March 6, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali Government Reaches Agreement With Ahlu-Sunna Waljamea
06 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Garowe Online – 93 Words
Somali foreign minister, Abdikadir Ali Diini and the leader of moderate Islamist group, Ahlu-Sunna Waljamea, Sheikh Mohamed Shakir have jointly signed temporary peace agreement ending four months of bloody fighting. Here are some points they agreed upon: a bilateral ceasefire; troops to be moved back and no use of weapons or offensive action; to commence reconciliation conference within ten days; create buffer zone, the government troops and those of Ahlu-Sunna should be in Dhusa-Mareeb and Guri-El towns respectively; and call the displaced people to return their homes.
Key Headlines
- Somali Government Reaches Agreement With Ahlu-Sunna Waljamea (Radio Goobjoog/Garowe Online)
- Senior Officers Arrested For Al-Shabaab Hotel Attack (Horseed Media/BBC Somali)
- Somali Security Forces Conduct Security Operations In Mogadishu (Radio Danan)
- Somali Military Launches Operations To Track Down Robbers In Leego (Radio Goobjoog)
- Benadir Administration Asks Hotels To Register Customers (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Wanlaweyn Hospital Nutrition Unit Closes (Radio Ergo)
- Mandera Clinches First A in 2014 KCSE Exam (The Star)
- Solar PV: Somalia To Power 100k Homes Through EU-NGO Project (ESI-Africa.com)
- Shopping At Night In Mogadishu Comes To live Thanks To Retail Chain (Xinhua/Shanghai Daily)
- Edmonton Man Omar Aden Believed To Have Joined ISIS (CBC News)
- Turkey Ups The Ante In International Aid Efforts (Daily Sabah)
- The Invisible IDPs And Their Silent Cry (Somali Current)
- Skeptics Question If Amnesty For Al-Shabaab Fighters Will Bring Peace (The Current/CBC Radio)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali Military Launches Operations To Track Down Robbers In Leego
06 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 134 Words
Reports from Lower Shabelle region state that Somali National Army (SNA) troops intensified search operations in Leego region. Troops have reportedly launched strenuous manhunt after unidentified gunmen robbed passengers in that area. Leego division commissioner, Abuukar Issack Al-Adaal who spoke to Goobjoog News said the troops tracking the robbers who are said to be hiding out in the area.
“Government soldiers in collaboration with local residents are carrying out manhunt to apprehend the culprits” Mr. Issack said. He added that safety of the passengers and public vehicles operating Leego and the surrounding areas is their responsibility and that they will do everything within their means to track down the robbers. “The crimes will increase if we fail to react early enough…These culprits will [be] arrested and take them before the justice” Mr Issack vowed.
Somali Security Forces Conduct Security Operations In Mogadishu
06 March – Source: Radio Danan – 139 Words
Ministry of interior for federal Government of Somalia stated that it has started security operations in Banadir Region. Spokesperson of the ministry Mr. Mohamed Yusuf Osman has told Radio Danan that they have put on alert the security forces after they received information regarding a possible attack by Al-Shabaab within Mogadishu. Osman also added that security forces are also conducting operations to ensure there is security and peace in all sections of the town and along major roads. He applauded the security forces for the tireless work they are doing day and night so as to ensure Al-Shabaab militia don’t cause havoc on residents of the city.
Senior Officers Arrested For Al-Shabaab Hotel Attack
05 March – Source: Horseed Media/BBC Somali – 229 Words
Somalia authorities have arrested senior police and intelligence officials, accusing them of being involved in an attack carried out by the militant group Al-Shabaab in a Mogadishu Hotel. The arrest of the officers was disclosed to Horseed Media by reliable government insiders on Thursday who requested not to be named as they were not authorised to speak on the matter.
At least 10 officials have been detained and are being investigated for allegedly shirking their responsibilities during the militants attack on Hotel SYL, which is close to the Presidential Palace. Among the arrested are generals and colonels, the source added. It was learnt that the security of the hotel area had been under the full control of Somali government soldiers and roads nearby were closed.
