March 19, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Pentagon: Al-Shabab’s Garaar Killed By Drone Strike In Somalia – UPDATE
19 March – Source: Voice of America, English – 268 Words
A U.S. drone strike in southern Somalia last week killed a leader of the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, the Pentagon confirmed on Wednesday. The airstrike on March 12 hit a car carrying Adan Garaar, a top official in al-Shabab’s security service, the Amniyat, as reported by VOA the day of the attack. The Pentagon says Garaar had worked for al-Shabab’s intelligence wing and was connected to the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, as first reported by VOA Somali service. The mall attack killed more than 60 people.
The Pentagon said the drone strike near Diinsoor, about 150 miles (240 km) west of Mogadishu, “has dealt another significant blow” to al-Shabab. The group released a video last month calling for attacks on Western shopping malls. The video prompted two North American shopping malls, the Mall of America in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada, to operate with higher security measures. The Mall of America is one of the largest malls in the United States. Minnesota is home to a sizeable Somali immigrant population. A Minnesota man was indicted recently on charges of conspiring to support the Islamic State extremist group and lying to federal agents investigating recruitment by militant groups.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Qatar Sign New Bilateral And Cooperation Deals (Somali Update)
- Head Of Unsom Human Rights Division Visits Garowe Puntland (Wacaal.com)
- Galmudug State: Government Is Dragging Its Feet On Central State Formation (Radio Goobjoog)
- Jubaland Parliamentary Selection Process Likely To Be Concluded (Xikmo News)
- Children Right’s Meeting Held In Mogadishu(Radio Bar-Kulan)
- Mandera Governor Warns Of Terror Cells Along Kenya-Somalia Border (Daily Nation)
- Duale Elaborates On What He Meant During Interview With The BBC Somali Service (Standard Media)
- Pentagon: Al-Shabab’s Garaar Killed By Drone Strike In Somalia (Voice of America English)
- Al-Shabaab Cleric Gives Daesh Stamp Of Approval (Anadolu Agency)
- Tech Protest Puts Ethnic Tension In Spotlight (SC Times)
- The Somali Community; A Measure Of Hardworking Foreign African Entrepreneurs (Warya Post)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somalia, Qatar Sign New Bilateral And Cooperation Deals
19 March – Source: Somali Update – 144 Words
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali is currently on a three-day official visit to Doha, Qatar, where they signed bilateral and cooperation agreements with Qatari officials on Wednesday, Somali Update reports. According to Ridwan Haji, the spokesman of Office of Somalia Prime Minister, among these new bilateral agreements is the launch of the first Qatar Airways flights to Mogadishu. Qatar Airways has not been flying to Somalia since 1991 following the country’s civil war. Currently, Turkish Airlines is the only international carrier that flies to Somalia while other regional flights arrive Mogadishu. Qatar will also assist Somalia on its course to stabilize and rebuild the country. The double agreements were signed by Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Abdisalan Hadliye and Civil Aviation Minister Ali Ahmed Jangali, who are both accompanying Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid.
Galmudug State: Government Is Dragging Its Feet On Central State Formation
19 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 113 Words
Galmudug state of Somalia has accused the federal government of destabilizing plans to form Central State of Somalia which is set to take shape this month. Abdikadir Ali Jama, minister of ports and marine resources for Galmudug said that he believes that the federal leaders would like to see their candidates to be elected into the new state so that it would help them secure their comeback in the 2016 elections. “They are [an obstacle] to the formation of the state, but the conference would kick off 25th of this month, God willing we will succeed” said the minister speaking to Goobjoog.
Head Of Unsom Human Rights Division Visits Garowe Puntland
19 March – Source: Wacaal.com – 179 Words
Head of the Human Rights Office of the UN mission in Somalia on Wednesday afternoon reached Garowe, the capital of Puntland, and held a meeting with the President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali. Mrs. Guadalupe De Sousa Reis and her delegation held discussions with the President on human rights in Puntland and the cooperation of both parties in the matter. She pointed out that on their side, they wanted to effectively deal with issues of human rights in
Puntland adding that that people in the region should be made to understand how they were required to uphold the rule of law, order and systems of governance in Puntland. She noted that their work with Puntland on human rights issues was of great importance to the people of the region. The arrival of the delegation led by Mrs. Guadalupe De Sousa Reis comes at a time when the head of Human Rights in Puntland Mr. Mohamed Ismail took office last week. His office was established in late January and will work on human rights issues in the regions of Puntland.
