February 15, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

AU Urges Rebuilding Somali Army To Secure Somalia

14 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 219 Words

An African Union official has called on the Somali government to concentrate in rebuilding the national army in order to save the country from threats posed by militant groups and take over security operations from the African Union forces once their mandate expires: “The government and the people of Somalia must never forget the problems they have experienced so far. Therefore rebuilding Somali army is key to eliminating terrorism and restoring peace,” said Francisco Madeira, the African Union special representative of Somalia and head of the AU mission at a security meeting attended by top Somali and African Union army chiefs in Mogadishu.

He also called for coordination between Somali and African Union forces in fighting the Al Shabaab threat, and stressed that peace would return to Somalia once a capable army has been reorganised. The Somali government relies heavily on the protection of the African Union forces as the country’s fresh army, made up of former militiamen and new recruits, are still unable to assume the country’s security functions. The horn of Africa nation, which is recovering from decades of war, is struggling to defeat the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group which continues to unleash attacks across the country and in the neighbouring Kenya. Once mighty, Somalia’s army — destroyed by decades of old conflict — is rebuilding against the backdrop of the rising power of the Al-Shabab militant group.

Key Headlines

AU Urges Rebuilding Somali Army To Secure Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
Soldier Arrested In Bal’ad For Killing A Civilian (Goobjoog News)
Somalia Aims To Revive Tourism Industry After Decades Of Conflict (Hiiraan Online)
First Turkish Airlines Flight After Somalia Blast (Garowe Online)
AU Reviews Preparedness Of Its Forces In Somalia (Xinhua News)
Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility For Aircraft Bomb (NHK World)
Compensate Families Of Soldiers Slain In El Adde Leaders Urge State (The Star)
UPDF Readjusts Positions In AMISOM For Tactical Reasons (New Vision)
Somalia: Why Is Al-Shabaab Still Such A Potent Threat? (Daily Maverick)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Soldier Arrested In Bal’ad For Killing A Civilian

14 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 86 Words

Police in Balad, middle Shabelle region, detained a soldier for killing a civilian in the city of Hawadley on Saturday, according to the deputy commissioner, Jelee Mohas Jimbaar: “The soldier who shot dead a man in Hawadley was arrested and taken to Government police custody, where he is currently being questioned,” said the commissioner. He pointed out that the soldier was arrested after security forces launched an operation in Hawadley. The soldier, said Jimbaar, will be arraigned in court on Monday, February 15.

Somalia Aims To Revive Tourism Industry After Decades Of Conflict

14 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 393 Words

Despite facing mounting challenges including violence and insecurity, Somalia has unveiled a new plan which aims at reviving its collapsed tourism industry. The tourism sector, once considered as one of the country’s top revenue sources, collapsed in 1990s after warlords overthrew the central government led by the late President Siad Barre, plunging the country into one of the world’s deadliest and longest conflict.

Tourists have since fled the country, which was later ranked as the world’s most dangerous country in the world. However, the ouster of militants from the capital of Mogadishu and surrounding regions have raised for the revival of the industry. The seaside capital of Mogadishu is viewed as the primary tourist destination.

“Having built many hotels in the city, our current plan is to restore the money-spinning tourism industry which is also a vital revenue source for many countries.” said Mohamud Abdi Bekos, Somalia’s state minister for information, culture and tourism at a press conference in Nairobi Saturday. As parts of the its first course of action, the government tried to seek Kenya’s assistance in restoring the tourism sector. Mr. Bekos recently met Kenya’s Tourism minister Najib Balala over the same.

“We have discussed about the wildlife and tourism’s act – Kenya has also agreed to assist us in creating those regulations,” he said. Somalia’s capital had started to experience a gradual renaissance after the ouster of Al Shabab fighters in 2012. Local businessmen and returning Somali expatriates built and opened up a number of new hotels and guest houses, mainly catering to other Somalis as well as some Westerners. Newly constructed beachside resorts also accommodated the city’s elites. However, Al Shabab, which has lost key strongholds to the allied forces in Somalia, remains a potent security threat.

First Turkish Airlines Flight After Somalia Blast

14 February – Source: Garowe Online – 143 Words

The Turkish Passenger jet has made a surprise landing at Mogadishu’s Adan Adde International airport, 12 days after militants punched a hole in Daallo plane in an airborne operation. Loaded with Somalia-bound passengers from Istanbul, the plane was seen running on a seaside runway on Sunday. Security sources say, tight security was in place as the officials of the airline quashed rumours that the Turkish Airlines planned to halt flights to Somalia.

