January 22, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
At Least 20 Killed In Al-Shabaab Attack On Somali Restaurant
22 January – Source: Voice of America – 251 Words
Police in Somalia’s capital said at least 20 people have been killed by gunmen who stormed into a popular seaside restaurant and took siege of the eatery. The militant group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack at the Lido Beach View Hotel in Mogadishu.Somali police officer Mohamed Abdirahman said Friday the assault was a “barbaric and brutal attack against innocent civilians.”
The assailants attacked the restaurant Thursday evening, setting off explosions and firing on guests. A top Somali intelligence official told VOA’s Somali service that security forces flushed the militants from the building and captured the leader of the gunmen. A journalist inside the restaurant during the siege Thursday told VOA by phone that he and more than 20 other people were trapped.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack through a pro-militant radio station in the capital. A spokesman for the group said, “We are inside and control the hotel. Our operation was successful.” Mohamud Hared, the owner of the nearby Indian Ocean Restaurant, told VOA’s Somali service that he heard gunfire and two separate explosions: “We heard a heavy gunfire and then explosion followed, gunfire ensued again for 15 minutes and then explosions,” Hared said.
Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, who survived the attack, said, “I was intending to go out, but suddenly we heard a heavy explosion, followed by gunfire. When I look back, I saw a militant fighter shooting indiscriminately at everybody. Then I locked myself inside a room until we were evacuated peacefully by the security forces.”
Key Headlines
- At Least 20 Killed In Al-Shabaab Attack On Somali Restaurant (VoA News)
- Prime Minister Urges Hiiraan Residents To Work Closely With AMISOM (Shabelle News )
- Al Shabaab Beheads 60-Year-Old Accused Of Witchcraft (Horseed Media)
- Uhuru Kenyatta Urges Somalis To Form Credible Government (Daily Nation)
- Somali Pirates Earn New Cash By Acting As Escorts To The Fishing Boats They Once Hijacked (The Telegraph)
- Somaliland Faces ‘Explosion’ Of Mental Health Conditions (The Guardian)
- Local Play To Address Tough Issues Facing Somali Immigrants (Star Tribune)
- Here’s What Shabaab Rampage Means ( The Citizen Tanzania)
PRESS STATEMENT
SRSG Keating Condemns Attack On Mogadishu Restaurant
22 January – Source: UNSOM – 154 Words
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Michael Keating, condemns in the strongest possible terms last night’s attack on a popular Mogadishu restaurant that targeted Somali civilians, including members of a wedding party and a group celebrating a graduation ceremony. A spokesperson for the al-Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for this barbaric attack that killed at least 20 people. Among the confirmed dead are a pregnant mother and a small child.
“This latest atrocity by Al-Shabaab is very deliberately intended to intimidate Somali civilians. Such outrageous actions must not undermine efforts to restore peace and stability to Somalia,” said SRSG Keating. “On behalf of the entire United Nations family in Somalia, I extend my deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this terrible act. We will do everything possible to ensure that Al-Shabaab does not succeed in its desperate attempts to frustrate the hopes of the Somali people.”
NATIONAL MEDIA
Prime Minister Urges Hiiraan Residents To Work Closely With AMISOM
22 January – Source: Shabelle News – 75 Words
The Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has called on the residents of Hiiraan region to work closely with African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers. The Prime Minister was speaking during a farewell event for departing Djiboutian peacekeepers. He praised the role played by the peacekeepers. Speaking at the same event, the Defense Minister of Djibouti , Hassan Darar Rufane, said the government of Djibouti is committed to the AMISOM peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
Al Shabaab Beheads 60-Year-Old Accused Of Witchcraft
21 January – Source: Horseed Media – 141 Words
Somali militant group al-Shabaab publicly beheaded an elderly man in Southern Somalia after accusing him of practicing witchcraft. The execution took place in the town of Kuntawarey of Lower Shabelle region, about 160KM Southwest of the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday evening while a large crowd watched, including women and children.
