April 27, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Three Officials Killed In Mogadishu In 24 hours
27 April – Source: Garowe Online -128 Words
Suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen have allegedly killed three Somali government officials in separate attacks in volatile Mogadishu on Sunday according to officials, Garowe Online reports. Armed assailants shot and killed custodian corps commander Abdullahi Kamal Ismael at KPP junction in Mogadishu’s Hodon district on Sunday morning, witnesses and police confirmed. Hussein Abdi, Hamar Jajab municipality official was also targeted in another pre-planned assassination before dusk prayers. Separately, the Deputy Commissioner of Mogadishu’s Dayniile district Ibrahim Mohamed Barise instantly died after attackers opened fire on him on Sunday evening. Nobody has been arrested in connection with the string of deadly shootings. On Saturday, former Federal Member of Parliament Haji Ali Adan was shot dead inside the busy Bakara market.
Key Headlines
- Three Officials Killed In Mogadishu In 24 hours (Garowe Online)
- Dozens Arrested In Mogadishu Security Sweeps (Radio Danan)
- Somali Government Warns Of Possible Al-Shabaab Attacks In Mogadishu (Somali Current)
- Over 1000 Somali Refugees Arrive In Somalia (Goobjoog News)
- Dadaab Refugees Dismiss Attacks Orchestrated From Camps (Hiraan Online)
- DP World To Run Somaliland’s Berbera Port (Garowe Online)
- Outgoing Somalia Ambassador Grateful To Kenya (Standard Media)
- 1200 Somalis Return Home From War-torn Yemen (The Journal of Turkish Weekly)
- Rwanda Down Somalia In Kigali (CAF Online)
- Islamic State Or Al-Qaeda? Somalia’s Al Shabaab Mulls Future (Standard Digital)
- Somalia Needs A Fearless And Patriotic Leader Not Elections (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Dozens Arrested In Mogadishu Security Sweeps
27 April – Source: Radio Danan – 156 Words
Somalia’s security forces have carried out a large security sweep in the Somali capital, arresting dozens in the north of the city, officials told Danan Radio Broadcasting Network on Sunday. The operation in Daynile district comes after security forces were tipped off about militants in the area which has seen several raids by Al-Shabab fighters. Mohamed Nor, the deputy commissioner for the district says soldiers conducted house-to-house search operations in which several suspected militants were arrested. He alleged that some of those netted by security forces were murderers behind assassinations in Mogadishu. The capital has seen series of attacks by Al-Shabab for the past few months. Most of the attacks in the centre of the city targeted government officials in drive-by shootings. The latest string of assassinations highlight the security challenges facing the UN-backed federal government and protected by the African Union forces in Somalia.
Somali Government Warns Possible Al-Shabaab Attacks In Mogadishu
27 April – Source: Somali Current – 129 Words
Somalia ministry of internal security has warned of possible Al-Shabaab attacks on worship places and social gathering in the capital Mogadishu. Spokesperson for Somalia internal security Mohamed Yussuf said suspected areas that might be targeted by Al-Shabaab include Health Centers, Mosques, hotels and other gathering places and called on the public to be vigilant. The ministry of internal security urged the public to work hand in hand with security forces to prevent the possible attacks and to report any threats to security agencies. It’s not the first time Somalia internal security ministry issued warning of possible Al-Shabaab attacks in the country. Somalia security agencies have been accused of being reactive rather than active in preventing possible terror attacks.
Over 1000 Somali Refugees Arrive In Somalia
27 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 510 Words
A boat carrying at least 1, 153 Somali refugees has docked Bossaso port on Saturday. Puntland officials and the administration of Bossaso have welcomed these refugees to Bossaso. Ambulances ferried some of the refugees who sustained injuries to Bossaso hospitals. Some of the refugees who gave exclusive interview to Goobjoog News said that the lives of Somali people in Yemen is in danger and if they are not evacuated soon, they will be caught up in worse situations. “I am from Sana’a, the capital city of Yemen, we took 24-hour journey by boat to reach the port town of Bossaso, the boat sailed from Mukalah port” said Sahra Osman Sudiye.
