March 21, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Militants Overrun Military Base, Killing At Least One
21 March – Source: Reuters – 223 Words
The Islamist group Al-Shabaab attacked a Somali military base southwest of the capital Mogadishu on Sunday night, killing at least one person and seizing vehicles and other equipment, the government and the militants said. The attack on the base in Laanta Buuro, about 45 km (28 miles) from the capital, came shortly after African Union troops from Kenya said they had killed 34 Al-Shabaab militants in two separate incidents on Saturday andSunday.
Somalia’s government is battling to rebuild the Horn of Africa nation after more than two decades of conflict. Al-Shabaab, which aims to topple the Western-backed government, ruled large parts of Somalia until 2011, when it was driven out of Mogadishu by African Union and Somali troops. “The militants were so many, and well armed,” military officer Abdullahi told Reuters on Monday. “The soldiers fled the base – only one soldier died – but (Al-Shabaab militants) took nine vehicles.”
A spokesman for Al-Shabaab confirmed the attack, and said it had killed 70 men. “We left only one truck that was burning. Seven of the vehicles we took had anti-aircraft guns fixed on,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al-Shabaab’s military spokesman, told Reuters. The militants often inflate casualty numbers and downplay the number of their own fighters killed.
Key Headlines
- Somali Militants Overrun Military Base Killing At Least One (Reuters)
- Fire Destroys Medical Supplies In Banadir Hospital (Goobjoog News)
- Gunmen Open Fire On Civilian Car 5 People Dead (Shabelle News)
- Somalia: Puntland Forces Kill 42 Al-Shabaab Fighters: State TV (Garowe Online)
- KDF Military Fighter Jets Pound Al-Shabaab Camp In Sindigow Village Southern Somalia(Intelligencebriefs.com)
- UAE Ambassador In Somalia Meets With UN Special Representative (Emirates News Agency)
- The Fear Amongst Ourselves (The Maandeeq)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Fire Destroys Medical Supplies In Banadir Hospital
21 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 187 Words
Fire broke out at Benadir Hospital on Sunday night, causing panic as patients were quickly evacuated from the affected area. The fire has gutted pediatric drug store of the hospital. Abdirisack Hassan Ali, Benadir Hospital director told journalists they suspected electrical fault may have caused the fire. “We are not yet sure whether it was an electrical fault or a lightning bolt, but technicians came and made their assessment and they are also not sure what caused the fire,” said Ali. The director of the hospital expressed concern over the gutted pharmacy as the fire had swept through the pharmacy.
“We arrived on time and that is why as you can see, we have managed to contain the fire. The hospital is now safe,” Benadir police commissioner, Ali Hirsi Barre. The Banadir Maternity & Children Hospital which is in the Wadajir District of Mogadishu is the only hospital in Somalia that has been operational throughout the civil war. The hospital treats thousands of people every day and is the only center in the African country that treats children affected by drought and those suffering from diarrhea and cholera.
Gunmen Open Fire On Civilian Car, 5 People Dead
21 March – Source: Shabelle News – 116 Words
Unidentified gunmen dressed in army uniform have opened fire on a civilian vehicle near Bulu Marer village in Lower Shabelle region, killing at least five innocent passengers, according to a Somali official.Confirming the incident, Kuntuwarey District Commissioner Abdirahman Sabdow Dahir told Radio Shabelle by phone that police forces and AMISOM soldiers have launched a probe into the bus attack.
The bus has been travelling from Jeerow village and en route to Bulo Marerer town in Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia at the time of the attack on Sunday afternoon. Somali and AMISOM forces in Lower Shabelle region are struggling to push Al-Shabaab out of the urban areas, to protect civilians from such attacks.
Somalia: Puntland Forces Kill 42 Al-Shabaab Fighters: State TV
20 March – Source: Garowe Online – 175 Words
Citing Puntland Army sources, State Television PLTV said, 42 Al-Shabaab fighters had been killed in the aftermath of a four-day counter-terror raid in Suuj valley. The announcement has come shortly after Puntland troops launched a more aggressive campaign to hunt for fleeing militants in Dabakaro area. “I am hearing heavy exchange of gunfire. Here the terrain is flat except for some shrub,” Army commander, Low Abdi Ad said by phone on Sunday morning.
On Saturday, Puntland Information Minister Mohamud Hassan So’adde said, cleanup operations in Suuj were concluded. “Puntland forces fiercely moved into ditches, and subsequently ended the resistance posed by militants,” the Information Minister confirmed during an exclusive interview with GO.
