October 5, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Two Die In Clan Clashes Erupted In Bulla-Hawo Town
05 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 177 Words
At least two civilians died and more than ten others injured after two clan militias engaged fighting in Bulla-hawo town near the border of Somalia and Kenya. A resident in Bulla-Hawo who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals said that the factor that influenced the eruption of the clashes was the killing of several men for revenge of traditional elders and other villagers killed in the outskirt of the town. The situation is currently calm and things returned back to normal after the battle between the clan militias subsided.
Traditional elders, politicians and intellectuals have called for an end to fighting which has so far claimed two lives. The elders also stated that it is not appropriate to shed blood at this time when the region is recovering from inter-clan clashes. “I am unhappy with the fighting embarked in Bulla-Hawo town and we are looking for ways to cease the fighting erupted in the area. The clans should first stop the fighting and then solve their conflict at a negotiating table,” said one elder in that town.
Key Headlines
- Two Die In Clan Clashes Erupted In Bulla-Hawo Town (Goobjoog News)
- Jowhar Residents Express Fears Of Over Shabelle River Overflow (Wacaal Media)
- Ceasefire Takes Effect After Deadly Clashes In Sool Region (Villa Puntland)
- UN Envoy To Somalia Nicholas Kay Condemns Arrest Of Universal TV Journalists (Goobjoog News)
- Federal Government Soldier Killed In Infighting (Garowe Online)
- Hawala Shut Down Nearly Crippled Our Economy – Somalia Minister (The Star)
- AMISOM Police To Deploy In Somalia’s Liberated Areas (AMISOM)
- US Authorities Community Work Together To Counter Extremism (Today Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Jowhar Residents Express Fears Of Over Shabelle River Overflow
05 October – Source: Wacaal Media – 103 Words
Residents of Jowhar district and surrounding areas are living in fear of being displaced from their homes by raging floods as River Shabelle has started overflowing following torrential rains pounding the region. The local administration in conjunction with the public are however putting up a brave fight by erecting gabions along flood prone areas. Sacks of sand were also piled up along the river bed as residents living near the river started relocating for fear of being caught up in the calamities resulting from the flooding. Middle Shabelle region is prone to flooding resulting in the destruction of crops and displacement of locals.
Ceasefire Takes Effect After Deadly Clashes In Sool Region
05 October – Source: Villa Puntland – 183 Words
Amid thorough endeavours to ease tensions, ceasefire is currently in effect after deadly clan clashes in remote villages in the Sool region clashed. The government of Puntland dispatched traditional elders to Magaley and Qoriley villages to mediate repeated clan clashes which emerged almost a decade back as a result of land and grazing disputes between two warring clans. Dozens died in the latest string of these clashes after two armed militiamen loyal to the two warring tribes engaged in bloody battles.
Following days long joint mediation efforts by respected clan elders and the government of Puntland, ceasefire and withdrawal of forces from the frontline bases brought into agreement as the two warring clans embrace talks. Suldan Cagmadhige, one of the traditional elders who are leading the mediation spoke on their efforts. “The government agreed to our request to lead the mediation and supporting our efforts”, said Suldan Cagmadhige. Talks between the two clans are expected to follow the ceasefire in the presence of the traditional elders and the government in quest to end these tensions which has been recurring in the past decade.
UN Envoy To Somalia Nicholas Kay Condemns Arrest Of Universal TV Journalists
05 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 245 Words
The UN special envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay has joined politicians and civil society in voicing his concern over the arrest and continued detention of two Universal TV journalists. Kay condemned the arrest of the two journalists and closure of Universal TV offices two days ago in Mogadishu. Kay also called for the Federal Government of Somalia to act swiftly to ensure that the safety and human rights of journalists are protected. “Independent, free and pluralistic media are vital,” said SRSG Kay. “Freedom of expression is a fundamental right and is essential to create an environment that fosters debate and public participation in the 2016 electoral process and Somalia’s ongoing state-building and peace-building process,” said Kay in a statement Sunday.
Earlier today the Somali National Union of Journalists, NUSOJ condemned the arrest and called for unconditional arrest of the two journalists. NUSOJ also disclosed that the two would be in detention for the next 21 days as the intelligence agency NISA conducts investigations on charges against the journalists and the station. On Friday, NISA summoned the Abdullahi Hersi and Awil Dahir Salaad to their offices in Mogadishu before arresting them for airing a show a day before in which two MPs questioned the sovereignty of the country in light of the presence of UN and African Mission in Somalia, AMISOM in Somalia. There has not been any information however regarding possible charges against the lawmakers.
Federal Government Soldier Killed In Infighting
04 October – Source: Garowe Online – 89 Words
A government soldier has been killed and another has sustained injuries after a deadly shootout in Mogadishu’s busiest market, Bakara on Sunday, Garowe Online reports. The confrontation broke out when taxmen began collecting cash from business owners. Security forces manning the market fired shots at tax collectors, and later engaged in gun-battle according to officials and witnesses. Third party, another group of soldiers stepped in to bring about brief ceasefire. No reasons have been established over the deadly clash, and Somalia’s Federal Government has not commented on the incident.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Hawala Shut Down Nearly Crippled Our Economy – Somalia Minister
05 October – Source: The Star – 407 Words
The closure of informal money transfer companies, commonly known as Hawala earlier in the year, locked out an estimated $ 5.4 million (Sh562.8 million) daily inflows into Somalia, a minister said on Friday. Kenya was among the countries that shut the money transfer systems in a bid to stop alleged terrorist financing. In April, the government closed down 13 money transfer firms in the wake of a terrorist attack on Garissa university college on April 1. Finance Minister in the Federal government of Somalia Mohamed Ibrahim said the move hit-hard the economy.
