September 14, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
2 blasts hit army convoy in Afgoye, outside Mogadishu
14 Sept- Source: Radio Shabelle/RBC/Radio Mustaqbal- 147 words
Two remote-controlled land-mine blasts hit on Thursday a convoy carrying Somali government troops in Afgoye town, 30 north-west Mogadishu, witnesses and security officials said.Witnesses said the blasts took place at Afgoye bridge around 3:00 p.m. local time on Thursday afternoon, targeting security forces as they were patrolling streets in the town, a former al Shabaab main stronghold district located outside Mogadishu.
The victims, suffering from serious blast wounds have been rushed to the hospitals in Mogadishu for treatment In the aftermath of the explosions, Somali forces reached the scene and began searches over the attacks, arresting at least 17 passer-bys in suspicion of the blasts.
Key Headlines
- Somali women call for peace in Galgadud (Bar-Kulan)
- Somali’s new president praises the Kenyan government for its support to the Somali people (Radio Risaala)
- The former incumbent president welcomes Somalia’s new president to state house (Radio Risaala)
- Kenyan police seize “six suicide bombs” in Nairobi (The Standard)
- Turkey to support renovation of parliament building in Mogadishu (Sabahi Online)
- South Africa ready to enhance relationship with Somalia: Zuma (Xinhua)
- Officials: Kenyan police stop major terror attack (AP)
SOMALI MEDIA
2 blasts hit army convoy in Afgoye, outside Mogadishu
14 Sept- Source: Radio Shabelle/RBC/Radio Mustaqbal- 147 words
Two remote-controlled land-mine blasts hit on Thursday a convoy carrying Somali government troops in Afgoye town, 30 north-west Mogadishu, witnesses and security officials said.Witnesses said the blasts detonated at Afgoye bridge around 3:00 p.m. local time on Thursday afternoon, targeting security forces as they were patrolling streets in the town, a former al Shabaab main stronghold district located outside Mogadishu.The victims, suffering from serious blast wounds have been rushed to the hospitals in Mogadishu for treatment.
In the aftermath of the explosions, Somali forces reached the scene and began searches over the attacks, arresting at least 17 passer-bys in suspicion of the blasts.
MPs condemn suicide attack on Somalia’s new president
14 Sept- Source: Shabelle- 177 words
Several lawmakers in Somali parliament, have condemned in the strongest terms Wednesday’s suicide attacks on Somalia’s newly elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.“As Somali MPs we strongly denounce attacks on a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, where the country’s new President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was giving a press conference with the Kenyan Foreign Minister, Samuel Ongeri,” said MP Mohamed Abdi Yusuf.
Galmudug fighting with illegal checkpoints in Mudug region
14 Sept- Source: Radio Mustaqbal- 120 words
The Regional autonomy administration of Galmudug said it will fight against illegal checkpoints based in Mudug region as illegal money is taken from the travelers traveling inside Mudug and other regions in the country.The governor of Mudug region for Galmudug administration Mohamed Gure Guled, speaking to Mustaqbal radio, said that administration will hunt the waylayers who rob the passengers traveling in Galmudug.Gure said the security forces of Galmudug will soon launch a crackdown on illegal checkpoints in Mudug region.The population in Mudug region and travelers in the region have been complaining about illegal checkpoints inside of the region.
Minister slams end of transitional period in Somalia
14 Sept- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 132 words
A cabinet minister who used to serve under the TFG, whose UN-backed mandate expired late last August has criticized the transition saying that it was an obstacle to development and international co-operations.Planning and international cooperation minister Abdullahi Godah Barre told Bar-kulan that the just ended transitional period derailed their efforts fix the country’s economy, security issues and their foreign policies. Barre however emphasised the task ahead of the new government to be formed soon and urged the new ministers to be vibrant and development-oriented individuals who can execute their constitutional mandate accordingly.
Fear rising among Somali refugees in South Africa after threats emerge
14 Sept- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 162 words
Groups of angry Africans are threatening the Somali business communities in South Africa, yet the government of Zuma has yet to comment about the raising fears for the Somali nationals in South Africa, according to the Radio Kulmiye correspondent in Johannesburg Abdulah Balwaan.
The cause of this antagonism is not yet identified officially but our correspondent says this may be related to the development of Somali-owned businesses in South Africa.
Somali women call for peace in Galgadud
14 Sept- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 149 words
Women professionals in central Somali region of Galgadud are calling for immediate cessation of hostilities in the region following renewed clan-affiliated clashes in parts of Gadon district.They expressed their concern about the clashes saying that something has to be done in order to put a halt to the ongoing skirmishes in the region.
They urged the warring clans to immediately stop the violence and engage talks to end their differences without shedding more blood.
Fatuma Dego-madow, a primary teacher in Dusamareb lambasted local elders for failing to permanently end the stand-off between these two clans and urged them to intervene the situation immediately.
Clashes erupted in the area early last month after the two clans differed on grazing land ownership, with each side demanding to have full control of the area. At least three people were killed and four others injured following the clashes in parts of Gadon district.