According to Al-Shabaab officials, the unnamed 60-year old man admitted in front of their own court to have been practicing witchcraft. Last year, the al-Qaeda-linked extremists similarly beheaded two men they accused of practicing witchcraft and sorcery. Al Shabaab is famous of conducting a series of public executions and amputations in the areas under its control. The group, which seeks to overthrow the Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islamic law, has remained a potent threat in the Horn of Africa country after it was forced from the capital Mogadishu in 2011.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Uhuru Kenyatta Urges Somalis To Form Credible Government
22 January – Source: Daily Nation – 198 Words
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday paid tribute to Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers killed by Al-Shabaab in El-Adde and urged Somalis to take advantage of liberated regions to form a credible government. The President said KDF and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops have liberated many parts of Somalia from the grip of Al-Shabaab. He challenged Somalis to “seize the opportunity” to move forward.“This is time for Somalia to demonstrate they are ready to build a strong government that controls all territories,” he said. In his tribute to KDF, President Kenyatta said all Kenyans are grateful to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to ensure the country is safe: “We thank God for blessing us with men and women of character…Your mission has saved lives of many Kenyans,” he said.
Earlier, the President visited soldiers who were injured in last week’s attack at Armed Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi. The President was accompanied by his deputy William Ruto and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta. Opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula were also at the event. Representatives of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), the African Union and the United Nations were also present.
Somali Pirates Earn New Cash By Acting As Escorts To The Fishing Boats They Once Hijacked
22 January – Source: The Telegraph – 576 Words
Somali pirates who raked in millions of dollars in ship hijackings have developed a lucrative new racket – acting as armed “escorts” to foreign trawlers that steal the country’s fish. In a striking case of poacher-turned-gamekeeper, the same armed gangs who once preyed on the trawlermen are now acting as their bodyguards, earning huge “protection fees” in return for letting them poach Somalia’s rich fishing stocks.
Fisheries experts have warned that many of the fishing vessels are using huge illegal nets, causing potentially enormous damage to the country’s marine ecosystem. For the pirates, the new racket offers a much-needed source of income after the hefty revenues that they used to extort through hijacks all but dried up. Between 2005 and 2011, they earned an estimated $300m in ransom payments, but from around 2012 onwards, ships passing through the pirates’ hunting grounds began routinely using armed guards, making them much harder targets.
The new protection deals are brokered through Somali middlemen operating in the Gulf countries, who offer “licences” to foreign fishing firms, often with the connivance of corrupt Somali government officials. While most of the licences have little or no legal basis, the foreign firms will often pay hundreds of thousands for safe passage into Somali waters, given that they are rich in tuna and other valuable fish.
Fisheries officials say that among the biggest customers for such licences is Iran, which has one of the biggest fishing fleets in the Gulf region, and whose government has so far turned a blind eye to complaints. Others include South Korea and Thailand, said one United Nations official who recently spent time on a ship off the Somali coast: “During that time we saw 10 illegal tuna driftnetters working very close inshore,” the official said. “It is a really bad problem, and it is ordinary Somali fishermen and the ecosystem who are losing out.
The nets are illegal under international law, and kill large quantities of turtles, sharks and dolphins. The vessels are guarded by Somali militia, and are fuelling conflict, through bribes being paid, damage to livelihoods in fishing communities and the import of weapons.” He added that one of these illegal nets had entangled in the propeller of the Italian naval escort vessel that was present on the mission, causing it to drift for several hours before divers were able to cut it free.
Somaliland Faces ‘Explosion’ Of Mental Health Conditions
22 January – Source: The Guardian – 913 Words
Amina usually takes her brother to the clinic by force. He doesn’t like going. “I feel very bad when I take him there. I have to do it but I cry at the same time,” says the young mother who lives in downtown Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway republic of Somaliland: “We have no choice but to take him. What else can we do for him?” Amina* adds, visibly pained.
Her 38-year-old brother Bulhan* has on four occasions been admitted to the Macruuf Relief Organisation, a privately run mental health clinic in Hargeisa, one of many that have been established in recent years. These under-resourced private centres operate largely without scrutiny from the authorities. Chaining patients is common, as is confinement without consent, practices that Human Rights Watch says violate “basic international standards prohibiting ill-treatment, and may constitute torture”.
“If people fight, they are punished, they are chained,” says Bulhan, who is now at home with his family. “They use the chains in different ways. They’ve stopped using this technique now but they used to chain your legs and tie you up on the roof with your head facing down. Now they just chain your legs and tell you to sit somewhere.” Amina’s dilemma is one that many families in Somaliland face amid a substantial mental health crisis. Many people are ill-informed about psychosocial disorders, which are widely stigmatised in Somali culture.