She added that her family which consist of eight members has been living Yemen for 25 years. “We are displaced by the civil war escalating in Yemen and bombings carrying out by Saudi led coalition,” she said. Another returnee, Muhudi Jim’aale Noor said that he has lost two his sons in Yemen and decided to return to home. “I was casual worker, I used to wash cars as to get my bread and I broke up [with] the mother of my children, so I was the breadwinner [for] these children” he noted. Shankaroon Abdullahi, a mother of two, who has been living Yemen for ten years has urged the government and other well-wishers to give her transport to her destination, Mogadishu the capital city of Somalia. An expatriate who was standing place not far away from where Shankaroon was interviewed said that there is a deteriorating situations in Yemen where Somali refugees are living. “We thank Almighty God, Allah has saved us from that place and May Allah save those other refugees in Yemen” he said. “I have been staying in Yemen since 2002 and I was capable of getting my daily bread but now Yemen has become just like Somalia therefore we decided to come back [to] our country”
Speaking at the port of Bossaso, Mayor, Hassan Abdalla Hassan has detailed the number of the Somali refugees brought by the boat saying “at about 11am a boat carrying 1, 153 refugees mostly children, sick people and aged people has docked at Bassaso port. The mayor called upon well-wishers, NGOs and Somali people to help these Somali refugees. Puntland Assistant Minister of Interior Abdullahi Qoob-Deero for his part said that a boat carrying refugees comprising of Somali citizens and foreigners has arrived Bossaso town. Puntland government has earlier announced ministerial level committee to work on and closely monitor the increasing violence in Yemen and Somali refugees arriving Puntland in large numbers.
Dadaab Refugees Dismiss Attacks Orchestrated From Camps
26 April – Source: Hiraan Online -193 Words
Facing prosecutions and clampdown by Kenyan forces after series of attacks across Kenya, refugees in the world’s largest refugee camp have dismissed the government’s claims that the camp shelters terrorists who carried out deadly attacks in the East African nation. Kenya has instructed the UN Refugees agency to relocate refugees back to Somalia, or else the government would do it, drawing criticism from the refugees agencies that asked the government to back down its decision.
Mohamed Olow, the security chief for northeastern refugee camps termed the accusation as ‘void’ which is aimed at displacing refugees in camps. “We have bad and good people in the country, thus the government needs to deal with those evil minded in the country, not victims of terrorist attacks,” he told reporters on Saturday. His remarks come weeks after Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said that those behind an attack on Kenyan university which killed 148 people were “deeply embedded” in Kenya, putting more pressure on refugees in the camps.
The Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group in Somalia claimed the responsibility for the attack, vowing more attacks targeting the east African countries. The attack by gunmen was the deadliest assault by Al-Shabaab in Kenya. The group also killed at least 67 in an attack on the upscale Westgate mall in Nairobi last year. Somalis in Kenya are often subject to backlash after attacks by Al-Shabaab in Kenya as troops often carry out security sweeps against Somalis. However, they often stress that those attacks are isolated incidents. Human rights groups said that Somalis are scapegoats for Kenyan attacks often carried out by the Al-Qaeda linked group which vowed attacks in Kenya after the East African nation sent troops to fight militants in Somalia after spate of kidnappings in Kenya.
DP World To Run Somaliland’s Berbera Port
26 April – Source: Garowe Online -188 Words
Dubai-based firm, DP World is eyeing contract to handle services at Berbera port in breakaway Somaliland in the coming days according to well-informed sources, Garowe Online reports. Somaliland delegation led by the State Minister for President Hirsi Haji Ali Hassan is expected to clinch a deal with international port operator, DP World officials in Dubai on Monday. DP World will run Berbera port for 17 years, officials familiar with the matter told Garowe Online on Saturday.
Hassan will be accompanied on his trip to Dubai by Minister of Commerce Musse Qasim, Berbera port General Manager Ali Hor-Hor, and presidential officials.The expansion of Berbera port and management of container handling are more likely to be included in the bilateral contract, sources added. Somaliland opposition parties said they are deeply concerned with the looming agreement as the separatist region is preparing for general elections by early 2016. Federal Government of Somalia’s Minister for Ports has warned Somaliland of striking deals with shipping and port operators without prior consent. DP World which manages 65 marine terminals throughout six continents also hopes to clinch similar contracts with Puntland and Jubaland.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Outgoing Somalia Ambassador Grateful To Kenya
27 April – Source: Standard Media – 255 Words
Somalia’s longest serving ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Nur, has wound up his duty in the country with a call to Kenyans to stop profiling Somalis as terrorists. Ambassador Nur said both the governments of Kenya and Somalia were united in fighting Al-Shabaab and any terror attacks should be treated as criminal acts by individuals, not a whole community.
“…Sometimes I see in the media that whenever attacks happen they (Kenyans) say these Somalis did this, Somalis did that. These Al-Shabaab are not Somalis but criminals. Somali refugees are in this country because of these criminals. Whenever things happen, it is not right to profile Somalis. Kenya and Somalia have a common enemy and we must be united to fight them,” he said. Mr Nur, who bid President Uhuru Kenyatta goodbye last week, praised Kenya and the Kenya Defence Forces ( KDF) for helping his country to fight Al-Shabaab. He said he was grateful to Kenya for sheltering over half a million refugees over the last 21 years.
