02 Sept 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somali military court sentenced TFG soldiers to jail for various crimes
- Three killed in Bosaso clash
- China sends first shipment of humanitarian aid to Horn of Africa
- Cholera claims 21 lives in Somalia
- Galmudug state condemns clashes in central Somalia town
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali military court sentenced TFG soldiers to jail for various crimes
01 Sept – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Somalia report, Bar-kulan – 71 words
A Somali military court has sentenced several people who committed various crimes; Hussein Ali Kisow, a TFG soldier accused of robbery, was sentenced to two years in jail while Hogga Mohamed Abdi, a TFG soldier accused of attempting to murder of another soldier, was sentenced to 25 years. Also the court convicted ten other men, including eight TFG soldiers. Each was sentenced to a year in jail after being found of multiple crimes. The Somali military court acquitted seven other military officers accused of various charges after the prosecution department failed to produce enough evidence against them. Earlier last month, two Somali government soldiers were executed in Mogadishu after Somalia’s military court sentenced them to death for killing colleagues and civilians.
Somaliland: president appoints New Interior Minister
01 Sept – Source: Somaliland Press – 138 words
Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud appointed Mr. Mohamed Nur Arabe (Duur) the country’s new Interior Minister after the former Minister Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabose resigned to pursue his own political party and a chance to run for President in 2015. Not much is known about the new Interior Minister Mr. Mohamed Nur Arabe, except that he is a sitting member of parliament. Mr. Arabe becomes the second appointed to this position after Dr. Gabose resigned. It was two days ago when former Civil Aviation Minister Mr. Ali Mohamed Waran Adde who served under President Riyale disclosed that President Ahmed Siilanyo offered him the Interior Minister position however he declined the post. Mr. Ali Mohamed Waran Adde is seen as one of the top contenders for the presidential race in 2015 after his well-performed position with the former government.
http://somalilandpress.com/
Galmudug state condemns clashes in central Somalia town
02 Sept – Source: Shabelle – 104 words
The self-proclaimed Somalia’s Galmudug state authorities on Friday vehemently condemned clashes in the central Somalia town of Galka’yo that renewed fighting between Puntland forces and local clan militias. In a briefing to the media, the president of Galmudug administration said the new fighting in Galka’yo is deplorable and regrettable. Mohamed Ahmed Alin called for both Puntland administration and the clan militias to show restrain and cease fire. Mr. Alim said that his administration will play a constructive and key role in stopping the renewed battle in the town. Meanwhile, Galka’yo is divided into two parts: North is under the control of Puntland while South is under Galmudug.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Three killed in Bosaso clash
02 Sept – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan, Kulmiye, Risala and Shabelle – 153 words
At least three people have died and four others were wounded when armed militias attacked Puntland security forces in Bosaso, Bari region. Reports say armed militias ambushed security forces at Bosaso’s 26th June neighbourhood, a time they were pursuing a pirate man who is said to be part of sea gangs who have hijacked Somaliland bound oil carrier, MV Jubba, a month ago. One of the security officers was killed during the attack while several others sustained injuries and are now recuperating in Bosaso main hospital where they are undergoing treatment. Another militia man has also died in the hospital while undergoing medical treatment. There are also reports of civilian casualties during the attack. Security officers took control of a building used by the militia. But it is not clear whether they are holding any militia men captured inside the building.
Puntland security official target of failed bomb attack
01 Sept – Source: Garowe Online – 215 words
A senior security official in Somalia’s Puntland region was the target of a bomb attack that failed to explode after the bomber surrendered over to authorities, Garowe reports. Puntland Deputy Security Minister Abdi-Jamal Osman Mohamed told a press conference at Puntland’s Ministry of Security and DDR in Garowe that the bomber surrendered to authorities. “The people of Puntland must be ready to defend the state from terrorist groups,” said Deputy Security Minister Abdi-Jamal. He stated that “Puntland is under attack” and the “people should be wary of troublemakers.” Mr. Abdi-Jamal accused al Shabaab terrorist group of “planning the bombing from bases in south Somalia and Burao [in Somaliland].” He accused al Shabaab members Yasin Kilwe and Ali Ga’amey for planning the bombing which was intended to kill Puntland security officials.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Migration impedes Somali kids’ education: UN
02 Sept – Source: Gulf Today – 368 words
Famine and drought have impaired education chances for more than 60 per cent of Somali children as families flee their homes to seek assistance, a UNICEF official said on Thursday. War-torn Somalia, alongside Haiti, has the world’s lowest education rates, but a severe drought in the Horn of Africa that has caused famine in parts of Somalia has further diminished children’s education chances. In the 2010-2011 school year, some 435,000 children — only 30 per cent — of school-age children were enrolled.