“When the Hawalas were closed, there was significant economic and social impact on many people in Somalia. Our currency has since lost about 25 per cent in exchange rates with black market activities increasing,” Ibrahim told the Star in Nairobi. The daily estimates given by the minister for the informal cash transfer system translates to about Sh16.9 billion a month. Ibrahim said the shutdown also led to an increase in money laundering and prices of goods and services, raising the cost of living.
“Transaction costs of the Hawalas have gone up since then. The low cash flow also weakened the Somali shilling against foreign currencies”, he said. The impact is still being felt, Ibrahim said, adding that 80 per cent of the Somali population receives money through the system.Many of the citizens rely on the Hawala system for remittances because of their lower charges compared to traditional global money transfer firms like Western Union.
AMISOM Police To Deploy In Somalia’s Liberated Areas
04 October – Source: AMISOM – 455 Words
The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Maman Sidikou has said that starting March 2016, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will deploy police in the liberated areas in line with the recent UN Security Council resolution. While on a working visit to Minnesota in the United States of America, Ambassador Sidikou met and held discussions with Mr. John Harrington, the Minneapolis Metro Transit Police Chief.
Minnesota has the largest population of Somalis in the United States. Ambassador Sidikou briefed Mr. Harrington on the progress made in Somalia and the upcoming deployment of the police in the various sectors, as well as recruitment of Somali police personnel in the liberated areas in order to boost community policing. He added that this is also in line with the provisional Federal constitution in which all regions are entitled to a police force.
Sidikou said, “We (shall) assess and see which other areas that they (Police) can come and deal with law and order and have the army move to go and fight Al-Shabaab wherever they are. So, it’s good we are focusing on community policing because that’s the way to go in Somalia. One of the issues AMISOM forces are facing is that yes, people realize that we are doing good work for them; but we are not really that together. Unless you have the community, you are just shooting in the dark. So, that’s one of the decisions that has made by African Union and the UN benchmarking to look at how we fare so far; and the decision was made to go towards Police.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The people doing the recruiting for ISIS saw the success of Al-Shabaab had in the Somali population and decided to focus their efforts there. That’s greatly distressing, both to the community and law enforcement. This is something we are working with the community to turn around, said Mr Luger, who noted that for those who were radicalised, the Islamic State held a different appeal from Al-Shabaab.”
US Authorities, Community Work Together To Counter Extremism
05 October – Source: Today Online – 1,702 Words
When Andrew Luger became the United States Attorney for Minnesota in February 2014, the problem of young Somali men in the community leaving America to join the radical Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab in the civil war in Somalia was easing off, only for a new form of terror recruitment to surface. “I actually thought I can be US Attorney and not focus on terror recruiting,” said Mr Luger. “Instead, we found out relatively quickly after I came into office that with the rise of ISIS (Islamic State), recruiting had come back.”
The extent of the problem soon became clear. In April this year, six Minnesota men of Somali descent in their late teens and early 20s were charged with conspiring to aid and support the Islamic State, in what is described as the biggest such case to date in the US. According to prosecutors, the youths had planned to travel to Syria and Iraq to join the terror group but were detained before they could do so. They were influenced by a common friend, Mr Abdi Nur, 18, who had slipped out of America last year.
“From his locale in Syria, Mr Nur recruits individuals and provides assistance to those who want to leave Minneapolis to fight abroad,” according to court documents. Three of the youths have pleaded guilty while the other cases are still before the courts. Such radicalisation is of grave concern to American authorities and Minnesota’s 100,000-strong Somali-American community, the largest in the US. These Somalis had come to the US in the 1990s as refugees, with most settling in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in this mid-western state. Many arrived with little education and struggled to keep a grip on their America-born children, who are caught between their old and new worlds.
Families and law enforcement agencies alike find it hard to comprehend why these young men who have never been to the Middle East are drawn to a terror group there, particularly as Somalis have no national or ethnic ties to Syria and Iraq. Those ties had been a factor behind the decisions of dozens of young Somali-Americans who had gone to fight with Al-Shabaab — Al Qaeda’s affiliate in the Horn of Africa — when Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006.
TOP TWEETS
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: Finance Minister: Hawala shutdown nearly crippled our economy, locked out estimated $5.4m daily inflows http://ow.ly/T0SRi
@willswanson: #Somalia asks for more aid in fight against#alshabaab http://j.mp/1jJvVDc out of the headlines, gains against AS are fast slipping away
@Abdikarim_Abdi3 : Lets create a safer environment for our teachers to provide quality education to students.We understand the risks #Somalia #WorldTeachersDay
@R2Pindex : @R2Pindex —> Africa’s Governance Winners, Losers and Surprises: [allAfrica] Cape Town -Zimbabwe is …http://bit.ly/1iYdQ3p #Somalia
@muiska : #bbc In pictures: The Somalis fleeing home from Yemen: Images of the refugees seeking safety in Somaliahttp://bbc.in/1OSdCZg #somalia
@engyarisow : SDRF Steering Committee of the #SomaliaDevelopment and Reconstruction Facility meeting is underway in #Mogadishu.
@muiska : #allafrica Shoukry Reiterates Egypt’s Commitment to Support Somalia: [Egypt Online] Foreign Minister …http://bit.ly/1iYacqo #somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRCC Ambassador Maman Sidikou in discussions with Somali community leaders in Minnesota, USA. They discussed matters of mutual interest, especially how Somalis living in the diaspora can contribute to the development of Somalia.
Photo: AMISOM