The government has so far admitted that only two soldiers embraced martyrdom in the deadly standoff. Despite relative calm in Suuj, the army is continuing search and siege operations near the Indian Ocean town of Garacad. Puntland Defence Forces (PDFs) Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Saed Mohamed Hirsi (SaedDhere) and Security Minister, AbdiHirsi Ali (Qarjab) are visiting units on the frontline to oversee targeted assaults.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
KDF Military Fighter Jets Pound Al-Shabaab Camp In Sindigow Village, Southern Somalia
21 March – Source: Intelligencebriefs.com – 126
Military reports from Somalia indicate that Kenyan fighter jets have pounded on an Al-Shabaab camp outside Sindigow village, Jubba region of southern Somalia. The Kenyan jets struck a training camp for the Al-Shabaab militants in southern Somalia is the latest in a series of aerial campaigns conducted in the region since the El-Adde attack on January 15. According to Jubbaland authorities KDF which is fighting the Al Qaeda branch in Somalia under the banner of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) completely decimated the militant’s camp. Jubbaland state army commander in the region confirmed that the Kenyan airstrikes completely destroyed the camp. None of the Al-Shabaab fighters in the camp survived. Separately KDF soldiers have killed 34 Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia in only the past two days.
UAE Ambassador In Somalia Meets With UN Special Representative
21 March – Source: Emirates News Agency – 140 Words
Mohammed Ahmed Othman Al Hammadi, UAE Ambassador to Somalia, has met with Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, at the embassy headquarters in Mogadishu, to discuss relations between the UAE and the United Nations Office in Somalia. The UN Special Representative expressed his thanks to the UAE for its efforts in supporting the Somali government and people in various fields to help the process of security and stability in the country.
Keating also re-affirmed his quest to create a cooperative relationship between the UAE Embassy in Mogadishu and the UN office. The UAE Ambassador expressed his thanks and appreciation to the UN special envoy for his recent efforts to support the peace process and stability in Somalia. At the end of the meeting, the ambassador hosted a luncheon in honour of Keating and his accompanying delegation.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“You know that you are living in your own country at the same time you are restricted from moving freely. There are areas you are prohibited to enter. You are moving in the city without knowing if you are watched. The danger for your life is unknown, though felt. You know that you are not a danger to anybody but are conscious of being bullied into accepting this fearful life condition: that other people’s perceptions about you can cause your death.”
The Fear Amongst Ourselves
21 March – Source: The Maandeeq – 983 Words
The fear of insecurity disconnects people in the neighborhood. It creates unspeakable walls between us. We meet and exchange greetings, all very short: Asalaamu alaikum. Wa alaikum asalaam. We do not get to know each other by names. We have lived here, a district in Mogadishu, for almost two years. Every day I take a walk around the area with my mother.
When we meet people in the area, we just see each other. We do not talk with one another. There are different barriers between us. Some are internally displaced people, some are people who moved in other people’s houses in 1990s and whose children who are now grown ups, some are security guards sitting in the shadows of the walls of big fenced houses where NGOs, government workers, CIA, AMISOM, UN, others whom we do not know for whom and for what they are here for reside in, and us, exile returnees renting our own houses in the area. Why do we rent our own houses?
These houses are occupied by people who believe that they are the owners. Some of these houses have been sold in many times that the current owner does not know how it happened though, in Somalia, everybody seems to know the reality somehow. We are renting our own houses.
The fear amongst ourselves has different faces. The way you dress, walk, talk and what you say. Whether you have cars, or if you take the minibus or tuk-tuk. If you visit governmental offices or not. If you go to Bakaaro, or just move and do your shopping in secured areas, such as around Maka Al Mukarama street. If people who visit you have security guards or not. If you look like a ‘moderate’ Muslim or not. If your appearance has other attributes that can be associated with such and such.
When you move around the city, you wonder if you have been studied by people following your movements. You wonder if you have been bugged or not when you communicate electronically or use your phone. You wonder if some of the people you call are on hidden recording lists and that mark you as belonging to certain networks. You constantly fear something dangerous watching over you like Big Brother.
TOP TWEETS
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: Officials say #alShabaab killed at least 6 soldiers after attack on SNA base in Laanta Buur Lower Shabelle http://ow.ly/ZJUMS
@GenvisecInfomap : #Somalia Kenyan soldiers kill thirteen Al-Shabaab militants in operation north of Ras Kamboni.
@BrahimCherIshaq : #KDF Military #Fighter Jets Pound#AlShabaab Camp In #Sindigow, Southern #Somalia #Kenya#F5
@Daudoo : #Somalia military says #AlShabaab attacked Laanta-Buro mil camp, soldiers fled base, militants took 9 vehicles & killed 1 soldier” – Reuters
@DrumChronicles : #Somalia AMISOM troops regain control of#LantaBuro base after Al shabaab seized it from govt forces last night.
@joggetwit: New Deal in #Somalia, a marriage that is not working out. Analysis by Mohamud Uluso http://fb.me/4sz9dClgF
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRSG Michael Keating meets with Somalia PM Sharmarke in Mogadishu to discuss international support for elections & reconciliation
Photo: @SRSGKeating