically situated in the border between the regions of Bay and Bakol, as confirmed by the residents. Reports from Baidoa, the regional capital, indicate that a great number of battle wagons of reinforcement were flocking to Bohol Bashir where the fighting took place.
Vehicles carrying militias were clandestinely passing the Sodonka road, who were said are to reinforcing their militias defeated during yesterday’s fighting in Bohol Bashir. Meanwhile, in Bardale in Bay region, tensions among the people are high as most of the people are conversing about the defeat of the militias Al-shabaab yesterday. Some people in Bay region have started to evacuate following the fight that took place between the joint forces of the government and Ahlu Sunna and Al-shabaab militias.
President Farole opens 26th Puntland parliament session
20 Jun – Source: Garowe Online – 160 words
The President of Puntland State of Somalia, H.E. Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole), presented the opening remarks on Sunday at the commencement of the State Parliament’s 26th session in Garowe, the capital of Puntland.
Hon. Speaker Abdirashid Mohamed Hersi of the Puntland Parliament started the session with brief comments, thanking the agencies AWEPA, NDI and UNDP for the assistance in building an office extension for Puntland MPs to use. With media present, Speaker Hersi briefly described the parliamentary agenda during the current session, including nominations for members of the Puntland Election Commission, the Human Rights Defender and judges of the Constitutional Court.
The President of Puntland started his statement by expressing his happiness to offer the opening statement at the Parliament’s 26th session. President Farole spoke extensively about peace and stability, internal and regional security issues, terrorism and piracy, internal and external “political enemies”, the TFI transition and Puntland’s participation at key international meetings on Somalia as well as “occupied areas” of Puntland.
Somaliland troops “arrest” mayor in northwestern Somali town
20 Jun – Source: Radio Galka’yo – 110 words
The security forces of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland have “arrested the mayor of Las Anod town in disputed Sool Region, Ahmad Dahir Haji Hasan” after he was accused of creating anti-Somaliland riots in the town.
Information Minister of Somaliland Ahmad Abdi Habsade reportedly “ordered the arrest of the mayor” and has “accused the mayor of involvement in anti-government protests” in the region. Sources say that the mayor had called on the government to release innocent people who were arrested by Somaliland troops in the town. Series of killings and explosions against officials, businessmen and traditional elders have been prevailing in the disputed Las Anood town for the past few months.
UNHCR trains Somaliland journalists on refugee protection to counter xenophobia in the media
20 Jun – Source: Somaliweyn – 567 words
Over 30 Hargeisa-based journalists received training on international law to tackle negative articles about refugees. On a recent visit to Hargeisa, refugees showed the UNHCR Somalia Representative a number of articles in local publications that portrayed them in a negative light, often with incorrect information and a lack of understanding of their plight.
UNHCR offered to organize a workshop for local media where the work of UNHCR and basic principles of international law could be explained to journalists to foster a greater understanding of the realities of the daily lives of refugees and asylum seekers in the region.
Over 30 journalists from public and private TV, radio, print and internet media houses attended the workshop in Hargeisa, which was organized in conjunction with the Ministries of Information and Interior. Given the instrumental role of the media in shaping public opinion and the perception of the displaced in Somaliland, the workshop underlined the media’s responsibility to ensure that the information it provides to the public is accurate, based on verified facts and impartial.
The workshop delivered information on international protection as well as answering key questions including: who is a refugee, who is an asylum seeker, and what constitutes a displaced person, as well as outlining the national legal framework on refugees and asylum seekers in Somaliland.
http://www.somaliweyn.org/pages/news/June_11/20June29.html
Security forces of Puntland arrests 10 people in Bosaso town
21 Jun – Source: Radio Shabelle – 138 words
The Security forces of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland have conducted operations and arrested 10 people in the port and businesses of Bari region, witnesses, officials said on Tuesday. Reports from Bosaso say that the operations were part of assuring the security of Puntland, adding that the people included traditional elders allegedly involving the assassination of a business man killed in the town recently as well many other people wounded in the same event. Officials said the deceased man was one of the Darawish officers of Puntland administration.
Tension and death toll rise in Gedo region
21 Jun – Source: Mareeg Online – 195 words
The death toll as a result of fighting between the government soldiers and al Shabaab rose to 12, in villages around Luq town of Gedo region in southern Somalia, witnesses said on Tuesday. Locals said that there was military movements between the rivals in out of Luq district mainly Bohol-bashir village where the both sides fought heavily on Monday, killing more than 10 and wounding 15 others.
Diad Abdi Kalil, one of the Officers of the Transitional Government of Somalia in Gedo region told Mareeg’s reporter in Mogadishu that the government troops would continue the fighting against al Shabaab militias in the region until they chase al Shabaab out of certain areas.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=20093&tirsan=3
MPs visit injured gov’t soldiers in Mogadishu
21 Jun – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 131 words
Some TFG parliamentarians yesterday visited and provided aid to the injured government forces and civilians in Madina and Banadir Hospitals in Mogadishu.
Lawmaker Maryan Sheikh Osman, one of the MPs who reached out to the injured said the aid which consisted of money was obtained thanks to a contribution from parliamentarians who decided to extend a helping hand to the injured government forces. The injured forces and the civilians expressed their gratitude for the aid that was given to them, adding that they needed assistance badly. The lawmakers have previously extended aid to the injured soldiers in the hospitals of Mogadishu.