Jubaland Parliamentary Selection Process Likely To Be Concluded
19 March – Source: Xikmo News – 176 Words
Traditional leaders representing Jubaland’s Lower Juba, Middle Juba and Gedo regions are likely to finalize 65-seat-chamber of parliament in the coming report. Jubaland officials say that the due-date for which the announcement was slated has been postponed due to internal dispute over the members joining the first-ever parliament to be cherry-picked. Four MPs will be coming from 15 districts with the exception of Kismaayo’s parliamentary constituency which would have 9 representatives in Jubaland parliament.
The number of parliamentarians is expected to stand at 65 members, making it the first regional assembly to be selected under the watch of Somalia Federal Government and international community. With several attempts at the formation of federal states in southern and central Somalia yielding breakthrough results, international partners appear to be doubling their efforts of realizing vision 2016, a benchmark some analysts believe would not be met. Clan elders gathering at former Somali Insurance Corporation complex in the southern port city of Kismaayo are said to have previously planned to announce the MPs on Thursday.
Children Right’s Meeting Held In Mogadishu
18 March – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 82 Words
A two day meeting to discuss the rights of children and how to better protect the rights of all Somali children has concluded in Mogadishu today. The meeting which was organized by the justice ministry of the Federal government was also attended by high ranking officials from the Attorney General’s office, judiciary officials, lawyers and civil society organizations. Officials attending the meeting also debated ways of enacting laws intended to prosecute child criminals and the establishment of a juvenile court.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Mandera Governor Warns Of Terror Cells Along Kenya-Somalia Border
19 March – Source: Daily Nation – 678 Words
Mandera Governor Ali Roba has issued an alert over increased movement of Al-Shabaab terror cells along the Kenya-Somalia border. In an exclusive and extensive interview with the Nation, Mr Roba warned that it was only a matter of time before the terrorists could find their way into other parts of the country if nothing is done to contain them. Mr Roba said that pastoralists in the border county had indicated seeing a huge number of suspected Al-Shabaab attackers moving along the border shared by the two countries.He said the terror cells were present along the entire border.
The governor’s caution comes hot on the heels of last week’s arrest of two terrorism suspects in possession of bomb making materials and were said to have been targeting a premises in Nairobi. Key terror suspects have in the past found their way into the country through Mandera. During the interview, Mr Roba who has himself five times been a target of Al-Shabaab attacks took issue with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery for downplaying the security situation in the county by terming the ambush on his convoy last week as banditry.
Duale Elaborates On What He Meant During Interview With The BBC Somali Service
18 March – Source: Standard Media – 3:09 Video
Leader of majority Aden Duale has moved to elaborate on what exactly he meant during an interview with the BBC Somali service. The weekend interview appeared to suggest that Duale had called for negotiations with the Alshabab. But duale says he simply called for talks been leaders of communities living along the Kenya Somali border in Mandera.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Cleric Gives Daesh Stamp Of Approval
19 March – Source: Anadolu Agency – 328 Words
A top cleric affiliated with Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group has given Daesh and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his stamp of approval. “Any emirate in the world that opposes it [Daesh] and opposes the caliphate under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is unlawful,” Sheikh Hassan Hussein Abu Salman said in an audio that has yet to be authenticated. He said he had no objections to Al-Shabaab declaring allegiance to Daesh, which now controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and commands the allegiance of various militant groups in a number of Arab and African countries. Abu Salman became the first Al-Shabaab cleric to publicly declare his stand regarding a possible merger between the two groups. He hinted at an ongoing debate within Al-Shabaab as to whether or not to join Daesh.
Recent gains by Daesh in Iraq and Syria have led a number of Al-Shabaab militants, mostly low-ranking foreign fighters, to join Daesh. On March 6, pro-Al-Qaeda and pro-Daesh factions within Al-Shabaab fought each other in the town of Jilib. The pro-Daesh faction is led by Mukhtar Robow, while Al-Shabaab leader Ahmad Umar remains loyal to Al-Qaeda. Last week, the pro-Daesh faction reported through an affiliate website that 1,700 Al-Shabaab fighters would soon be declaring allegiance to al-Baghdadi. “The emergence of Daesh is likely to impact security in Somalia and the region,” Ali Himale, a UK-based Somali analyst, told The Anadolu Agency. “It may be a rebirth for a no-longer-strong Al-Shabaab, giving it access to weapons and finance, which it has desperately needed after losing seaports that were its main source of revenue,” he noted.