The militants managed to cross several checkpoints with their car packed with explosives that was used for the suicide mission. At least four people including two security guards died in the attack which was claimed by Al-Shabaab immediately. At the time of the attack, a Turkish delegation – most of them diplomats and security personnel were meeting Somali officials. Security analysts have on various occasions raised questions about Al-Shabaab continued ability to attack areas in Mogadishu that are supposedly heavily guarded, claiming there must be individuals from the security agencies giving Al-Shabaab support.
Benadir Administration Asks Hotels To Register Customers
05 March – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 77 Words
The regional administration of Benadir has called on hotels in Mogadishu to register guests of the city’s hotels. The Deputy Governor in charge of operations, Abdiaziz Elim Halane who spoke to the media said the administration has plans to improve the security of Mogadishu. He pointed out that they have already informed owners of city hotels and lodges of the new security measure. The move he said is aimed at securing the lodges and hotels from potential terror attacks.
Wanlaweyn Hospital Nutrition Unit Closes
05 March – Source: Radio Ergo – 176 Words
Wanlaweyn hospital has closed its therapeutic feeding and treatment centre at a time when malnutrition rates in the district are causing concern. Hospital director, Dr Mustaf Hussein Abdulle, said the unit was forced to close because the hospital had no funds to support it. Since it opened in 2011 with the help of the local community, the unit had been serving children from around 400 villages in the district in Middle Shabelle region.
Ibrahim Osman Mohamed, a father of five children, took his severely malnourished child to the hospital only to be turned away. “I was shocked when I was told that the ward had closed down and it had no drugs. Now I am sitting in front of the hospital not knowing what to do next,” said Ibrahim. Two of his children had previously been treated at the centre for malnutrition. Dr Mustaf appealed for support from the Somali government to reopen the centre. He said there was concern over a rising malnutrition rate in the area and cases in the district were going untreated.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Mandera Clinches First A in 2014 KCSE Exam
04 March – Source: The Star – 209 Words
Mandera county has recorded its first A in the 2014 KCSE exams. Ibrahim Abdi Ali ,18, who attained 81 points, was the best performing student in the North Eastern region. Ali, who comes from a family of 13, sat his exams at Sheikh Ali High School in Rhamu town. He studied on scholarship after dropping out Mandera Secondary School due to the lack of school of fees. “I had many restless days and sleepless nights filled with extensive reading, I am happy it paid off and I thank God for giving me this grade,” he said at the school on Wednesday. “I want to do medicine and surgery so as to help in the transformation of the health sector and serve the people of Mandera.” Ali works as an untrained teacher of Biology and Chemistry at Towfiiq Secondary School. He teaches a class of 60. He said he hopes there will be no other clashes in Rhamu and that the North Eastern region will enjoy peace. “We can be number one in the entire nation,” he noted. More than 1,000 teachers posted to Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties are yet to report back to work following a strike over insecurity.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Solar PV: Somalia To Power 100k Homes Through EU-NGO Project
06 March – Source: ESI-Africa.com – 339 Words
On Wednesday the European Union (EU) and international non-governmental organisation Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) announced a three-year programme to expand renewable energy access in Somalia. The Somali Energy Transformation (SET) project will provide affordable and sustainable renewable power to 100,000 homes dispersed across Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia. According to the EU, the objective can be achieved by developing solar photovoltaic markets and solar powered systems for irrigation, health and educational facilities and community electrification schemes. Somalian Minister of energy and minerals Hussein Abdi Dualeh said: “This is a very timely project that will immensely contribute to the development of the Somaliland energy sector, in addition to contributing significantly to the Government’s goal of lighting up rural and peri-urban areas of the Country”.
Somalian news agency Hiiraan Online reported on Wednesday that the town of Beledweyne in central Somalia has started installing solar-powered systems in various locations to meet the city’s energy needs. Funded by the Norwegian government, the first solar system was installed at the town hospital to ensure that they would receive a reliable power supply to perform optimally. Ahmed Mohamed Khalif, the director of the town’s hospital said “It’s going to be a good progress ending those terrible energy challenges we have experienced. Sometimes there would be a power failure in the middle of a critical surgery – it was dangerous.”