On Saturday, Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the mid-air blast, saying their suicide bomber had aimed to carry out a retribution for crimes committed by what the beleaguered group described “coalition of western crusaders and their intelligence agencies”. A spokesperson for Turkish Airlines explained they had suspended their flights to Mogadishu on the said day because of bad weather. UN-backed central government has been alarmed by the incident, prompting tight security measures.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

AU Reviews Preparedness Of Its Forces In Somalia

15 February – Source: Xinhua News – 366 Words

The African Union team is in Somalia to assess its troops are prepared to ward off terror threats from Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab. Major General Francis Okello, who led the delegation from the AU’s Peace Support Operations Division, said the team is carrying out an assessment on the state of its forces serving under the AU mandate to identify areas that need urgent support from the pan-African body.

“Our visit here is to find out the preparedness of troops to support this political process,” Okello said in a statement released on Sunday in Mogadishu: “The second key aspect of the visit is: as you are aware last year in August, AMISOM and the African Union headquarters produced a new Concepts of Operations (CONOPs) and this visit is to find out how that CONOPs, in support with the political process in Somalia is unfolding,” he added.The AU team wanted to find out how AMISOM planned to implement the revised CONOPS that was endorsed by the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting in September last year. The revised CONOPS for AMISOM aims to create and preserve an enabling environment for the unfolding political, peace and reconciliation processes in Somalia.

According to Okello, the team also reviewed ways of assisting Somali security institutions alongside AMISOM troops in order to execute their mandate of keeping the country safe and warding off threats posed by Al-Shabaab and other armed militant groups. The visit further evaluated the pan African body’s readiness for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled later this year: “At the end of this visit, we are going to give a feedback to people who make the decisions and actions that we need to take at our level as managers of the Mission, to support the Mission, to support Somalia to help realise lasting peace and stability in Somalia,” said the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Crowd Chirenje, a member of the visiting AU delegation.

Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility For Aircraft Bomb

14 February – Source: NHK World – 109 Words

Islamist group, Al-Shabab from Somalia has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a passenger jet earlier this month. An explosion blew a hole in a Daallo Airlines jet shortly after it left the capital, Mogadishu, on February 2nd. The plane was heading for Djibouti but made an emergency landing. The suspect was confirmed dead after being sucked out of the plane. Investigators believe the explosive device was concealed in a laptop computer. Al-Shabab said in a statement on Saturday that they were targeting Western and Turkish intelligence agents on the flight. Al-Shabab has carried out a series of attacks on government facilities and at bases for African Union peacekeepers.

Compensate Families Of Soldiers Slain In El Adde, Leaders Urge State

14 February – Source: The Star – 331 Words

Trans Mara leaders have called on the government to compensate families that lost soldiers in the El Adde attack in Somalia. Speaking at the home of officer Elias Kirionki who perished in the al Shabaab attack, the leaders said most of the slain soldiers left behind young families that depended on them for upkeep and it was the moral obligation of the government to ensure they were well taken care of. Kirionki was among soldiers from the Moi Barracks Eldoret who died in Somalia. He will be buried at his Osupuko Village Home in Trans Mara West subcounty, Narok, on Wednesday.

“We appeal to the government to continue paying salaries of soldiers and other officers who die while defending our country as a way of consoling their families,” Chief Officer in Charge of Public Service Leboo Morintat said. “This will also motivate their colleagues to be patriotic in defending our country from external and internal aggression.” Joel Tasur, a politician, called on the government to be swift in paying benefits to the bereaved families, unlike in the past, saying delayed assistance was demoralizing to those left behind.

“The only way that the government can honour our heroes is to ensure soldiers families’ are well taken care of and al Shabaab whose agenda is to destabilize Kenya and other East African countries, are defeated,” he said. A relative to Kirionki faulted the government’s handling of the issue saying families of the bereaved soldiers were kept in the dark since the El Adde attack, which left them in agony.

