March 2, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Heavy Fighting In Central Somalia Kills Four In Dhusamarreb
02 March- Source:Hiiraan Online – 161 Words
A heavy fighting has erupted in the central town of Dhusamarreb between the moderate Somali Islamists of Ahlu-Sunna and local militias loyal to ex-government commander, officials say.The fighting which has escalated on early Wednesday through the town killed at least four people and wounded dozens. The clashes broke out when Ahlu-Sunna tried to disarm Liban Madahweyne who had previously joined ASWJ last year.Reports indicate that exchange of fire bullets between the confronting militias were heard in the mid of last night according to witnesses on the ground.
The fighting has intensified when Gal-Mudug forces joined the fighting as clashes led mass displacements in the area.“We have killed several soldiers from Gal-Mudug and our troops are capable to confront them,” Ahluna Wal-jameeca Commander Mursal Shekh Mohamed has told reporters by phone.No comments could be reached from the Federal Gov’t as public places including schools and hospitals shut down due to the escalating clashes in Dhusamarreb and its outskirts.
Key Headlines
- Heavy Fighting In Central Somalia Kills Four In Dhusamarreb (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali Troops ‘Kill’ 7 Militants In Southern Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
- MP Raises Security Concerns Over 2016 Elections (Wacaal Media)
- Federal Government Cabinet Introduces Raft Of Measures Aimed At Beefing Up Security Of Mogadishu(Goobjooge)
- Six Militants Killed By Security Officers In Central Somalia (Xinhua)
- Somalia Attacks Signal Escalation Of Al-Shabaab Offensive (The Guardian UK)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Troops ‘Kill’ 7 Militants In Southern Somalia
02 March – Source:Hiiraan Online – 237 Words
Somali security forces killed seven fighters from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group in clashes in southern Somalia, officials said.Ahmed Mohamud, a spokesman for the Kismayo-based Jubbaland state told reporters that the clashes started after the regional troops launched a surprise attack targeting Al Shabab leaders in Abdalla-Birole, a rebel-held town, 40km west of Kismayo town on Monday night.
The town has long served as launching pad for Al Shabab fighters fighting allied Somali and African Union forces in the region.No comment could be reached from Al Shabab on the development; however, the group which continues guerilla attacks across Somalia has a large presence in the region after their ouster from the port city of Kismayo, a major stronghold for the group from where they collected taxes from the port and business to fund its deadly insurgency in the horn of Africa nation.
Kenyan troops seized Kismayo town in 2012 after months of fighting that saw troops secured a large area between the town and the border. The capture of Kismayo dealt a major blow to the rebel group which has since seen its areas of control reduced to rural villages and small towns.Security forces have been fighting to retake control of key towns and villages including Jilib town, one of the last key strongholds of Al-Shabaab, however, military officials attributed the region’s tough terrains to the slow of the military offensive in the region.
MP Raises Security Concerns Over 2016 Elections
02 March – Source: Wacaal Media – 72 Words
A federal MP who is also a former Minister of internal affairs has raised concerns over the 2016 elections. Speaking in parliament, Abdullahi Goodah Barre said government forces and AMISOM withdrew from key towns leaving them at the mercy of Al-Shabaab and other criminal gangs and these may jeopardize efforts to hold elections in the country. Goodah said the militants could capture more towns given their renewed deadly attacks targeting key towns.
Federal Government Cabinet Introduces Raft Of Measures Aimed At Beefing Up Security Of Mogadishu
02 March – Source: Goobjooge – 207 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia is seeking to incorporate the public in the fight against Al-Shabaab following increased attacks the past few days.
This was among a raft of measures and resolutions from an extra-ordinary cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke but also attended by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.Part of the resolutions was a directive asking district and regional security chiefs in Banadir region to work closely and take instructions from the Banadir regional administration in a bid to beef up security of the City of Mogadishu and the region at large.
The cabinet also resolved that no armed groups other than security agencies should be allowed to operate in Banadir region. The security detail of senior government officials such as MPs and ministers will also have to bear clear identification for ease of recognition.Private security firms have also been asked to registers their personnel and arms with the internal security ministry and give prior notice of any activities they intend to carry out including movement from one place to another.