“I want to thank Kenya for hosting our refugees here for over 21 years and KDF, which is part of Amisom, for joining the Somalia National Army in fighting Al-Shabaab,” he said. The ambassador, who is returning to Mogadishu after serving in Kenya since 2007, said he was yet to decide on his next assignment. There are reports that he is eyeing the presidency in Somalia’s elections next year.He said he would be meeting his countrymen and women both at home and in the diaspora to preach reconciliation.
1,200 Somalis Return Home From War-torn Yemen
26 April – Source: The Journal of Turkish Weekly – 199 Words
Around 1,200 Somali refugees returned home on Sunday through the northeastern Bosaso Port after fleeing crisis-hit Yemen, the port city’s mayor has said. “Bosaso Port has received a boat carrying 1,200 Somali refugees who had fled Yemen,” Bosaso’s Mayor Hassan Abdullah Hassan said in a press conference at the port city on Sunday. Abdullah asserted that this was the largest number of Somalis to return from Yemen in a single day since the launch of a Saudi Arabia-led military offensive against Yemen’s Shiite Houthi group over a month ago.
Abdullah also said that most of the refugees who arrived on Sunday had been suffering illnesses and that most of them were hospitalized following their return. He added that returning refugees would be given temporary shelter in makeshift tents. Mohamed Ahmed, one of the returning Somalis, told The Anadolu Agency that the refugees had rented the boat from Somali merchants. Sunday’s incident comes despite past announcements by the Somali government that it had evacuated all its nationals from Yemen. Over 300,000 Somalis who had fled a years-long civil war in their country had been living in refugee camps in Yemen prior to the Saudi coalition’s military campaign.
Rwanda Down Somalia In Kigali
26 April – CAF Online – 417 Words
Yannick Mukunzi and Kevin Muhire were on target as Rwanda registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Somalia in the first leg, first round of the Africa U-23 Championship qualifier held on Saturday at Amahoro Stadium. Mukunzi scored a 17th minute header after connecting a cross from left back Janvier Mutijima to slot the opener past Somalia goalkeeper Mustaf Khalib Hussein. Substitute Kevin Muhire who came off the bench replacing Bon Fils Kabanda with ten minutes to go scored a brilliant goal in added-on after curving a 40-metre shot into the back of the net, a feat which lifted the Amavubi fans.
Rwanda head coach Jonathan McKinstry hailed his youthful side following a positive start to the long journey of qualifying for Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. He said, “I am pleased with the result and the general performance from the players. We however failed to convert some good chances in the first half and the display in the second half was not that good, Kevin Muhire scored a wonderful goal. He has the ability to even perform much better. Somalia played some good football in the midfield but we benefitted from their mistakes to claim an overall positive result. We still have some issues to rectify ahead of the second leg and I believe we will be much organized and better in the second leg,” added McKinstry.
Somalia’s assistant coach James Magala gave credit to his players for the way they played against a strong Rwandan side. Magala said, “Our players did the best they could. It was a good display from them considering what we passed through in preparation for this qualifier. We lacked international experience and I believe that was the only difference between our team and Rwanda. We still have a chance to overturn the result in the second leg which will be played in Nairobi and I believe we will play a different game contrary to our first leg display,” added the Ugandan-born coach.
OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE
“If Al Shabaab were to align with IS it would mean an increase in money and resources that AQ cannot provide at the moment…in some ways you inherit the strength of the group to whom you pledge allegiance,”
Islamic State Or Al-Qaeda? Somalia’s Al Shabaab Mulls Future
26 April – Source: Standard Digital – 904 Words
Somalia’s Al Shabaab militants are divided over whether to maintain their allegiance to Al-Qaeda or shift to Islamic State, according to militant and security sources, analysts and clan elders. The division comes at a time when Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has become the jihadist franchise of choice, attracting fighters from abroad and other militant groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, while Al-Qaeda too has recently expanded its territory in Yemen. “Why is it a surprise to hear that Al Shabaab may join the Islamic State? All Muslims have to unite against their enemy,” said an Al Shabaab commander, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. The commander said Al Shabaab “would be more than happy to join forces to strike the enemy of Islam harder”.
The admission comes at a time when Al Shabaab is under pressure militarily but remains able to launch guerilla and terror attacks, seemingly at will, against civilian targets in Somalia and Kenya. This month Al Shabaab killed 148 people, mostly students, during an armed assault on a university in Garissa, north eastern Kenya, while suicide bombers and gunmen have attacked hotels and a restaurant in Mogadishu and a United Nations minibus in the northern Somali town of Garowe. See also: No teachers abducted from Mandera, says county commissioner Garissa echoed the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, with just four gunmen and multiple accounts of the singling out of non-Muslims for murder, a tactic also used in Al Shabaab attacks on a bus and quarry in Mandera, Kenya, late last year.