Shopping At Night In Mogadishu Comes To live, Thanks To Retail Chain
05 March – Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily – 597 Words
The thought and convenience of shopping at 10:00 p.m. in Somalia was until recently a distant dream to many shoppers in Mogadishu, but the emergence of the first of a kind supermarket is turning this dream into a reality.In over two decades of political turmoil and war, Mogadishu was a ghost city where gunfire reigned day and night and life literally came to a halt at sunset. But the tide is now changing; street lights and refurbished roads have given life to the once sleepy city.
Nabaad Supermarket, located in the heart of the city, is traversing a path many found it almost unimaginable a while ago.It is the only convenience store in the city whose business model is capturing the attention of traders and consumers in the city. “I decided to try something new in Mogadishu two years ago after studying the market and finding out that all traders were operating small shops and closing by six in the evening,” said Ali Munin, the owner of Nabaad supermarket.Munin said he imports most of his goods from China and United Arab Emirates and has managed to attract many customers some of whom prefer to shop at night after they are done with their day’s activities.
With a starting capital of 200,000 U.S. dollars, Munin whose demeanor is suggestive of a happy businessman set up a self- service store to enable his clients to take time and choose what they want instead of quick enquiries at the counter.”I realized that people buy more items when they can walk around the shelves unlike when they just stand at the entrance of the shop,” Munin told Xinhua on Thursday.
Edmonton Man Omar Aden Believed To Have Joined ISIS
05 March – Source: CBC News – 379 Words
The family of a young man who lived in Edmonton believes he went overseas to fight for ISIS, CBC News has learned.Omar Aden is in his mid-twenties and was living in Edmonton before leaving in the summer of 2013 to study Islam in Egypt, members of the Somali community in direct contact with family told CBC News. Several months later, they say he called his family from Syria.Aden’s family believes he worked in Fort McMurray, where he fell in with extremists and became radicalized, community members said.
RCMP are not commenting on the case. If confirmed, the man would be the fourth person from Edmonton’s Somali community believed to join ISIS overseas. Earlier this year, CBC reported three cousins who had been living in Edmonton were killed while fighting for ISIS. According to the father of one of the men, the trio left for Syria in October 2013 and were killed a year later. Jibril Ibrahim, president of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton, said it shows Canada must do more to address radicalization in its borders. “There are about 160 Canadians who have left Canada to go out and be part of this terrorizing group,” he said.”So, we need to look, all of us, into the mirror and say ‘why did we lose those youth and see what could we have done better?'”Local groups say they are working with authorities and the community to counsel young people who might be vulnerable to radicalization.
Turkey Ups The Ante In International Aid Efforts
05 March – Source: Daily Sabah – 333 Words
The government announced that its aid agency TİKA has delivered aid worth over $766 million to over 100 countries in six years, showcasing Turkey’s growing “soft power” efforts to reach out to communities in need. Turkey’s state-run Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) can boast delivering aid worth over $766 million to over 100 countries in six years, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said yesterday.
Founded as an agency under the Prime Ministry, TİKA increased and diversified its efforts under the AK Party government, starting in 2002. Answering lawmakers’ questions on the agency’s activities, Numan Kurtulmuş said TİKA’s aid delivery covered countries from all continents – from Albania in Europe to Chile in South America, and Sudan in Africa to Mongolia in Central Asia.
Turkey’s war-torn neighbor Syria and Somalia are among the main countries benefiting from TİKA aid. The agency regularly delivers humanitarian aid to Syria, and Somali received $115 million last year in the form of humanitarian aid. The agency is known for its diverse range of aid recipients, from large groups of displaced people to small communities in remote countries. For instance, 19 reindeer were donated to Dukha Turks in Mongolia earlier this year while impoverished women in Goumedyr, a small town in Burkina Faso received equipment for flour mills. The aid is not confined to reindeer, food, mills, blankets etc. TİKA also set up a radio station for Somalian youth at a university in Mogadishu.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Pain and anguish those IDP families feel is enormous. Instead of being offered security, sanctuary or resettlement to the most vulnerable refugees, Somali government soldiers destroyed shelters that housed thousands of displaced refugees. In this case, the government failed to find alternative safe locations.”