Somali’s new president praises the Kenyan government for its support to the Somali people
13 Sept- Source: Radio Risaala-147 words
Somalia’s new president, Prof. Hassan Shaikh Mahmud has expressed his gratitude to the Kenyan government for its support to the Somali people on exile in Kenya. He said that there is an uncountable number of Somalis who fled Somalia in search of security and who found it in Kenya.
He further pointed out that the only option open to the Somali community is to embrace peace.The president said that he will soon announce the Prime Minister and thanked IGAD and the UN for their support to the Somali people.
Puntland officials successful in reducing crime in Galkayo
13 Sept- Source: Garowe Online- 325 words
Governor of Mudug region Mohamed Yusuf Jama Tigey and police officials have continue their security efforts in the region in a bid to reduce crime in the region, Garowe Online reports. Governor Tigey and Puntland’s Deputy Police Commander Col. Muhayadin Ahmed Musse have been visiting various sites and towns in and around Galkayo, speaking at public venues and walking the beat in the capital of Mudug region, Galkayo.
On Tuesday, Governor Tigey lead police forces to the town of Bursalah located 50 kms away from Galkayo where police officials found many cases of alcohol and food which was stolen from WFP.“We conducted major operations in Bursalah which was successful in arresting pirates, suspected terrorists and major amounts of contraband. The operations also netted 5 men responsible for stealing WFP food aid which was supposed to feed 816 people,” said Governor Tigey at a press conference in Bursalah.
The former incumbent president welcomes Somalia’s new president to state house
13 Sept- Source: Radio Risaala-136 words
Somalia’s new president was welcomed to the state house yesterday – known as Villa Somalia – by a committee consisting of the former president, parliament speaker, a number of army generals and the state house workers. The former president gave his successor a tour of the state house grounds after which a welcoming party was held in the presidential hall in honor of President Hassan Sheikh Mahmud.
Sheikh Sharif was the first to address the party and he explained to the president Hassan the various functions of the statehouse workers, also praising the state house workers for their good work.President Hassan also thanked the former president and the state house workers for their warm welcome.
This was the first visit president Hassan paid to the state house since his swearing-in ceremony.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenyan police seize “six suicide bombs” in Nairobi
14 Sept- Source: Standard/Daily Nation- 355 words
Two suspected terrorists have been arrested and six suicide bombs, 12 grenades, four AK 47 rifles and 480 bullets recovered from them as police thwarted a major terror plot in Nairobi.The two were arrested at a residential house on Thursday night in Eastleigh area where they have been staying in the past two months while plotting the alleged attack on churches.
Police said they were part of a larger terror gang that planned to attack strategic buildings in the city. Two other suspects are at large and police are hunting them in the city. The suspects apparently planned to use them at churches on Sunday.
The suicide bombs had been mounted on vests attached with mobile phones with batteries, which police said would have ignited a series of explosions.
Detectives from Special Crimes Prevention Unit and Flying Squad said they stumbled on the weapons as they pursued information that the four suspects of Somali origin had brought in the four rifles.
Makerere, IGAD in collaboration to train Somali vet professionals
14 Sept- Source: Daily Monitor- 448
As it prepares to celebrate 90 years of existence, Makerere university has declared its intensions to ‘directly export’ diplomas to the Sheik Technical Veterinary School (STVS) of Somalia in collaboration with the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). This was revealed by Prof. John David Kabasa, the principal Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal resources and Bio security (COVAB) at a press briefing recently. Prof. Kabasa said plans to form this collaboration started six years ago when the STVS wrote to COVAB asking for help particularly in the areas of research, knowledge management and technology transfer.
“We see this as a regional agenda and at COVAB we are strategically repositioning for better innovative plans, a humble way of contributing to peace” he said. He added, “There are now ten students from Somalia doing their diplomas at the College while hundreds are taught from Somalia by our own professors from here. STVS is our baby and we must nature it to university level”. The program which aims at raising the status of the Somali institute to a university of agriculture and veterinary medicine in the near future is solely sponsored by IGAD according to Mahboub Maalin IGAD executive secretary.
Turkey to support renovation of parliament building in Mogadishu
13 Sept- Source: Sabahi Online- 79 words
Somali Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari met with Turkey’s ambassador to Somalia Cemalettin Kani Torun to discuss renovation of the parliament building, Somalia’s Radio Risaala reported Wednesday (September 12th).Following their meeting in Mogadishu, Jawari and Torun announced at a news conference Turkey’s pledge to repair the parliament building and other buildings.Torun said Turkey is pleased with the successful transfer of power to Somalia’s newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and will remain a partner to Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
South Africa ready to enhance relationship with Somalia: Zuma
14 Sept- Source: Xinhua-253 words
South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday reaffirmed his country’s desire to enhance its relation with Somalia under the leadership of newly-elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.
“The Government of the Republic of South Africa wishes to reaffirm its desire to further enhance our relations with the Government of the Republic of Somalia,” Zuma said, “We look forward to continuing a fruitful collaboration and interaction between our two countries at various levels.”
