January 15, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Al Shabaab Militants Attack African Union Base In Somalia
15 January – Source: Reuters And Agencies – 370 Words
Fighters from Somali militant group, Al Shabaab, rammed a suicide car bomb into the gates of an African Union base in Somalia and fought their way inside early on Friday, the group and the Somali National Army said. Fighting was still going on by the time of going to the press. There were no immediate reports about casualties from the attack in Ceel Cado, in the south of the country, about 550 km west of Mogadishu, near the Kenyan border.
Following the development, the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) spokesman, Paul Njuguna immediately released an official tweet confirming the attack “on our troops in El-Adde”: “More to follow with factual details,” he said. But Al Shabaab, a group aligned to al Qaeda, claimed the base had Kenyan soldiers serving as part of an African Union force battling the Islamist group in Somalia, a country mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991: “Our fighters went in and after heavy exchange of gunfire we took over the base,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters. Musab added that AU soldiers fled from the base.
However, the Ministry of Defence in Nairobi reported Al-Shabaab militants had attacked the SNA camp at 4am in El-Adde, triggering a counter-attack by the KDF. Military spokesman David Obonyo said the number of casualties were not known: “Al-Shabaab attacked the SNA camp, which is in close proximity to [the] KDF camp at Elade. The KDF troops under AMISOM counter-attacked in support of SNA. The fighting is still going on. KDF will provide more information once it becomes available,” he said.
A Somali military official told Reuters the fighting in the base continues. Residents said they could hear sporadic gunfire. “A suicide car bomb exploded at the gate of the base and their fighters went in. There is heavy gunfire going on inside the base,” Major Hussein Abdulle, a military officer stationed about 100 km from the Ceel Cado base, told Reuters. Al Shabaab has in the past year staged multiple attacks against African Union bases in Somalia, part of a guerrilla-warfare strategy to drive out foreign troops and impose its harsh version of Islamic law across the Horn of African nation.
Key Headlines
- Al -Shabaab Militants Attack African Union Base In Somalia (Reuters And Agencies)
- Somaliland Troops Seize Khaatumo Administration’s Headquarters (Hiiraan Online)
- German Tourists Arrive In Qardho Town (Wacaal Media)
- Four Al-Shabaab Militants Killed In Hiiraan (Radio Muqdisho)
- Somali Refugees Touch Down In Winnipeg (News Talk 770)
- This Man Was Jailed for Five Years Because Canada Couldn’t Deport Him (Vice News)
- What Type of Leader will Benefit Somalia? (Shanta Post)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somaliland Troops Seize Khaatumo Administration’s Headquarters
15 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 206 Words
Troops from Somaliland have seized the temporary administrative headquarters of Khaatumo, a pro-Somalia administration that seceded from Somaliland and formed an independent autonomous state. .Ali Mohamed Waranade, Somaliland’s Interior Minister told reporters that their troops had seized Balli’ad village, which served as the temporary headquarters of Khaatumo: “Somaliland’s national forces have entered the town and stopped anti-Somaliland meeting by some elements, ” he told reporters Thursday.
Mr. Waranade urged President Ali Galaydh’s administration to address any grievances they may have through peaceful means, rather than ‘violence’.Witnesses in the village, which lies 80km west of Lasanod town, told Hiiraan Online that Somaliland forces seized the town soon after Khaatumo’s President, Galaydh, had left the state’s assembly. He was the apparent target of the attack. No comment could be reached from Khaatumo leaders on the development.
Four Al-Shabaab Militants Killed In Hiiraan
15 January – Source: Radio Muqdisho – 74 Words
Four suspected Al-Shabaab militants were killed in Hiiraan region in a fighting backed by self-organized militias.The allied forces attacked an Al-Shabaab base near Mahas town of Hiran region where the group harassed the local people.Area residents welcomed the operation aimed at removing the group from the area.Somali army officials said they will continue the fight to liberate areas in the region which are still under the control of the Al-Shabaab militants.
German Tourists Arrive In Qardho Town
15 January – Source: Wacaal Media – 107 Words
Several tourists from Germany yesterday arrived in Qardho town and visited historic sites in the area. Officials from the local district administration were at hand to receive the tourists on arrival at the town’s airport. Among areas visited by the tourists include Halalow, Hay-booqaan and the town’s central police station which was constructed in 1933. Speaking to the press after hosting the tourists, Qardho district commissioner Abdi Said Osman expressed joy at getting the visitors and appealed to the Somali Diaspora to follow suit. He said the country had a lot to offer in terms of tourism and time was rife for the same to be exploited.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Refugees Touch Down In Winnipeg
15 January – Source: News Talk 770 – 195 Words
Ten orphaned Somali refugee children and a baby arrived in Winnipeg Thursday evening. They come to Canada from Saudi Arabia, where their status in the country was deemed illegal following the death of their father.The 11 refugees, 4 brothers and 6 sisters. range in age from 16 down to 8. There is also one baby that is the daughter of the eldest sibling. A cousin and an orphan girl raised with the family were unable to travel due to documentation reasons..
All the siblings were born in Saudi Arabia where their father worked at the Somali consulate. After his death they were stripped of their legal status in the country. They also had their documents taken away.They have been sponsored to Canada by Hospitality House Refugee Ministry and the Anglican Diocese of Rupert’s Land.
