March 14, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Militias Allied To Puntland And Galmudug Clash As Hundreds Are Displaced
14 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 156 Words
Militia groups alleged to be affiliated to Galmugud and Puntland states clashed in GalkayoSunday with reports that at least six people were wounded, Goobjoog News correspondent in the area reported. The two groups are said to have fought over control of Sarji Maale area and the fighting has spread to Batale area 50 km away, our correspondent says. Hundreds of people have fled their homes. The fighting draws parallels to last year’s clash in Galkayo town between forces from the two warring states resulting in the death of at least 50 people.
Interventions from the federal level and international community led to a truce between the president of Puntland Abdiweli Ali and his Galmudug counterpart Abdikarin Guled. The two regions have engaged in perennial fights over land but the formation of Galmudug state last year intensified rivalry between them over boundary demarcation. Our correspondent says efforts to reach leaders from both sides have not been successful.
Key Headlines
- Militias Allied To Puntland And Galmudug Clash As Hundreds Are Displaced (Goobjoog News)
- UN Envoy Pays First Visit To Somaliland (Mareeg Media)
- One Killed And Eight Others Injured In A Grenade Attack In Qoryoley (Goobjoog News)
- DRC Worker Arrested For Beletweyne Airport Blast (Shabelle News)
- IGAD Validates Strategy Aimed At Addressing Climate Change (Capital FM)
- AU Troops Urged To Improve Interaction With Local Communities In Somalia (CCTV)
- FM Reiterates Kuwait’s Support To Somalia’s Fight Against Terrorism (Kuwait News)
- Why Ambitious Young Somalis Join Al-Shabaab (Al Jazeera)
NATIONAL MEDIA
UN Envoy Pays First Visit To Somaliland
14 March – Source: Mareeg Media – 383 Words
Foreign Minister Dr. Saad Ali Shire received a high level UN delegation led by Special Representative of the Secretary General Michael Keating to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a meeting marked by warmth and open exchange of views, Dr. Saad Ali Shire and the recently appointed Keating, who is undertaking his first visit to Somaliland, discussed a number of political, humanitarian, security and development matters with an emphasis in particular on how to bolster cooperation between Somaliland and the UN.
The Minister raised a matter of immediate concern about the drought which has led to devastating consequences for up to 200,000 families in Somaliland and drastically reduced the livestock population. While accepting there was some assistance from the UN, he noted that it was noticeably limited in scope, and that Somaliland needed further assistance. Michael Keating acknowledged the increasingly worrisome situation facing Somaliland and undertook to assess as a matter of urgency what other measures the UN could take to respond to the crisis both in the immediate term and on a more long-term basis in terms of addressing social, environmental and economic factors.
The Minister briefed the delegation on Somaliland’s views regarding the objectives and activities of the UN and looked forward to increased collaboration on matters of technical assistance, while noting it was crucial that the UN align its work in Somaliland with the needs and priorities of Somaliland. The Minister highlighted the constructive role that Somaliland played in the region in terms of security and stability, noted the success of the ongoing voter registration process which was further indication of Somaliland’s democratic credentials, and emphasised the value placed on peace by the people and Government of Somaliland.
Dr Shire also encouraged the UN to play a more active role in facilitating dialogue between Somaliland and Somalia, based on the framework previously agreed during previous rounds of talks. He reminded SRSG Keating that Somaliland had demonstrated its readiness to talk to its neighbours, but that the international community needed to press Somalia to be a serious and credible counterpart. Michael Keating took note of the valid concerns and queries raised by Somaliland, thanked the Minister for his invitation to Hargeisa and the warm reception he had received, and looked forward to building and strengthening relations between Somaliland and the UN.
One Killed And Eight Others Injured In A Grenade Attack In Qoryoley
14 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 174 Words
At least one person was killed and seven others including government soldiers were wounded in a hand grenade explosion at kiosk in a northwest Somalia town Monday evening, witness said. According to local residents, a hand grenade was hurled at a kiosk where several government soldiers were buying cigarettes. Mohamed Omar, a witness said two masked men threw the bomb at the shop and the blast injured all the soldiers who were at the area. Security forces launched investigations after the attack and arrested at least two suspects, according to the mayor of the town.
Though no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the region has witnessed frequent Al-Shabaab activity. The group has carried out a string of such assaults in the area that have killed civilians and government officials. Qoryooley, is an agricultural town, which lays 120km (72 miles) northwest of Mogadishu and was a major stronghold of the Al-Shabaab fighters until 2014 when government and African Union forces took over. It lies on a strategic crossroads for routes to the northwest towns of Somalia.
DRC Worker Arrested For Beletweyne Airport Blast
14 March – Source: Shabelle News – 129 Words
An employee working for Danish Refugee Council (DRC) was arrested in connection with a laptop bomb blast at an airstrip in Beletweyne, the regional capital of Hiiraan in central Somalia on Sunday.The DRC staffer whose name was only released as Engineer Hasaney has been arrested on Sunday by police for the possession of the laptop computer that caused the airport explosion.
The blast has left six people, including two Djiboutian soldiers wounded. Several other people were detained, along with the DRC worker and they have been handed over to the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) in Mogadishu for questioning, source said. No group has yet to claim responsibility for the airport bomb attack.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
IGAD Validates Strategy Aimed At Addressing Climate Change
14 March – Source: Capital FM – 384 Words
The IGAD Regional Climate Change Strategy which aims to address human induced climate change in the region has been validated. The strategy which aims to support member states in their effort to follow low carbon climate resilient sustainable development was validated during a two day workshop held in Nairobi this past week.
