November 2, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Uganda, Burundi lost 500 soldiers in Somalia
02 Nov – Source: Daily Monitor/Africa Review – 397 words
The army yesterday said both Uganda and Burundi have lost less than 500 soldiers in Somalia in the last six years. The army’s revelation ended years of an unexplained secretiveness which has shrouded the issue of casualties suffered by the respective troop contingents serving under the African Union peace support mission in the strife-torn country.
It, however, remains unclear exactly how many Ugandan troops have died in Somalia since 2007 when UPDF set foot in Mogadishu.
Yesterday’s revelation came as a response to comments attributed to the Kenyan deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Richard Onyonko. Mr. Onyonko reportedly told a forum on Somalia in Nairobi on Wednesday that Uganda alone has lost 2,700 soldiers.
Key Headlines
- Uganda Burundi lost 500 soldiers in Somalia (Daily Monitor/Africa Review)
- Video: AMISOM Awareness Event by AU/UN Information Support Team (Hiiraan Online/Soomaalo Online)
- Six alleged militants arrested in Beledweyne (Bar-kulan)
- Foreigners rescued from pirates arrive in Dar es Salaam (Citizen News)
- Somali military court sentences al Shabaab members (Raxanreeb)
- Floods displace thousands in Somaliland (IRIN News)
SOMALI MEDIA
Six alleged militants arrested in Beledweyne
02 Nov – Source: Bar-kulan – 114 words
Somali forces in central town of Beledweyne on Thursday arrested six alleged al Shabaab militants who were causing instability in the region. Confirming the arrest, area deputy security boss Ahmed Abdalla Osman told Bar-kulan that the suspects were arrested at a checkpoint on the outskirt of the town.
He said the suspects were arrested in possession of illegal firearms and are now being held in custody awaiting trial. Osman added that the suspects will be arraigned in court to face militancy charges once ongoing investigations are complete.
Area security officials have netted several suspected militants since the town fell early this year when Somali forces backed by allied Ethiopian troops dislodge militants from the area.
Video: AMISOM Awareness Event by AU/UN Information Support Team
02 Nov – Source: Hiiraan Online/Soomaalo Online – 18:04 min
Footages of the Q&A session from this week’s AMISOM Awareness event, as posted by Soomaalo/Hiiraan Online.
Somali military court sentences al Shabaab members
01 Nov – Source: Raxaneeb – 163 words
The Somali military court has on Thursday convicted 20 Somalis of having affiliation to al Shabaab terror organization. The people include 17 young men who were nabbed in an operation carried out by the government forces in Mogadishu.
Liban Ali Yarow, the Somali military court chairman said eight of the suspects were sentenced to five years in prison after they were convicted of having affiliation to al Shabaab militants. Eight others were sent to government-run rehabilitation centre to get help in reintegration.
The court ruling is the second of its kind during this week since the former Somali military court chairman, Gen. Hassan Hussein Mungab resigned.
Somalis meet in Amsterdam to discuss parent-child conflict
02 Nov – Source: Bar-kulan – 113 words
Somali refugees in Amsterdam, Netherlands, met on Thursday to discuss parent-children conflict among community members in the country which later results parents losing their children to the government.
During the meeting, participants discussed the culture differences in child parenting in Somalia and their present country where government takes away children who are battered by their parents. They also deliberated on ways to tackle child abuses and Somali parents’ trouble with the local child rights organisation in the country.
The head of a child rights organisation, SONPPCAN, Muse Hirsi told Bar-kulan that Somalis and local organisations dealing with children’s rights had the opportunity to meet and discuss the stand-off between them over child abuses.
Several held over Somali military commander’s killing in Shabelle region
01 Nov – Source: Raxanreeb – 268 words
The government officials in Marka town of Lower Shabelle region announced on Thursday that they have arrested several people in Marka town in a joint security operations carried out by police forces and national security agencies in connection with the killing of a senior military commander in the region.
Gen. Mohamed Ibrahim Farah Gardon, the commander of Army’s 5th Brigade was killed in an ambush by al Shabaab militants on Sunday while travelling from Marka to Mogadishu. Abdi Salam Mohamed Abdulle, the deputy governor of Shabelle region who spoke to the local media said, they have detained three people in Marka who are suspected of the killing of the Gen. Gordon.