Tech Protest Puts Ethnic Tension In Spotlight
18 March – Source: SC Times – 885 Words
Ethnic tension inside Technical High School became public spectacle Wednesday on its south lawn as more than 100 students and parents, most of them Somali, protested what they described as a pattern of bullying and discrimination to which school officials have not adequately responded. The protest started shortly beforenoon. Protesters, including students and parents, chanted slogans and waved posters. Inside the school, normal activity ground to a halt as the bulk of students not involved in the protest were contained to their classrooms. One of the protesters, Tech junior Hafsa Abdi, said students organized the event because administrators haven’t addressed conflicts between Somali and non-Somali students.
Other protesters alleged unfair school disciplinary practices in which Somali students are disciplined more harshly than non-Somalis. Protesters said the catalyst for the protest involved a Tuesday Snapchat post that also was shared on Facebook. It pictured a Somali Tech student in a wheelchair and a caption implying she was affiliated with the Islamic State group terrorist organization, Abdi said. One of the protesters, Tech freshman Hodo Nour, said she was the student pictured. “I was in shock,” Nour said. “I was really upset about it.” Another incident involved fruit being thrown at a Somali student on stage during a cultural heritage show at the school last week, protesters said. Protester Ayan Bashir, a Tech freshman, said these and other incidents were reported to school administrators but little was done. Bashir said students are tired of reporting such incidents to no effect. “We decided to come out here today because we needed to show action,” Bashir said.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Somalis are just one of many foreign African immigrant groups in South Africa who are succeeding in business. There is also a visible dominance of Ghanaian and Congolese hairdressers. Well-educated Zimbabweans are also making their presence known in various industries, notably the hospitality business.”
The Somali Community: A Measure Of Hardworking Foreign African Entrepreneurs
18 March – Source: Warya Post – 914 Words
In May 2008, xenophobic attacks against foreign African nationals living in South Africa left tens of thousands displaced and numerous businesses and homes destroyed. A new wave of similar attacks erupted again earlier this year in the township of Soweto and quickly spread to other parts of the country. Such attacks have been ongoing since they first began seven years ago, albeit in smaller scales. In a country where the economic circumstances of many victims of the apartheid regime remain unchanged, it is understandable that the relative success of foreign African entrepreneurs irks local residents.
According to the United Nations Regional Information Centre’s 2013 Global Trends report, nearly one fifth of the world’s 1.2 million asylum seekers are hosted in South Africa. In addition to this, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, South Africa is home to some 65,000 recognized refugees and a large number of illegal immigrants, as well as immigrants holding other types of permits. Since very few African foreign nationals are absorbed into the formal sector of what is the continent’s second largest economy, their survival and success in a land where they have limited resources is notable.
The Somali community is a prime example of the success of hardworking foreign African entrepreneurs in South Africa. Researchers from the Sustainable Livelihood Foundation found that Somali entrepreneurs have engineered the changing landscape of the spaza business in the Delft Area in Cape Town. These unofficial stores, usually at private residences in townships, sell every-day household goods, such as bread and cigarettes. And Somali-owned spazas can now be found all over the country.
Top tweets
@OCHASom Who does what,where & how on legal aid assistance for #SGBV survivors in #Somalia:http://bit.ly/1xah3U4 @UNFPA @UNDPSomalia@LegalActionWW
@Aynte W/ @SomaliPM in #Doha for meetings with Qatari counterparts. 2 pacts (civil aviation & education) signed.#Somalia
@Ridwaanhaji The signing agreement between #Somalia and Qatar is significant & contributes to the re-building of our institutions.
@UNHCRSom · DURABLE SOLUTIONS #SOMALIA: Over a million #IDPs need support for local solutionshttp://bit.ly/1DBSYYj @IDMC_Geneva
@HarrietLMathews Thanks for everyone’s warm words on my appointment. I am looking forward to coming to Somalia!
@eric_herring Building new skills & entrepreneurship in Somalia adesoafrica.org/
Image of the day
AMISOM SRCC Amb. Maman Sidikou and AMISOM representatives attended bilateral meetings with representatives of the European Council.
Photo: AMISOM