UPDF Readjusts Positions In AMISOM For Tactical Reasons

14 February – Source: New Vision – 510 Words

The Commander of the Ugandan AMISOM contingent stationed in the Somali coastal town of Marka, Col. Peter Omola, has refuted reports that the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) has pulled out of the town, saying the army has only readjusted its positions for tactical reasons. Briefing and delegation from the African Union (AU) headquarters, Col Omola said the move to readjust their positions had been informed by strategic reasons aimed at fortifying the UPDF in the town and to avert any collateral damage in the event of skirmishes.

The delegation led by Maj. Gen. Francis Okello from AU Commission’s Peace Support Operations Division visited Marka while on an assessment of the Somalia-based peacekeeping mission to among others identify areas in need of urgent support from the headquarters in order to invigorate the mission there. The delegation also sought to explore ways of assisting Somali security institutions alongside AMISOM troops, execute their mandate of keeping the country safe and warding off threats posed by Al Shabaab and other armed militant groups.

“We are firmly in control of Marka town itself. We are patrolling the area day and night. We also have a detachment of Somali National Army in this location. At the same time, the population is very positive. We are cooperating with the population. The population is supporting AMISOM operations. They are giving us information despite threats and intimidation from Al-Shabaab,” said Col. Omola explained.

Lt. Col. Paul Njuguna, the AMISOM Force Spokesperson, dispelled recent media reports that the African Union troops had withdrawn from the strategic port city: “We have visited this area so that we can come out with the facts as they are on the ground. We do remember a few days ago, there were a myriad of reports in the media on Marka. We are in Marka to certify that it is a peaceful town. The people here are going on with their lives as normal and they are going to achieve peace in their lives,” said Njuguna. The media in the recent past has been awash with stories by the Al-Shabaab militia claiming that the UPDF had pulled out of the town, which has since fallen in their hands.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“This year, the armed Islamist extremist group Al-Shabaab has notched up a series of bloody successes against both Somali targets and the African Union peace-enforcement mission AMISOM. Meanwhile, the international community has been busy cajoling principals of the Somali federal and state governments into agreeing on the means by which to hold new elections due in August.”

Somalia: Why Is Al-Shabaab Still Such A Potent Threat?

15 February – Source: Daily Maverick – 812 Words

Al-Shabaab’s recent string of high-profile attacks began on 15 January, when it overran an AMISOM forward operating base manned by a company-sized Kenyan contingent in El-Adde, in the Gedo region, inflicting heavy casualties (estimates upwards of 50 dead with additional hostages taken); the Kenyan military has not provided details. On 21 January, Al-Shabaab hit Mogadishu’s popular Lido beach area, a symbol of the city’s return to normalcy, killing at least twenty civilians.

On 2 February, a bomb blew a hole in the side of a Somali-owned Daallo Airlines plane minutes after take-off. The attack killed only the suspected suicide bomber and the plane was able to land safely, however this was the first time Al-Shabaab – who have not yet claimed the attack – has attempted to bring down an aircraft with an on-board device. Lastly, from 5-8 February, the group temporarily re-occupied the centre of Marka, in the Lower Shabelle region, which it lost to AMISOM and Somali National Army forces in August 2012, after Somali troops withdrew due to lack of pay.

In late January, following the Kenyan contingent’s losses at El-Adde, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke at the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to call for a review of AMISOM’s mandate and put forward a five-point plan for its expansion. AMISOM troop-contributing countries met in Nairobi on 8 February, and another summit is planned for late February in Djibouti to agree a new approach.

Whatever the failings and remedies to be identified, the mission’s vulnerabilities ultimately stem from the lack of a political settlement in Somalia. AMISOM is again being forced to up the military ante, in response to Al-Shabaab’s tactical switch to guerrilla-style attacks. Its rural insurgency has exposed AMISOM’s territorial overstretch after a previous expanded mandate allowed the large-scale Operation Eagle and Operation Indian Ocean, which both began in 2014. These offensives resulted in the “liberation” of much of south central Somalia, which in certain areas has looked more like “occupation” by outsiders.

In addition to the longstanding problem of Somalia’s neighbours as troop contributing countries, the interim federal administrations and the Somali National Army that followed in AMISOM’s wake are still largely clan-based, and locally identified as such. The two recent AMISOM reversals took place in Gedo and Lower Shabelle, both of which were subsumed into the new Interim Juba Administration and Interim South West State of Somalia, respectively, and are still disputed by or between local populations.