He added that these people were caught in a joint operations conducted in Marka town and its surrounding areas. Somali government announced it will revenge for the killing of the commander and will pursue those behind killing.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Uganda, Burundi lost 500 soldiers in Somalia
02 Nov – Source: Daily Monitor/Africa Review – 397 words
The army yesterday said both Uganda and Burundi have lost less than 500 soldiers in Somalia in the last six years. The army’s revelation ended years of an unexplained secretiveness which has shrouded the issue of casualties suffered by the respective troop contingents serving under the African Union peace support mission in the strife-torn country.
It, however, remains unclear exactly how many Ugandan troops have died in Somalia since 2007 when UPDF set foot in Mogadishu.
Yesterday’s revelation came as a response to comments attributed to the Kenyan deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Richard Onyonko. Mr. Onyonko reportedly told a forum on Somalia in Nairobi on Wednesday that Uganda alone has lost 2,700 soldiers.
Somalia piracy is persistent threat with real victims
02 Nov – Source: Coast Week – 453 words
The Indian Ocean, and Gulfs of Aden and Oman have long been an ample hunting ground for the pirates who wish to ply their illegitimate trade against innocent mariners. And that scourge has not gone away.
A spokesman for the Combined Maritime Forces reports: Although in the last month we have only seen one pirate attack and four disruptions the international diplomatic, military and shipping communities remain focused on the issue, and for good reason. Piracy remains a persistent and credible threat.
Rebuilding Somalia
01 Nov – Source: Citizen TV – 2 :13 min
Peace has eventually returned to the Somalia, The sound of hammers has replaced the sound of bullets in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
Foreigners rescued from pirates arrive in Dar es Salaam
01 Nov – Source: Citizen News – 287 words
Eighteen foreign nationals who were rescued from Somali pirates were yesterday handed back to their embassies after arriving in Dar es Salaam in a Dutch navy vessel.
The 17 Iranians and two Pakistanis were taken hostage by four Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia along international trade sea routes, and were rescued by the crew of the Dutch navy’s amphibious ship, the HNLMS Rotterdam, which was en route to Tanzania.
The HNLMS Rotterdam is among vessels attached to the Nato Task Force 508.The Citizen got access to Dar es Salaam port yesterday evening and witnessed the Iranians being handed over to Iranian embassy officials by HNLMS Rotterdam’s officers.
Kenya among Africa’s top spenders on military
01 Nov – Source: Business Daily Africa – 474 words
Kenya has been ranked among the countries with the highest defence budgets in Africa, thanks to two decades of a steady increase in military expenditure. It is ranked seventh behind Algeria, South Africa, Angola, Libya, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco, having surpassed Tunisia last year.
The country spent Sh45.8 billion last year down from Sh47.7 billion the previous year but remained by far the highest in East Africa relative to its GDP, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), an independent research organisation.
Kenya is faced with problems of terrorism, attacks from Oromo militias in Ethiopia and piracy in the Indian Ocean that have exposed the country’s military inadequacies. “Due to the military “achievement” of KDF against al Shabaab militants in Somalia, Kenya would most likely want to obtain a greater influence on the political and administrative future of the region,” said Sipri in a email to the Business Daily.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Floods displace thousands in Somaliland
02 Nov – Source: IRIN News – 175 words
Heavy rains have displaced thousands of people in the mid-eastern regions of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, says a senior official. “More than 3,000 to 4,000 families in nine villages of Togdheer Region displaced by heavy rains last Friday [26 October ] need immediate assistance,” Abdo Aayir Osman, the governor of Togdheer Region, told IRIN by telephone from the regional capital Burao. He added that at least three people had died after their homes flooded.
The floodwaters have also damaged foodstuffs in stores in Qori-Lugud District and areas such as Daba-Qabad, Tallo Buuro, Bali-Alanle and Gubato. Some 7,000 to 9,000 heads of livestock drowned, Osman said.