The Invisible IDPs And Their Silent Cry
05 March – Source: Somali Current – 445 Words
Today my day went off with a terrible start. Government soldiers bulldozed internally displaced families’ makeshift camps by force without a prior notice. Tears rolled down my cheek inadvertently as I was browsing images of frightened mothers and children who were sitting helplessly in the rubble, with their possessions strewn all over the places. Those neglected families have no other places to go now.
The stories remind me of my visit to the IDP camps in Mogadishu in July and August 2013. I still remember the big smile of a small child who I carried up in my arms. Her beautiful eyes, her laughter and her innocence never left my heart. I thought she was born in a cruel world where no one cared. Almost all camps I visited lacked basic services. In addition to that, most of those IDPs were women, young girls, children and elderly men who could barely stand up. Aside from the insecurity, trauma, famine, poor health and sanitation, and unemployment, the female IDPs faced constant rape, torture and harassment. Sadly, brutal stories like these are common among displaced refugees.
Most of those IDPs forced to escape from the violence, insecurity and drought of their home regions. Some of the IDPs told me they were willing to go back to their homes if assisted. Furthermore, continuous dehumanization, destruction of camps and arbitrary evictions may increase the IDP youth to be vulnerable to radicalization. The government and other humanitarian organizations were expected to help and repatriate the displaced refugees to their homes and farms. To reduce their suffering, the government, as it promised in 2013, should move hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) from Mogadishu to designated camps outside the city. Now we have all witnessed the government broke its promise to transfer those displaced families to safer camps.
“Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, meanwhile, is looking to make peace. He has announced an amnesty for al-Shabab fighters willing to lay down their arms. He first made the offer in September, and has extended it twice since then.”
Skeptics Question If Amnesty For Al-Shabaab Fighters Will Bring Peace
26 Feb – Source: The Current/CBC Radio – 25 Minutes
Last weekend, The Somali-based militant group, al-Shabab claimed responsibility posted a video online asking sympathizers to launch further attacks on malls wherever they live. The video singled out Canada’s West Edmonton Mall by name. Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, meanwhile, is looking to make peace. He has announced an amnesty for al-Shabab fighters willing to lay down their arms. He first made the offer in September, and has extended it twice since then.
The government claims that hundreds of young men have come in from the fight. But many Somalis are skeptical an amnesty could work. Abdirashid Hashi is the Executive Director of the Mogadishu-based think-tank, the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies. He was in Mogadishu. Somalia is not the first place to consider an amnesty as a way to tamp down violence. They’ve been tried with various levels of success in Northern Ireland and South Africa. There are ongoing efforts in Afghanistan and, to a lesser degree, in Pakistan. Michael Semple has looked at all of those cases. He’s a visiting professor at the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queens University in Belfast.
Top tweets
@Goobjoognews #Somalia IDPs started returning back to their homes in Guri El after a peace deal on Thursday
@Aynte Finally, Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation of #Somalia is on Twitter @MoPIC_Somalia
@SomaliaJunkie Have a blessed Juma #Somalia is up to par Living up to the once-coveted reputation We must look up to better leaders May Allah bless us
@RadioErgo IDP women turn to beach business #Somaliahttp://bit.ly/18nqLGt
@AllenaParker595 Security officials placed on high alert in#Mogadishu #Somalia on 6 March for possible attacks by militant group al-Shabaab
@UNLazzarini Briefed 27 member states in Nairobi today on the need to keep #Somalia on the global humanitarian agenda & sustain #humanitarian response.
Image of the day
The government of Italy donated 54 military trucks to the Somali National Army (SNA) as part of assistance in rebuilding the army of the war-ravaged nation.
Photo@Horseed Media