Around 200,000 have recently fled their homes in drought- or famine-hit regions. “We are anticipating the enrolment will be very reduced once the schools do reopen,” said Lisa Doherty, a UNICEF education coordinator. A new school year begins on Saturday. Tens of thousands of Somalis have in recent months fled to neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya to escape the severe drought.
Somalia is the worst affected country by the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades, with nearly half its 10 million people in need of humanitarian aid. The UN has described Somalia, where a civil war has been going on since 1991, as facing the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/
Experts research ways to avert drought in Horn of Africa
02 Sept – Source: Coast week, Xinhua – 513 words
International food security experts have called on governments to strengthen research and collaboration in order to avert cycle of drought in the Horn of Africa region.
Chief Executive Officer of Consultative Group for Agricultural Research Lloyd Le Page said high yielding, drought tolerant crop varieties and irrigation schemes are not the solution in all areas in the Horn of Africa.
“The current situation in the Horn of Africa can be prevented only when research and policies gives farmers in the region tools they need to be resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty,” Le Page told journalists in Nairobi on Thursday.
http://www.coastweek.com/3435_
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
China sends first shipment of humanitarian aid to Horn of Africa
02 Sept – Source: Xinhua – 226 words
China sent its first shipment of urgently needed humanitarian aid to drought and famine victims in the Horn of Africa on Friday, the Ministry of Commerce said. A ship loaded with 1,440 metric tons of wheat departed from China’s port city of Tianjin on Friday and is expected to arrive in Ethiopia via Djibouti at the end of this month, the ministry said in a statement on its website. The second shipment, 500 metric tons of rice, is scheduled to leave Shanghai on Saturday and reach Kenya by the month’s end.
China will also send cooking oil and flour to the countries in the Horn of Africa this month. China announced earlier that it will offer nearly 70 million U.S. dollars in emergency grain aid to the drought-stricken African countries, including a donation of 16 million U.S. dollars in cash to the World Food Program to support its famine-relief operations in Somalia.
Somalia has been experiencing the most severe food crisis in African history. About 3.6 million people in the country are at risk of starvation, accounting for half of the country’s population. More than half of all Somali children are malnourished, with six infants dying from malnutrition every day. The ministry will closely monitor the development of the drought in the Horn of Africa and is considering digging wells in Djibouti and providing medicine to drought-affected regions, the statement said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
US official decries slow progress reducing Somalia’s child mortality rates
01 Sept – Source: VOA – 607 words
The top U.S. official for refugee issues says that despite intensive efforts, relief agencies have made little progress in reducing child mortality rates at refugee camps along Somalia’s border with Ethiopia. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Reuben Brigety made the comment as he returned from Dollo Ado, a sprawling camp complex in Ethiopia that houses 120,000 refugees from famine-stricken southern Somalia.
Brigety, the U.S. government’s point man for refugee and migration affairs, has just returned from his third overnight visit to Dollo Ado this year.
He tells VOA that humanitarian agencies have made impressive progress in establishing health facilities and registering the backlog of refugees arriving daily from Somalia’s famine zone. But he said children are still dying at an alarming rate of malnutrition and other complications, such as measles.
Cholera claims 21 lives in Somalia
01 Sept – Source: Press TV – 200 words
At least 21 Somali children have died and nearly 440 others hospitalized due to cholera in the famine-stricken African country, Press TV reported. The 21 children lost their lives Thursday morning in southern Mogadishu as their families were unable to provide medicines for them.
Doctors say that within the last three hours more than 440 Somali children affected by cholera were rushed to Banadir hospital for emergency treatment in southern Mogadishu. Meanwhile, thousands of drought victims have started to abandon south Mogadishu refugee camps after humanitarian aids were stolen by Somali government officials.
Drought and famine have affected millions of people across Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Somalia has been the hardest-hit country in what is being described as the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 60 years.
According to the United Nations, a quarter of Somalia’s 9.9 million population are either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees. The UN has declared famine in five regions of Somalia and says that the international humanitarian response to the crisis has been insufficient. The United Nations says that more than thirteen children out of every 10,000 aged less than five die in the Somalia famine zone every day.