The strategy also aims to identify and prioritize the major climate challenges and opportunities in the region and strategic areas of interventions. Charles Sunkuli the Principal Secretary in the State Department of Environment, Natural Resource and Regional Development Authorities said that the validation comes at a time when the IGAD region has been identified as being among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, as manifested through an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme events such as droughts and floods.
Director of IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre Dr Gulied Artan stated that the validation is just in time when all nations in general and developed country parties in particular have adopted an ambitious agreement dubbed the ‘Paris Agreement’ to limit the global warming below 2°C. “It also came at a time when the region was missing a regional climate change strategy that could be used to harmonize and consolidate national and regional efforts and focus on adaption to climate change consequences as well as on mitigation measures,” said Artan.
AU Troops Urged To Improve Interaction With Local Communities In Somalia
14 March – Source: CCTV – Video: 2:12 Minutes
Meanwhile, the African Union peacekeeping force has been urged to improve its interaction with the local communities in Somalia, to better battle Al-Shabaab militants. Experts say that sexual abuse and killing of innocent civilians has undermined the trust people had of the foreign forces.
FM Reiterates Kuwait’s Support To Somalia’s Fight Against Terrorism
13 March – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 108 Words
First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled AlHamad AlSabah reiterated Kuwait’s support to the Somali Government’s efforts in combating and eliminating terrorism. Sheikh Sabah AlKhaled made this remark during a meeting with Somalia’s visiting Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr.Abdulsalam Hadliye Omar at the Foreign Ministry’s Headquarters, on Sunday.
On his part, the Somali minister expressed his appreciation to the Kuwaiti Government and people for their continuous support to his country that has undergone various hardships. He also thanked the Gulf country for hosting a donors’ conference for supporting education in Somalia. The meeting between the two minister tackled bilateral ties and promotion of coop
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The international community’s response to this threat has been largely characterised by a security-based approach, with little impact on reducing the growth of violent extremism and in some cases, exacerbating the very problem it seeks to address.”
Why Ambitious Young Somalis Join Al-Shabaab
14 March – Source: Al Jazeera – 1,009 Words
One day last April, Mohamed, a carpenter in Malindi, a fishing town along Kenya’s north coast, was told by a friend to watch the evening news. There, he saw a photograph of Suleiman, the second of his five sons. Twenty-four-year-old Suleiman was among six young men declared as dangerous members of Al-Shabaab, with a bounty of $20,000 on each of their heads. Billboards with their faces and the reward for their capture soon appeared in the town centre. Less than a year later, on January 20, Suleiman was among four Al-Shabaab suspects killed in a reported shootout with the police in his hometown.
Suleiman’s father says that growing up, his son was respectful, dynamic and refused to accept that the circumstances of his birth should condemn him to a life of poverty. The entire family saw Suleiman as their way to a better life. To meet their high expectations, Suleiman concluded that he had to leave not only Malindi, but also Kenya. His plan was to become a driver in Saudi Arabia which would enable him to send money home to his family. But to get there, he needed money to pay the agents who would organise his trip
So at 17, Suleiman quit secondary school to work as a labourer, changing tyres and loading cargo on trucks taking goods to the capital, Nairobi. A year later, despite the facilitation fee in hand, the agent dashed his dreams by telling him that he had to be 22 for the Saudi Arabia job. Deflated but undeterred, Suleiman returned to school and graduated, joining an assembly line of educated but unemployed youth. Unlike previous generations growing up in small African towns, Suleiman was also tech-savvy, having grown up in the age of the information revolution.
During the same period, Suleiman came under a different societal pressure – the task of getting married. Marriage marks the transition from childhood to adulthood in his Swahili culture. Weddings last several days and involve elaborate preparations and ceremonies – a costly affair and beyond the reach of the unemployed Suleiman. So at 22 Suleiman was already a veteran in personal setbacks, though he still stubbornly believed that his condition would not remain permanent. He packed up and moved south to Mombasa to find greener pastures. This is where, his father says, Suleiman’s shortcomings were given political and religious meaning.
TOP TWEETS
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: UN Envoy Keating’s first official visit to meet with #Somaliland officials http://ow.ly/Zq53D
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: Report claims Danish Refugee Council (DRC) worker arrested in connection with Beledweyne laptop bomb http://ow.ly/Zq4OY
@Daudoo: #Puntland president blasts ‘worthless’ #AU forces presence in #Somalia http://bit.ly/1V5PLHr #AMISOM
@MKahiye : #Somalia government has strongly condemned terror attack in Ankara.
@AbdulBillowAli : My report: #AU troops urged to improve interaction with local communities in #Somalia. http://youtu.be/U-xwpO59lMQ
@AnankeGroup: #Somalia – Militias allied to #Puntland and#Galmudug clash as hundreds displacedhttp://goobjoog.com/english/?
@Eye_on_Somalia : #goobjoog One killed and 8 others injured in bomb explosion at Kiosk in Qoryooley: At least one peopl…http://bit.ly/1THn1FE #somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The SRCC Amb. Caetano Madeira and other senior AMISOM officials together with the EU Ambassador to Somalia Michele Cervone d’Urso on an official visit in Kismayo.
Photo: AMISOM