The chairman of Somaliland’s Environment Research and Disaster Preparedness and Management Authority, Mohamed Moussa Awale, however, estimated a lower number of displaced families: about 600 families in the regions of Sahil and Togdheer. In Sahil Region’s capital Berbera, several old buildings collapsed, and some traditional Somali huts were also destroyed, Awale said, noting that Somaliland’s Red Crescent Society had distributed tents to the affected people there.
Somalia: Gatekeepers and Evictions: Somalia’s Displaced Population at Risk
01 Oct – Source: Relief Web/Alert Net – 419 words
There are currently 1.36 million Somalis displaced within their own country. These internally displaced persons (IDPs) face major protection challenges – including abuse and aid diversion by camp gatekeepers, as well as the threat of forced evictions. These vulnerabilities are not new to Somalia’s displaced population, but the context is changing.
Refugees International recently conducted assessments of IDP settlements in Mogadishu and Hargeisa, Somaliland. In Mogadishu, security and stability is improving, and the election of a new president in September has generated cautious optimism throughout the capital.
To the north, the relative stability of the self-declared autonomous region of Somaliland has primed it for long-term development opportunities. Unfortunately, while conditions in parts of Somalia are improving, the country’s internally displaced population is at risk of being left behind.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“In many ways, Kismaayo is a good indicator for the future trajectory of the rest of the country. Unlike the other ‘ghettoized’ urban centers, it is one of the most diverse cities in the country in terms of clan composition. If its elites focus less on domination and more on finding common ground, it could be a catalyst for a period of cooperation and renewal in the rest of Somalia.”
Somalia: The Kismayo Conundrum(s)
02 Nov – Source: African Arguments – 801 Words
If insecurity was the thorniest problem that plagued Somalia’s previous governments, the new one will be dogged by multiple political challenges. Chief among those is the status of Kismayo, Somalia’s third largest city.
At the center of the Kismayo conundrum is a rancorous clash of two narratives. A Kenyan-backed armed group that recently captured the port city from al Shabaab fighters wants to unilaterally decide the fate of the city and, ultimately, form a regional administration called ‘Jubbaland’ – this would theoretically come under the control of the Federal Government.
But the new Mogadishu-based government wants to shape the administration of Kismayo as well as the future regional state. The current administration views itself as the legitimate authority in the country, but with 4,000 soldiers from neighboring Kenya still deployed in the region, the Somali government is understandably nervous about the possibility of a proxy regional state based in Kismayo.
“But Africa would be stretching its luck too far to believe that those who have been financing AMISOM can still support 17,731 troops and Somalia forces at the same time. It is time Africa rose to the occasion and walked the talk.”
Africa must walk the talk
01 Nov – Source: Daily Nation – 193 Words
The success of the African Union Mission in Somalia now demands that greater financial support be sourced from within the continent than relying on the United Nations.
There have been suggestions that the 53 members of the African Union can easily raise the initial amount to help the stabilisation process in Somalia, while awaiting international help.
The new Somalia Government is entering a very challenging phase in which its security forces are supposed to maintain security in liberated areas as AMISOM goes on trying to capture territories still under al Shabaab terrorists. But the challenge is that the new government does not have the resources to deploy sufficient security personnel in all the liberated areas.
Top tweets
@JMunyaneza @DailyMonitor Respect to #Uganda and #Burundi for a job well done in #Somalia. Proof we can take care of our problems, after all. #Africa.
@africathinker Somali youth spend their time at #Mogadishu‘s Liido beach swimming and chatting. #Somalia pic.twitter.com/JRYgRi3Y.
@UNHCRSomalia “… imagine a Somali female information technologies specialist? I want to prove that it is possible. .” http://bit.ly/U2Qg7u.
@HOA_News Council diplomats said that they would prepare a resolution by next Wednesday that would extend the mandate for a full year.#AMISOM #Somalia.
@JamalMOsman @DiasporaChannel Anti-Qat campaigners &many #Somali mothers in Britain feel the ban will solve issues like unemployment, family breakdown.
Image of the day
EU Naval Force commander and staff pose for joint photo with local Somali fishermen, clan elders and local authorities, after meeting on board the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS San Giusto. Photo: EUNAV FOR.