November 1, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Japan contributes ballistic vests to the Somali police force
01 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Somali Current Online/SNTV/Radio Mogadishu- 110 words
The government of Japan has contributed 1000 ballistic vests to the Somali police force in an attempt to enhance the quality and the capacity of the police force.
Somali Police Commissioner, General Abdihakin Dahir Said commends the Japanese government for its commitment and efforts towards the rebuilding process of the Somali police force.
He reckons the contribution of such sophisticated equipments for the Somali police force will be vital in their quest to improve and maintain the fragile security in the country.
He adds that the bullet-resistant vests will assist the police in their fight against militant elements in the country.
Key Headlines
- Japan contributes ballistic vests to the Somali police force (Radio Bar-kulan/SNTV)
- Mogadishu court sentences al Shabaab members (Garowe Online)
- Somali police force restores emergency hotline number (Radio Mogadishu/Radio Bar-kulan)
- Uganda: Suspected al Shabaab terrorist arrested in Kisoro (Daily Monitor)
- President Hassan Sheikh meets business community in Kismayu (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Brig Ondoga two other officers remanded over Somalia food theft (Daily Monitor)
- Al Shabaab ousts traditional elders in favour of loyalists (Sabahi Online)
- WFP cuts food rations to Kenya’s refugee camps (The East African)
- Al Shabaab’s hold on Somalia rules out a purely military solution (mg.co.za)
- Al Shabaab Camp ‘Destroyed’ After Airstrike (VOA)
SOMALI MEDIA
Japan contributes ballistic vests to the Somali police force
01 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Somali Current Online/SNTV- 110 words
The government of Japan has contributed 1000 ballistic vests to the Somali police force in an attempt to enhance the quality and the capacity of the police force.
Somali Police Commissioner, General Abdihakin Dahir Said commends the Japanese government for its commitment and efforts towards the rebuilding process of the Somali police force.
He reckons the contribution of such sophisticated equipments for the Somali police force will be vital in their quest to improve and maintain the fragile security in the country.
He adds that the bullet-resistant vests will assist the police in their fight against militant elements in the country.
Mogadishu court sentences al Shabaab members
01 Nov- Source: Garowe Online/Radio Bar-kulan- 189 words
Federal Government of Somalia’s Military court has sentenced four alleged al Shabaab members to prison in Mogadishu on Thursday.
According to the spokesman of the Somali Federal Government military court, Col. Abdullahi Musse Keyse among the convicted members are 16-year-old and 18-year-old fighters who were captured while they were throwing a bomb at a military base in Mogadishu’s Dayniile district.
“Three of five people who were charged with terror cases were sentenced to 15 years in prison, one of them was sentenced to 1 year in prison while the other suspect was released after the court found him not guilty of the criminal charges,” said Keyse. “The court convicted the defendants of committing terror acts”.
Col. Keyse added that in accordance with the Islamic principles all criminals would face the justice.
Security forces yesterday arrested former custodial corps Chief, Abdi Mohamed Ismael in Mogadishu as the national military court linked him to al Shabaab militants and he was sentenced to life in prison last year.
Somali police force restores emergency hotline number
01 Nov- Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio Bar-kulan/SNTV- 165 words
The Somali police force have for the first time in two decades restored the police emergency hotline for the public to report to the security personnel in critical moments.
Somali Police Force Commissioner, Abdihakim Dahir Said, believes the restoration of the emergency hotline will play a significant role in reduction of crimes and insecurity in the country.
He also reckons that the police force will be able to respond to life-threatening situations such as fire and accidents. He added the police force have also put in place emergency response vehicles and a communication room to respond to the public needs in an efficient and timely manner.
General Said urges the public to use the hotline number of 888 and establish regular contacts with the police in order to improve the overall security in the country. The police hotline number has been out of service since the collapse of the central government of Somalia in 1991.
President Hassan Sheikh meets business community in Kismayu
01 Nov- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 108 words
The president of the federal government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has on Thursday night held talks with the business community of Jubba regions in Kismayo, the seat of the interim Jubba Administration.
The president and the business community in Kismayu discussed about commerce related issues as well improving businesses in the Jubba regions.
He is due to have a tour in the city later today in his first visit to the region since his election in 2012. President Hassan Sheikh arrived in Kismayo city on Thursday and held talks with the Interim Administration of Jubba later that day.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Brig Ondoga, two other officers remanded over Somalia food theft
01 Nov- Source: Daily Monitor- 464 words
A former commander of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia, Brig Michael Ondoga, has been remanded for allegedly failing to perform his duties and theft in connection with the operations at Amisom.
Brig Ondoga was yesterday charged with eight offences before the General Court Martial at Makindye chaired by Brig Moses Ddiba Ssentongo.
He was remanded until November 5 for hearing of bail application.
Prosecution alleges that in October, while aware of an impending advance operation from Afgooye-Baidoa which required 1,500 troops, the senior army officer committed 1,000 troops which resulted into loss of life and that he also failed to issue formal operation orders to the commander Battle Group X leading to loss of a battle tank and all its crew.
