November 30, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
More Soldiers Sent To Somali Border To Fight Al-Shabaab
30 November – Source: Standard Digital – 340 Words
More Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers have been deployed to the Kenya-Somali border to contain Al-Shabaab militants. Authorities said the militants, who arrive in groups of between five and ten, have been harassing locals in the past week. North Eastern Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh said the area is difficult to man and patrol because of heavy rains and bad roads but they are deploying more personnel and equipment.
“We are even using choppers to patrol and drop off personnel to deal with the menace. The militants are escaping sustained attacks by Amisom inside Somalia and have been sighted near the border now,” said Mr Saleh. At the weekend, locals in Konton, Wajir East, said about ten gunmen raided the village and held them hostage demanding food and water. The militia are said to have crossed over from Somalia and allegedly mounted the black Al Shabaab flag in a local chief’s office before proceeding to lecture the locals for a while.
Meanwhile, KDF has joined the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) in a new drive to scale down human trafficking from Ethiopia. The soldiers from the School of Infantry were deployed to the Isiolo-Nairobi road on Friday and Saturday in what security sources said was aimed at netting aliens being trafficked through the country by cartels based in Kenya.
Key Headlines
- More Soldiers Sent To Somali Border To Fight Al-Shabaab (Standard Digital)
- Calm Returns To Galkayo Town As Government Brokers Peace (Hiiraan Online)
- Four Persons Die 20 Sustain Wounds In Fatal Road Accident (Wacaal Media)
- UNFPA Donates Emergency Kits To Puntland Health Ministry (Villa Puntland)
- Somali Tribesmen To Sue Dutch State Over US Drone Strike (Dutch News Online)
- Kenya’s Enemy Within (Al Jazeera)
- Minneapolis Is A Paradise Of Somali Food (theneeds.com)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Calm Returns To Galkayo Town As Government Brokers Peace
30 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 312 Words
Calm returned to the central Somali town of Galkayo on Sunday as Somali government officials arrived in the town to broker a long-term ceasefire deal aimed at ending a deadly conflict between Puntland and its neighboring Galmudug state following clashes that left at least 18 people dead since last week. Large businesses were still shut in the town as troops and battle wagons packed with soldiers could be seen on the deserted streets. However, there have been no clashes since Friday, thanks to mediation efforts by local elders.
The clashes that involved trucks mounted with machine guns and anti-aircraft rockets erupted after an argument involving the construction of a new road by Galmudug state in the town, which was halted by Puntland forces. Local elders from two sides, who started ceasefire negotiations, signed the deal under which the two sides were required to pull out their forces from the front lines and start negotiations to avoid further clashes. However, fighting resumed on Wednesday leading to the death of at least eight more people.
In the meantime, a Somali government delegation led by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke arrived in the town on Sunday to help broker a peace deal. The Premier called for immediate cessation of hostilities by the two sides. “We shall only leave here when the displaced residents come back home and peace returns to the town,” Mr. Sharmarke told reporters in the town.
UNFPA Donates Emergency Kits To Puntland Health Ministry
30 November – Source: Villa Puntland – 147 Words
The United Nations Population Fund has donated 116 boxes of emergency practical kits and 3.2 tons of life saving supplies to the government of Puntland in order to boost efforts to curb child and maternal deaths in Puntland. UNFPA Puntland Director Bakhtior Kadirov said the supplies were meant for areas hit by recent emergencies such as Bari region and will help reduce child and mother mortality in these areas.
Receiving the donation, Minister for Health Abdinasir Osman Awke thanked UNFPA saying the donation will go a long way in reducing child and maternal deaths. He also said that statistics have shown reduction in these type of deaths but his ministry will continue with its efforts to end it all together. The minister later held talks with the UNFPA team at his office where they discussed relations between the organization and the Puntland government.
Four Persons Die, 20 Sustain Wounds In Fatal Road Accident
29 November – Source: Shabelle News – 120 Words
At least four persons are reported to have lost their lives while 20 sustained wounds in a fatal car accident near Adalle town in Middle Shabelle region, an official said on Sunday. Confirming the incident to Radio Shabelle, Adalle District Commissioner Mohyaddin Sudi Mo’allin said the accident occurred when a truck carrying passengers overturned near Adalle on Sunday morning.
The 20 people, who were wounded in the accident, were rushed to Adalle hospital, where they received treatment. Some of them suffered serious injuries. Most drivers in Somalia have little or questionable driving experience, whilst roads linking between regions in the country have not been repaired since the collapse of former military regime led by Gen Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Tribesmen To Sue Dutch State Over US Drone Strike
30 November – Source: Dutch News Online – 262 Words
Two Somali shepherds who were caught in a drone strike aimed at a terrorist convoy are to sue the Dutch state for war crimes, their lawyers said. One of the nomadic tribesmen lost a leg and saw two daughters killed in the attack by an American drone in January 2014. Both claim they had most of their cattle herds wiped out. The shepherds are suing the Netherlands because information from the military intelligence service MIVD was used to pinpoint the location of the terrorist convoy. It would be the first case to be brought in the Dutch courts by victims of a US-directed strike.