He said South Africa stands with the people of Somalia and is ready to work and share experiences with Somalia as they proceed with their project of nation-building, reconciliation, reconstruction and economic development.
Congratulating Somalia for its “successful and peaceful presidential elections,” Zuma said: “This is new dawn for Somalia as it ushers in a new age of governance which must lead to stability and development for the benefit of the people of Somalia. ”
Officials: Kenyan police stop major terror attack
14 Sept- Source: AP- 124 words
Kenyan police say they have arrested two people suspected to have links with an al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group that was in the last stages of planning a major terrorist attack on Kenyan soil.
Boniface Mwaniki , the head of Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, said Friday that police found four suicide vests, a cache of weapons and 12 grenades.
Kenya has suffered grenade attacks that have killed more than 50 people. Police have attributed them to sympathizers of the al-Shabab militant group in Kenya.
Al-Shabab has vowed to carry out terror attacks in Kenya in retaliation against the country for sending troops into Somalia to hunt the militants it blames for a series of cross border attacks, including the kidnapping of four Europeans last year.
China’s 11th escort fleet returns from Somali waters
14 Sept- Source: peopledaily/ Xinhua- 142 words
The 11th naval escort squad sent by the ChinesePeople’s Liberation Army Navy to Somali waters returned home Thursday aftersuccessfully completing its mission. The fleet, including the destroyer Qingdao, the frigate Yantai and the supply shipWeishanhu, has arrived at a port in Qingdao, a city in east China’s Shandong Province.
The ships left the Qingdao port for the mission in February this year and reached theGulf of Aden on March 15.
UN Assembly President condemns attack on president’s hotel
13 Sept- Source: UN News Centre- 331 words
The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, today condemned in the strongest possible terms yesterday’s attack on the hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia where the country’s new President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was giving a press conference and which resulted in one death and several injuries. “President Al-Nasser expresses his deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and Governments of the victims of this attack,” according to a statement released by his spokesperson that stressed that the act violated international law.
Initial reports indicate that three suicide bombers dressed in Somali uniform attempted to enter the Jazeera Hotel, which reportedly also serves as Mr. Mohamud’s temporary residence, while he was speaking to the media and meeting with the Kenyan Foreign Minister, Samuel Ongeri.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“President Mohamoud’s is a legitimate government that needs support and is the will of majority of the people of Somalia”.
Let the world not step back from helping Somalia
14 Sept- Source: Standard- 737 words
Yet again, the Horn of Africa is proving figuratively as sharp as it is deadly. The lull in militant Islam activity spearheaded by the fast-fading Al Shabaab that is linked operationally to Al Qaeda over the past two weeks was shattered by the unsuccessful suicide bombing in Mogadishu.Somalia has been a battleground in the US-led global war against terror, while the long military engagement of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and now Kenya Defence Forces under the African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) to eliminate the lawless nation’s disruption of regional stability culminated in the landmark presidential election held on Monday.
Did not the Somali stakeholders turn out to express their preferred choice for president? Were the rules of a first round voting, second round and run-off not followed? Were the latecomer warlords that turned up at the last minute not accommodated? Was the incumbent not given ample time to defend his seat? The answers to all these are a resounding ‘Yes!’
“Despite this attack, a steady improvement in security is another cause for hope. The challenges facing Mr Hassan are daunting”.
Can he really rescue the place?
14 Sept- Source: the Economist- 700 words
Th election of a civil-rights campaigner as Somalia’s new president has engendered a rare wave of hope in a country that has had no proper government since 1991, when its military dictator, Siad Barre, was overthrown in a coup. “It’s the biggest opportunity for the country for a generation,” says a Western diplomat involved in the process. The new head of state, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, is being lauded as an honest man of peace and pragmatism.
But the dangers and uncertainties of his job were starkly illustrated only two days after his election when he survived an assassination attempt in a hotel where he was meeting Kenya’s foreign minister in Mogadishu, the capital. A suicide-bomber belonging to Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militia, known as the Shabab, blew himself up outside the hotel, killing several people, including a soldier in the force run by the African Union (AU) that has been putting the Shabab on the back foot.
Top tweets
@OCHASomalia #Somalia: 1.6 million people received #food in July thanks to the efforts of 100s of #humanitarian agencies http://twitpic.com/audxf6
@SomaliaDirect Somalian president moved to secure compound after assassination attempt http://goo.gl/cTlDe
@nuurist #Somalia#Puntland: Puntland authorities encouraging diaspora to actively engage in commerce and building local capacityhttp://sabahionline.
@KhusaafMan #Somalia: Lawmakers Condemn Suicide Attack On New #Presidenthttp://goo.gl/3yLe3
@nairobistar Kenya: Prosecution bars Kabogo’s bodyguard, driver from testifying: The inquest into the death of university stu… http://bit.ly/Pov9Wl
@kishissmart Somalia: Unconfirmed report that Nigerian tanks & other equipment arrives ahead of a deployment to strengthen Amisom @justonebullet
Image of the day
Kenya police arrest two suspects, recover 12 grenades, 6 suicide bombs, 4 AK 47 rifles and 480 bullets. Photo: Standard/CapitalFM