Al Shabaab ousts traditional elders in favour of loyalists
31 Oct- Source: Sabahi Online-903 Words
Al Shabaab is pushing traditional elders from power in Somalia’s Bay, Bakol and Lower Shabelle regions and elevating younger loyalists who back the militant group’s doctrine. Elders who spoke to Sabahi said militants are training and supporting men under 40 years of age, who can be easily indoctrinated by al Shabaab, to rise up as elders in their communities and replace those who do not agree or comply with al Shabaab ideology.
Since 2011, al Shabaab has removed at least a dozen traditional elders in those regions, parts of which have been the hardest hit by al Shabaab’s rigid rules and where elders have been outspoken against the militants’ views, said Ali Abdirahman Ali, spokesman for the Digil and Mirifle tribe.
Al Shabaab’s campaign came about in full force after the traditional elders went to Mogadishu to participate in the formation of Somalia’s federal government in May 2012, Ali told Sabahi. Thirty-one traditional elders of the Digil and Mirifle tribe who were part of the National Constituent Assembly are now in Baidoa where government forces are ensuring their safety, he said.
Uganda: Suspected al Shabaab terrorist arrested in Kisoro
31 Nov- Source: Daily Monitor- 370 words
Police in Kisoro District were yesterday pondering whether to transfer a man in his 20s to Kampala for further interrogation on suspicion that he is a member of the al Shabaab terror group.
The Congolese national was arrested at Bunagana near the Uganda-Democratic Republic Congo border in Kisoro District with documents suspected to be showing al Shabaab movements.
On interrogation, the suspect is said to have claimed he was a student at Imamushafi Islamic School from April 2009 to 2012 and has travelled to Kenya and Somalia where he developed a mind to join the al Shabaab movement.
It is alleged that the suspect was attempting to cross to DRC without any travel documents before he was arrested by security agents.
WFP cuts food rations to Kenya’s refugee camps
31 Oct- Source: The East African-519 Words
Food rations by the World Food Programme (WFP) for more than half a million refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma camps will be reduced beginning this November due to lack of resources.
This follows recent calls by the WFP and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for urgent funding in food aid to more than 550,000 refugees in the Dadaab and Kakuma camps in northern Kenya.
“We have done everything possible to avoid this, but it has become necessary to reduce ration sizes by 20 per cent in November and December in order to stretch our existing food stocks to last through the end of the year,” said Ronald Sibanda, WFP’s country director for Kenya.
“We hope this will be a temporary measure as we appeal to donors to come to the assistance of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who rely on WFP to meet their daily food needs.”
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al Shabaab’s hold on Somalia rules out a purely military solution
01 Nov- Source: mg.co.za- 2554 words
A Kenyan soldier clambers up to his sentry post and stares out across vast plains of bush, acacia trees and red dust. The savannah is peaceful now but he knows that when darkness falls the enemy will return, typically a band of 15 to 20 men armed with AK-47 rifles. “Every night they are in front of us,” the soldier says. “They shoot and go. They run away.”
Along the front line, the Kenyans have piled up clusters of green sandbags to provide cover. Behind them, a military base is protected by high walls crowned with razor wire. About 1 200 troops from Kenya and Sierra Leone are garrisoned in this desolate Somali hinterland. On an average day, heavy green armoured vehicles set off to patrol the crucial port city of Kismayo, running the gauntlet of roadside bombs, a deadly tactic imported from Afghanistan and Iraq. In punishing heat soldiers can be seen rolling a surveillance drone across the tarmac of the Italian-built airport.
This is where the war on terror in East Africa is being waged. Troops from the African Union and the fledgling Somali national army are battling al Shabaab, the extremist Islamist group notorious for carrying out beheadings, recruiting boys to fight and forcing girls into marriage, and which claimed responsibility for last month’s attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, which claimed 70 victims.
Al Shabaab Camp ‘Destroyed’ After Airstrike
31 Nov- Source: VOA- 258 words
The African Union force in Somalia has attacked an al Shabaab training camp as part of ongoing efforts to weaken the militant group. An official with the AU force told VOA Somali Service Thursday that the militant camp is located in southern Somalia’s Dinsoor region.
The Kenyan Defense Ministry says its forces within the AU mission conducted the attack, which it described as an airstrike that “completely destroyed” the training camp. It says more than 300 al Shabaab recruits were at the camp at the time of the attack and that many of them are believed to have been killed. The ministry says some of the al Shabaab fighters who attacked a Nairobi shopping mall last month had received their training at this camp.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Somalia’s growing economy may pose a threat to al-Shabaab – rising Gross Domestic Product is likely to lower the motivation of gunmen paid between $100 and $500 a month. Decreasing sources of income from a Kenyan military backlash against rebel-controlled areas of the country could also result in al-Shabaab no longer being able to pay monthly salaries to its militiamen, many of whom are not sufficiently tempted by the prospect of the nationwide implementation of sharia law.”