The cabinet also resolved to immediately resettle IDPs in the region in collaboration with aid agencies so as to allow the group to positively contribute to the development agenda of the country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Six Militants Killed By Security Officers In Central Somalia
02 March – Source: Xinhua – 221 Words
Security forces killed six Al-Shabaab militants and five others injured at Ceel-Cade neighborhoods near Haradhere town in Mudug region of central Somalia.Galmudug forces launched an offensive against the militants raiding their camps in the rural towns which recently witnessed bloody clashes between local residents and Al-Shabaab.
Information Minister for GalMudug State of Somalia Mohamud Aden Osman said on Wednesday their forces attacked Al-Shabaab militia that were trying to regroup in the outskirts of Ad & Eel-Abdi.”Our security forces attacked Al-Shabaab militia that were regrouping in the area. Security forces received intelligence report that the militia were trying to recapture Ad & Eel-Abdi villages following their defeat not that long ago,” Osman said.”Tuesday’s security operation was very successful as terrorists fled the area with dead-bodies and injures. The success will give a confidence to people that GalMudug forces will continue the fight against terrorists,” he added.
The minister said the insurgents were re-grouping in the area in order to attack Ad & Eel-Abdi villages, but security forces attacked them and as a result they fled from the area.Osman said the Somalia State will not allow terrorists to regroup, saying security forces will continue to fight in order to eliminate all threats posed by Al-Shabaab.He appealed to the public to cooperate with security forces in order to bring peace and stability.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The relative success of Amisom, which is backed by the UN and western countries, in regaining control of Somalia’s main cities since 2011 has encouraged hopes of a lasting national recovery. But the security situation is deteriorating again as the jihadis, who control large swaths of rural south and central Somalia, battle to demonstrate they are still a force to be reckoned with,”
Somalia Attacks Signal Escalation Of Al-Shabaab Offensive
29 February – Source: The Guardian – 755 Words
Combined car bomb and suicide attacks in the Somali city of Baidoa that killed at least 30 people at the weekend appear to be part of an accelerating offensive by al-Shabaab. The group aims to disrupt national elections planned for this year, undermine public confidence in international peacekeepers and bring down Somalia’s weak western-backed federal government.The Baidoa attacks targeted a busy restaurant where patrons were watching the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Arsenal on Sunday. The bombings, claimed by the al-Qaida-affiliate, followed a lethal attack in the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday. An al-Shabaab spokesman said government officials had been targeted, but most of the dead in both incidents were civilians.
Somalia has suffered two decades of lawlessness, insurrection and invasion since the collapse of the Siad Barre dictatorship in 1991, earning it the label of “failed state”. Instability has spread to neighbouring Kenya, home to large numbers of Somali refugees, following Nairobi’s decision in 2011 to intervene militarily.
Enraged by Kenya’s support for the African Union’s 22,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Somalia (Amisom), al-Shabaab caused mass casualties in attacks on a university in Garissa last year and at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013. Last month as many as 200 Kenyan soldiers died in an al-Shabaab attack on a military camp inside Somalia, according to Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.Kenyan authorities disputed the figure but did not give a specific death toll. Al-Shabaab later distributed photos of dozens of dead Kenyan soldiers, many apparently shot in the head.“We have been winning for years and months but [in] that El Ade battle [at the Kenyan camp], we were defeated,” Mohamud said.
TOP TWEETS
@fqdayib:I am here to uplift #Somalia & better the lives of my people. If not in politics at least in other areas. I am here to serve. I’m a servant.
@HodanTV:Sometimes you just have to laugh at some tweets! Too many critics in the stands and not enough people in arena fighting for #Somalia!
@OCHASom:#Somalia has 1.1m IDPs. #DurableSolutionsneeded to end protracted displacement.
@farhanjimale:At least 4 people killed in a fighting between#Galmudug & Ahlu Sunna forces in #Dhusamareb town in central #Somalia, residents are fleeing.
@Daudoo:Battle in #Dhusamareb intensifies as both sides receive re-inforcement, fighting ongoing in center of the town, heavy weapons used. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
First community policing event held in Kismayo on Monday as part of efforts between Jubbaland Administration and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Police component to involve the city’s residents in the management of security.
Photo: AMISOM