Lawyer Göran Sluiter told the Volkskrant there was a more realistic chance of compensation under Dutch law. ‘The Americans will use the defence that they were protecting national security, especially as non-American victims were involved,’ he said. ‘Under Dutch law this is a war crimes case.’ The drone strike was aimed at a convoy carrying members of the terrorist organisation Al Shabaab. Its leader, Ahmed Godane, survived the missile attack but several of his colleagues were killed.
Sluiter said the Americans should have seen there were innocent bystanders in the area when the missile was fired, and therefore that they broke international law. ‘There were a lot of cattle in the area, a clear indication that there were people there,’ he said. The ministry of defence said it had no knowledge of how other nations used information it supplied in military operations. Information was exchanged with the US in Somalia as part of ‘routine co-operation’, a spokesman added.
Kenya’s Enemy Within
29 November – Source: Al Jazeera Video: 47:55 Minutes
Kenya has started construction on a 700km-long wall along its porous border with Somalia, in an attempt to shield itself from the armed group al-Shabab. The ambitious project, which consists of brick walls, fences and observation posts, will stretch from the town of Mandera in the north to Kiunga in the south. The goal is to lock out al-Qaeda-aligned fighters who have repeatedly crossed into Kenya to wage attacks.
In Kenya’s Enemy Within documentary we look at the government’s proposed border wall and whether it will help stop attacks on Kenyan soil. Investigative journalist John Allan Namu speaks to people with direct access to the project, who say the plan is unfeasible and won’t enhance the country’s security. We hear how corruption among immigration officials, poor coordination with intelligence agencies and slow responses from the security forces have left Kenya unable to stem the attacks.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“We like the lives we have right now—our destinies are in our hands. The outcome of our work depends on our efforts, Ahmed says proudly. They also say they didn’t want to just open a restaurant, but a place of community, hence the addition of the event center that hosts weddings, parties, and even meetings for delegates from Africa.”
Minneapolis Is A Paradise Of Somali Food
30 November – Source: theneeds.com – 1,113 Words
When Abdirahman Kahin immigrated to Minnesota in 1997 from Somalia, getting into the restaurant business was the furthest thing from his mind. He had no formal training as a chef and said he didn’t know the first thing about starting his own business. One thing Kahin did know was that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, and he was determined to do whatever it took to make his dream a reality.
Before opening up his wildly popular restaurant Afro Deli five years ago, Kahin owned a media production company, recording wedding ceremonies, parties, and events for the East African immigrants in Minnesota. After a while, though, he lost interest in that and says he wanted to “become a businessman in a bigger scale.”
“I never cooked and still now, I don’t know how to cook. I’m more of a entrepreneur and I’m into that side of my businesses,” Kahin tells me one November evening. We are sitting in a back office at his first location of Afro Deli. With its bright, orange-colored walls adorned with African art, the space is cozy and welcoming. The menu at Afro Deli spans the African continent and makes stops in South America and North America, too. Kahin says it was important for him to represent all foods of the continent, but also mix it up with some traditional American and South American options.
Kahin estimates that there are over 60 Somali restaurants in Minnesota, with 90 percent of them located in Minneapolis. Afro Deli stands out because of its eclectic menu, one that takes the customer around the globe with dishes with names like “Afro Steak Dinner” and “Chicken Fantastic.” On the particular night I go to talk to Kahin, I go with the Chicken Fantastic, an entrée that consists of cuts of white grilled chicken with sautéed vegetables and grated Parmesan cheese over Somali-seasoned basmati rice. For dessert, I go light and sip on a Somali sweet spiced tea.
TOP TWEETS
@omabha: Somalia: Communique On Media Development in Somalia – http://AllAfrica.com http://dlvr.it/Ct9LbN #Somalia
@JamalMOsman: Can a 700km wall along the #Kenya –#Somalia border stop #al-Shabab attacks? http://aje.io/kcsh
@ADucaale: #Sexual Violence in #Somalia: Challenging Impunity-Video @UNDPSomalia @UNHCRSom…http://www.slnnews.com/2015/
@SuzannevnH: Somali drone attack victims launch court case against the #Netherlands for aiding US #drone strikes in#Somalia | http://goo.gl/HiWnkn
@UNSOS: Director of Mission Support, Mr. Amadu Kamara explains what UNSOS aims to achieve and the way forward.https://youtu.be/Z5v4rxhsT6M #Somalia
@Sandamali85: An emotional story of a woman who loses her children one by one due to the severe famine in #Somalia. Her… http://fb.me/4gpG9YzGn
@smgbristol: Hawa Hassan, Supporting Sustainable Institutions in #Somalia with Saucehttp://observer.com/2015/11/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Mogadishu’s Jazeera Palace Hotel reopens four months after attack, in a resilient move against terrorism.
Photo: AMISOM