The business woes behind al Shabaab’s latest attack
31 Oct- Source: Al Arabiya English-1038 Words
Somali militant group al-Shabaab could be facing financial trouble due to increasing loss of territory and revenue streams, experts say. Al Shabaab may lose support from many Somalis due to the brutality of their attack in September on an upscale shopping mall in Kenya’s capital, Laura Hammond, a senior lecturer at the London-based School of Oriental and African Studies, told Al Arabiya.
“Ordinary Somalis who might have once supported them are probably repulsed by their actions, and may be unwilling to provide resources,” said Hammond. It is “very hard” to see how the attack could have a “positive impact” for the group, she added.
Due to the opportunities that anarchy and lack of government can present any group with a steady supply of money and manpower, al Shabaab is able to receive multiple revenue streams. Enterprises include extortion, as well as taxing the transport and export of charcoal to the wider Arab region.
“Al Shabaab is getting angry with Sierra Leone every day as the Sierra Leone troops in Somalia have made enormous gains against them by driving them from the Port and also from mining areas. Because of these losses the al Shabaab group is not happy so we have to double our security and be vigilant in every perspective to avert any disaster in the country.”
The al Shabaab Theory
31 Oct- Source: Awoko-828 Words
Sierra Leoneans are getting jittery every day since al Shabaab has declared that they will attack Sierra Leone. It is true that we have to be jittery and be alert always because they are always true to their word.
We have to take all necessary precaution to avert any attack in Sierra Leone as the Police have started taking necessary measures to make sure they are pro-active, just in case. But my concern with the police is that they must pay more attention to averting any attack in the country rather than policing SLAJ’s office.
My opinion on this issue is that the Police should first of all make sure that every Somali in Sierra Leone must be checked and cross checked and they should be under surveillance at all times. Let us don’t have the idea that al Shabaab will come from Lungi or from the border crossings with their guns and bombs, but their first option is always to brainwash those of their country men and women within the country they want to attack.
“East Africa – incorporating Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda – is increasingly vulnerable to Islamist militancy due to severe internal structural problems that have led to rising inter-communal tensions, riots, and secessionist tendencies among their coastal populations.”
The Rise Of Islamist Militancy In East Africa: al Qaeda’s Next Target?
31 Oct- Source: Eurasia Review-1123 Words
THE RECENT terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi by al Shabaab, a Somali-based militant group linked to al Qaeda, has highlighted Kenya’s target-rich environment for terrorists. Kenya has the most stable and democratic government in East Africa but has experienced the most terrorist attacks because of its relatively advanced economy and it has many soft targets like Westgate Mall.
Al Shabaab’s attack on the mall was allegedly undertaken with the help of local disgruntled Somalis and Kenyan Muslims. Kenya’s long-standing political and security ties with the United Kingdom, United States, and Israel have earned it the wrath of Islamist militants who are inspired by al Qaeda’s determination to wage war against these ‘enemies’ of Islam.
Kenya has weak security forces whose heavy-handedness merely fuels the rage of locals targeted by security personnel. Then there is a disaffected minority Muslim population which is made up ethnically of Arab-Persians (known as Shirazis) Arab-Swahilis (Arab-African mix) and Somalis in the urban centres but especially along the coast. Muslims make up 13% of the population of Kenya but are the dominant religious group along the coast.
My close encounter with Somalia’s whip-wielding al Shabaab
31 Oct- Source: Voices of Africa-1591 Words
It started as a request from my close friend, Awil Abukar, to accompany him as he took his frail mother to their ancestral hometown. Awil, as he always does, assured me the trip would be smooth. I should point out that in his world smooth means not getting killed – everything else is caadhi (fine).
Just after 1pm on August 22, our vehicle rattled into Goob Weyn, a sleepy town with more palm trees than people. This picturesque place is about a thirty-minute drive from Kismayo, Somalia’s third biggest city.
Unlike many towns in Somalia, locals here aren’t armed to the teeth. The few hundred of them tend to their farms or fish for half the day, then sleep the rest of the time. The town is peaceful, and is neither in the hands of the government or al Shabaab.
But sleepy Goob Weyn and its residents were to get a rude awakening that evening when members of al Shabaab, the hardline al Qaeda-linked rebel group fighting the Somali government, paid them a visit.
Top tweets
@amisomsomalia SRCC & Head of AMISOM, Amb. Mahamat Salah Annadif hailed the historic visit to #Kismayo by the President of #Somalia http://bit.ly/1aWQXSP
@t_mcconnell Some interesting details on #Somalia piracy finances from forthcoming report http://econ.st/17ZSs1I via@TheEconomist
@UNOCHA School meals central to WFP ‘s fight against hunger. @WFP reached 24.7m children with meals last yr alone! http://ow.ly/qnuE0 #Somalia
@OmarAliYalahow Thousands of #Somali Students graduate each year from Universities around #Somalia. a sign of hope and progress.. http://calanka.com/?nid=23541
@SomaliaNewsroom #Somalia president gets a red carpet welcome in #Kismayo from Interim Jubba Admin leader Madobe and AMISOM pic.twitter.com/8x90L5G8Lu
Image of the day
Juba interim leader Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) , left, and Somali Federal Government President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, right, stand onto the Parade Dais at Kismayo airport to inspect the Guard of Honour. Photo: Garowe Online