“There is an explosion of mental illness in this society,” says Abdirisak Mohamed Warsame, mental health project manager for the Italian NGO Gruppo Relazioni Transculturali, and one of just a handful of professionals working in the sector in Somaliland: “The community has no formal ways to provide for the mentally ill,” he adds. “The government is struggling with other health issues that are more treatable; the ministry of health only recently established a mental health office.”
Local Play To Address Tough Issues Facing Somali Immigrants
22 January – Source: Star Tribune – 130 Words
A Minneapolis spoken word artist is launching a project designed to tackle issues that are tough for many Somali immigrants to talk about. Abdifatah Farah, who goes by Abdi Phenomenal, wrote the play “The Chronicles of the Diaspora” over several months. He says it highlights the experiences of two Somali-American immigrant families and examines their version of the American dream. It also addresses issues of mental health, suicide and domestic abuse — topics many consider taboo.
Farah says he hopes the play opens up dialogue. The performances will be followed by discussions between actors and the community. The project is being announced Friday and will hit stages in Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Willmar and Rochester in March. Farah says it’s partly funded with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“So while Kenyans are understandably shocked and agitated over the deaths of their soldiers, if one steps back and looks at them against the wider canvas of the total Amisom casualties, we see a nuanced story.The total Amisom deaths highlight the price that the African countries contributing troops have so far paid to end the long-drawn in Somalia. And it’s also worth noting that that conflict has directly resulted in the death of over 500,000 ordinary Somalis since 1991,”
Here’s What Shabaab Rampage Means
21 January – Source :The Citizen, Tanzania – 731 Words
The attack on Kenya’s soldiers in Somalia by Al-Qaida linked terror group Al-Shabaab has galvanised the country behind the military.The militants claim that they killed 100 Kenyan soldiers in the Friday morning attack on an African Union peacekeeping force base in El-Adde, southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab, which often exaggerates the casualties it inflicts on the peacekeeping force, known as Amisom, also claimed to have taken 12 soldiers prisoner. It had at first claimed to have killed 63.
While acknowledging the attack, Kenya has not confirmed the casualties, saying it needed to first inform the families of the soldiers, and to carry out further verifications. However, it said there was a company of Kenyan soldiers at the El-Adde base. A company typically consists of 80 to 250 soldiers. Some context is important here, because believe me, going by comments one sees online, there are still people who don’t know that the Kenyan forces are in Somalia as part of Amisom.
And for these residents of the Moon, the other troop contributing countries in Amisom are Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.Sierra Leone too had peacekeepers troops, but withdrew its battalion early in 2015.That little background is critical to appreciating the bigger meaning of what happened to the Kenya peacekeepers.
The Kenyan casualties were the first for Amisom in 2016, and brought the total losses for the African Union peacekeepers since 2009 to at least 1,234 – a figure that combines the best estimates of the African troops casualties from 2009 to 2014 reported by the rather dependable Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the numbers available for 2015, for which there is a meticulous listing in Wikipedia. This excludes the casualties from 2007 to 2009.
TOP TWEETS
@amisomsomalia:AMISOM strongly condemns the attack at Lido beach. AS only interested in reversing gains made by Somalia and killing peace loving citizens.
@Moadow:#Somalia‘s Intelligence Agency says Alshabab attacked newly graduated University students holding celebrations at a Lido Beach Restaurant
@SomaliPM :I unreservedly condemn the barbaric attack @ Liido. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims #Somalia
@GerrySimpsonHRW:With abuses still rife in #Somalia, world’s largest #refugee camp just turned 25 years oldhttp://bit.ly/1ZDMfms
@HarunMaruf :The chairman of El-Adde says individuals in/around the town hid Kenyan soldiers who have since been handed over to the commanders. #Somalia
@SagalAshour:We must go further than condemnation! We must explore the underlying issues of violent extremism in#Somalia and the role of diaspora? #SAVE
@EmmanuelIgunza:Families, religious leaders, colleagues of#KDF soldiers killed in #Somalia attending memorial service for fallen
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Soldiers belonging to the Ethiopian contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) hold a guard of honor for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Baidoa at the inauguration of the Interim South West Administration’s parliament on January 19.
Photo: UNSOM.