Hospitality House learned of their situation after a then sixteen year old brother arrived in Winnipeg. He walked from the Emerson border crossing after a journey from Saudi Arabia in October of 2014. He made a successful asylum claim but always wanted to help bring his family to Canada.The refugees will live at the Hospitality House reception centre.
This Man Was Jailed for Five Years Because Canada Couldn’t Deport Him
14 January – Source: Vice News – 2096 Words
On one of the happiest days of Abdirahmaan Warssama’s life, he got his hair cut and devoured a home-cooked meal of Somali food at his sister’s house.The 52-year-old had just been released from an Ontario prison, where he’d languished for years as an immigrant detainee, waiting to find out if the Canadian government would figure out a way to send him back to Somalia — or if he would ever taste freedom in Canada again.
In December, after five years and seven months behind bars, at his 76th detention review, he got word: he was finally getting out. The feeling was surreal.”I’m not the same person I was before I went in,” Warssama said, sitting in his lawyer’s downtown Toronto office, in his first interview since his release. “I’m telling you.”He wore a pinstripe blazer, buttoned all the way to the top, and spoke animatedly in a thick Somali accent.”You look good,” said his lawyer Subodh Bharati, complimenting his glasses. Warssama grinned and revealed two missing teeth, which he said were knocked out by his fellow inmates, who beat him up on two different occasions.
After spending years at the notorious Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont. — not for a crime, but because he was deemed a flight risk by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) as it tried to sort out how to send him home — he still has no status, no way of earning an income, and is in need of medical and psychiatric care.That he is even on the outside now is the result of intervention by the federal court, which expressed outrage over the unusual case. And the threat that he may still be deported — past criminal convictions deem him inadmissible — looms large.”Mr. Warssama has been held in jail for more than five years. Why?” asked Justice Sean J. Harrington in his sharply written decision released late last year. “Because he will not sign a piece of paper! He does not wish to return to Somalia and will not sign a declaration that he will cooperate in his return.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The Somali youth in the Diaspora is unhappy with the way in which the current political situation in Somalia. We are worried about the credibility of the Somali government to handle the voluntary repatriation of half million Somali refugees from Dadaab camps. Somalia, Kenya, and UN representatives have unanimously signed an agreement to repatriate Somali refugees who have been stranded in Kenyan refugee camps for decades,”
What Type of Leader will Benefit Somalia?
09 January – Source: Shanta Post – 1430 Words
The attention of local and international media within a short period of time is focused on the newly elected president of Tanzania John Magufuli. The new leader is trying to improve the lives of the Tanzanian people and he is already making big moves towards full reform and bringing tangible and sustainable change in health care. So far, President Magufuli contributed 1,000 beds to Muhimbili National Hospital when he found patients sleeping on the floor. As soon as he witnessed the problem, he did have no hesitation to fire the hospital director.
Magufuli has signed a pledge of integrity publicly before entering office as he plans to use all resources available to fight and shrink the pervasive corruption. The president has issued a decree warning the government officials not to drive a limousine to remote villages neither could they fly on first class to meetings in Europe. He promised he would penalize for those cabinet ministers found of misusing or spending money lavishly. Above all, he canceled the celebration and observance of the Independence Day, because he underscored the expenses allotted for such festivity would be directed to a clean-up campaign instead.This tough anti-corruption decision comes as a shock to not only to Tanzanians but also to all corrupt African governments. Magufuli’s zero tolerance stance will considerably mitigate the cases of corruption and nepotism. The question is – what would Somali leaders learn from Tanzania today? Are there leaders who might have done such bold step to stem corruption if they were given an opportunity for leadership?
Even though Somali government has made long strides in creating a peaceful Somalia, recurrent allegation of corruption dogged the internationally backed fragile government. The controversy of financial mishandling has undermined holding an inclusive national reconciliation, progress and strained international relationship. Today, the incumbent government faces many economic and military setbacks that prevent from trouncing Al-Shabab militancy. Moreover, this government has also faced internal power struggle among the top political leaders. Internal bickering hastened the intervention of the parliament to impeach and vote out two Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdoon and his predecessor Abdiwali Sheikh Ahmed. Numerous political gurus contend that the nucleus of such contention centers on power and pecuniary advantages. That boils down to Somali leaders’ insatiable hunger for resources. More importantly, the public trust has plummeted. The international community backtracked their promises to aid Somalia because of poor transparency and legitimacy.
TOP TWEETS
@amisomsomalia:AMISOM can confirm that there was an attack on our troops in El-Adde. More to follow with factual details.#Somalia
@KelvinNews:#AlShabaab have attacked a Kenyan military base in Southern #Somalia. Unconfirmed reports dozens of soldiers killed: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
@HIPSINSTITUTE:Today @HIPSINSTITUTE turns 3 as we launched #Somalia‘s first think tank on 15 January 2013; we thank our staff & national & global partners
@Hamza_Africa:Somalia denies inviting al-Shabab to join the country’s football league. http://bit.ly/1PtViB4 #Somalia#AlShabaab
@RT_com :MORE: Offensive started with suicide bomber exploding in car at entrance to the base in #Somaliahttp://on.rt.com/71vl
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Participants attend a two day National Conference on Somali Media Development Strategies organised by the Federal Ministry of Information with support from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM),
Photo: UNSOM.