But Garissa was both Al Shabaab’s most deadly and most brutal attack yet. The gunmen herded scores of young non-Muslim men and women into a university hall of residence. They were made to lie side-by-side on the courtyard floor and executed. It was an assault worthy in its thirst for blood of IS, which has distinguished itself through mass executions, many of which are recorded and distributed online. ‘Corridor to Afghanistan’ Some see Al Shabaab’s vacillations as a sign of weakness. “Al Shabaab is desperate. They have lost ground in Somalia, they may be considering joining the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria so that they get funds and moral support,” said Mohamed Ibrahim, a Somali security official. But others suggest Al Shabaab is still considered a valuable partner in jihad.
“There’s a debate going on between the core leaders whether to switch to IS, whether to stay with Al-Qaeda,” Somalia’s prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke told AFP. “Both ISIS and Al-Qaeda are appealing to Al Shabaab to join them,” he said. Sharmarke said that recent territorial gains in Yemen by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the strongest of Al-Qaeda’s franchises, might embolden and strengthen Al Shabaab. “It’s really crucial now because this can spill over from the Yemen conflict and easily come to Somalia,” he said. “The Gulf of Aden can become a corridor to Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Sources in southern Somalia, where Al Shabaab fighters and commanders are now concentrated, confirmed that meetings have taken place to discuss the IS/AQ issue.
“A successful Somali parliament and a constitution that is valued and adhered to are for now all pipedreams. None of these institutions are capable of providing the services and security the Somali people need…If Somalia wants to truly exorcise her demons, it must first start with ridding herself of the corruption and radical terrorism that’s crippled her for so long.”
Somalia Needs A Fearless And Patriotic Leader, Not Elections
26 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 2, 102 Words
We all know the miserable state our country has been in for over a quarter century. Somalia is an intractable place. Years of civil war and famine have annihilated thousands of vulnerable people and internally displaced even more. The luckier ones escaped with their lives but suffered the fate of becoming refugees and second-rate citizens in foreign lands. Those of us who were able to leave Somalia with our lives now helplessly watch how organizations like Al-Shabaab further rape our beautiful Somalia as they spread their terror through mass slaughter, suicide bombings, and assassinations.
The chaos had finally caught the attention of the international community at large and in their attempts to help Somalia they encouraged the development of a solid government and brought together 20, 000 African peace-keeping forces. Somalia has been forced to accept these shameful violations in her sovereignty, so that we may be lead back to stability but instead of being helpful these African “peace-keeping forces” have in reality only caused more harm than good. The Ethiopians conquered Somalia’s Southern part from Galkacyo to Raskanboni. The Kenyans annexed the coastal city of Kismaayo and much of the lower Jubba areas. In their pursuit of Al-shabaab and keeping the “peace”, they have instead killed hundreds of Somalis in Mogadishu and border areas.
Today Somalia is at a painful crossroads, balkanized with no effective government and sovereignty; unity seemingly lost, perhaps forever. Even the remote parts of Somalia are just as lawless as Mogadishu. They are either already in Al-Shabaab’s control, have simply been claimed as nonexistent Federal States, or are impenetrable clan enclaves. Ethiopia has become the de-facto ruler of all these regional territories. So now let’s get real; Vision 2016 and these nepotism filled, rigged elections are all delusions. If we are willing to face the music we’d see things for what they are and not what we’d like them to be.
TOP TWEETS
@BBCAfrica Today’s #African #proverb: When you need something badly you have no choice but to follow it. Sent by Mubashir Hayow, Mogadishu, #Somalia
@Payitforward87 Fadumo Dayib aims to become the first woman president of Somalia. http://magazine.good.is/
@aia_#Somalia vs Rwanda just kicked off. Olympic qualifiers!
@SomPundit #Somalia has the largest and well-equipped PUBLIC hospital in East & Central Africa. #TheSomaliaYouNeverHearAbout
@4DialogSK Clanism is losers’ game; in it they find surrogate claim to superiority and false sense of esteem/honor. #Somalia #Yemen.
@UNICEF #UNSG Ban Ki-moon signs a book of condolences in remembrance of @UNICEFSomalia staff killed in Garowe,#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A presentation is made to participants of the BOI Workshop. The workshop is devoted to identifying the best practices from the UN and make recommendations as the mission continues to operate.
Photo: AMISOM