Somaliland government calls for African recognition
20 Jun – Source: Somaliland Press – 357 words
Somaliland appealed to African nations to grant the semi-autonomous region recognition as a sovereign state and called for international help to deal with piracy off its coast. “We need more support from African states,” Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdillahi Omar said in an interview on June 15 in the capital, Hargeisa. “We need recognition, cooperation and assistance from African states.”
Somaliland, a former British colony, declared independence from Somalia in 1991, following the ouster of former Somali dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. No sovereign state has formally recognized the area as independent. In March, the region opened a maximum-security prison built with United Nations funding to incarcerate pirates convicted of attacks off the coast of Somalia.
http://somalilandpress.com/somaliland-government-calls-for-african-recognition-22816
REGIONAL MEDIA
Life in war-torn Mogadishu slowly gets better
21 Jun – Source: Africa review – 334 words
The buzz is there, many planes fly in as others zoom out. It is one of the busiest airports in this part of the world. African Express fly in here many times a day from Nairobi, other planes fly in from the Middle East, but it’s only up to late afternoon.
After that, the airport goes dead and the runway is a favorite jogging area for Ugandan and Burundian soldiers keeping the peace in this city that looks very tranquil from the air but is actually very volatile on the ground. Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport is seeing a lot of business from the large Diaspora community, a product of the war that has raged in this country since the departure of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Right now, there is a new breeze in the air. The trophy holder is the African Union which, with support from the UN, has weaned this city from a total insurgent playground to a thriving business area. It is now very prestigious among Ugandan and Burundian army officers to win a posting in Mogadishu. There is actually a new commander in the city, Major-General Fred Mugisha who has replaced Maj-Gen Nathan Mugisha.
The latter has been in charge of the AMISOM peacekeeping force since 2009 and has now been appointed Uganda’s deputy ambassador in Mogadishu. To ensure the smooth transfer of power, the chief of the Uganda Defense Forces, General Aronda Nyakairima, was in Mogadishu on Sunday on a tight programme that involved talks with top Somali politicians, among them President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi (who later said he is quitting office in line with the Kampala accord) and the Speaker of parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden.
Uganda now calls the shots in Mogadishu. Its 5,000-strong force backed by 4,000 others from Burundi now claim to control 70 per cent of the city, the main battleground being the Bakara market area where major attempts are being made to force out al-Shabaab.
militants.http://www.africareview.com/Special+Reports/-/979182/1186264/-/10rl1wsz/- /index.html
Sort out crisis in Somalia
20 Jun – Source: Daily Nation – 177 words
The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has reached a critical stage and things could get worse before its mandate comes to an end in August. The clan factor that has seen Somalia sink into anarchy is rearing its head once more. While a recent UN-backed deal reached at Kampala called for Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed to resign within a month to pave the way for the formation of a new government, he has been playing a dangerous clan game and refusing to go Though he finally resigned, there has been talk that members of the Darood clan pressured the President, Sheik Ahmed Sharif, to replace the Prime Minister, an ethnic Ogadeni, with one of their own.
The TFG has been largely ineffective since being elected in 2004. There have been two presidents and three prime ministers so far. Yet, the international community continues to push Somalia to the back-burner, while the continued chaos threatens peace and security in the region. The TFG requires the help of regional leaders to overcome the current crisis peacefully, lest it engulfs the whole Horn of Africa.
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Sort+out+crisis+in+Somalia+/-/440804/1185974/- /phxfma/-/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Food prices swell, crisis expected to deepen
20 Jun – Source: Relief Web – 407 words
The Humanitarian crisis in Somalia is expected to deepen in the 2nd half of 2011 with food prices hitting a new record high, the United Nations warned on Monday. This is following two consecutive poor rainy seasons, — depriving many more people of food in the Horn of Africa nation.
The number of Somalis in need of emergency humanitarian assistance is now 2.5 million, a 25 per cent increase since mid 2010, representing 1 in 3 of the population, and expected to increase in coming months, once the full impact of the poor rains is determined. “In the last one month alone, an additional 100,000 fell into crisis due to the soaring local cereal prices in the south, with prices 200% higher than the same time last year in some places,” said Grainne Moloney, the head of the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU).
Somalia normally experiences two major harvests a year, January and August, mostly in the southern regions. The last season failed due to the drought and the next is likely to reach about half of normal, again due to poor rains. This has led to a very low supply of local cereals on the market, pushing the prices out of the reach of many. Coupled with that, the poor rainfall also resulted in a significant number of livestock deaths and reduced value of livestock for the pastoralists, as they have lost body condition.
Conditions have slightly improved in most parts of the northern regions due to localized rains. While some rains have been reported this season in the central and north eastern regions of Somalia, given the last four years of mostly poor rains, many poor pastoralists have lost all their animals and become destitute. Others still require several good seasons to fully recover their herd sizes to viable levels.
However, the epicenter of the current crisis is in the southern regions, including Hiiraan, where 58% of the 2.5million in crisis reside. This is due to the depletion of local cereal stocks following the previous crop failure, coupled with the imminent poor harvest, which has resulted in skyrocketing cereal prices simply unaffordable for many of the poor households. The south is also mostly affected by restricted humanitarian access due to the ongoing conflict, severely hampering aid efforts to reach those most in need. Malnutrition rates in Somalia are amongst the worst in the world, with one in four children in southern Somalia being acutely malnourished.