March 28, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Security Forces Flush Out Al-Shabaab, Kill 115 In Central Somalia
28 March – Source: Xinhua – 115 Words
At least 115 Al-Shabaab militants have been killed and 110 others arrested in four days of heavy fighting with security forces of Galmudug State of central Somalia, the president saidon Monday. President of Galmudug State of Somalia Abdikarim Hussein Guled said the intense fighting ended on Sunday after some of the remaining terrorists fled into the rural areas of Galmudug.
“Galmudug forces after intensive fighting with Al-Shabaab militia for the last 4 days are pleased to see the end of this fighting that killed 115 militias and captured 110 militias that are in custody,” Guled said in a statement. The president lauded the security forces’ efforts and their swift response to conclude the fighting against terrorists groups.
“The people of Galmudug State hugely welcome the swift response of security forces to conclude the fighting against Al-Shabaab militia that fled from Puntland areas with the aim to re-group in Galmudug areas in order to launch terrorist attacks,” he said. “Galmudug State will treat those captured with dignity and care according to our religion, the laws of the land and the international laws and they will be given medical and food aid. However, there are small numbers that escaped and fled into rural areas,” he noted.
Key Headlines
- Security Forces Flush Out Al-Shabaab Kill 115 In Central Somalia (Xinhua)
- AMISOM Says Repulsed Attack On The SNA Camp (Mareeg Media)
- Somali-Canadian Shot Dead In Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali President Welcomes Agreement Between Jubbaland And Gedo Regions (Goobjoog News)
- Canada: Edmonton Police Renew $440K In Cold Case Rewards (CBC News)
- Fact Check: Why No Somali Death Notices In Newspaper? (SC Times)
- With All These Shenanigans Is There Any Hope For Somalia? (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
AMISOM Says Repulsed Attack On The SNA Camp
28 March – Source: Mareeg Media – 157 Words
At least one soldier was killed and two others were wounded when armed fighters from Al-Shabaab launched an ambush attack on a Somali military convoy near El Baraf village in middle Shabelle region. The army convoy came under fire while travelling from El Baraf and heading to Biyo Adde area, where Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers were going to collect their monthly salaries.
On anTwitter post, AMISOM has denied reports that Al-Shabaab seized the area, saying the attackers were successfully repulsed by SNA and AU troops and fled the town. “AMISOM seeks to clarify that Somali National Army forces and our troops are still present and in total control of El Baraf area in Middle Shabelle region,” read the Twitter feed. Al-Shabaab said its fighters took control of El Baraf area following an attack, a claim that AMISOM denied. Somali and AU troops have driven Al-Shabaab out their major strongholds in region.
Somali-Canadian Shot Dead In Mogadishu
28 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 156 Words
Unidentified gunmen have shot dead a Somali Canadian man in Somali capital on Sunday evening, the latest in several attacks against returning Somali diaspora who started flocking back to Mogadishu since the ouster of Islamist fighters from Mogadishu in 2011, witnesses said.
Sade Mahad Dirir Guled, a 40-year-old man from Toronto was shot dead inside a mosque in Heliwa district, north of Mogadishu where suspected Al Shabab fighters often clash with security forces. Witnesses said that two young men approached Mr. Sade and shot him dead several times before they escaped the scene.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest murder; however, the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group often carries out such attacks. Mr. Sade Mahad Dirir who returned to Mogadishu four years ago was among a large Somali-Canadian community who moved back to the city in recent years to rebuild their country after more than two decades of war.
Somali President Welcomes Agreement Between Jubbaland And Gedo Regions
28 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 197 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Monday welcomed the agreement between Interim Jubba Administration and the politicians of Gedo region last week in Kismayo town. Jubbaland Administration inked an agreement with Gedo politicians as to break the political stalemate in the region following months of rift between the politicians and the government led by Ahmed Madobe. President said that Jubbaland would role model for rest of Somalia and called on other regional states to start and widen reconciliation process in their states.
The Somali Federal Government commended Jubbaland administration and the clans of the area for the agreement they signed and which is a sign reconciliation and state rebuilding” said President Hassan in a press statement. A 14 point communiqué was released on 25 this month after the conclusion of the meeting which said the aid and development projects should be divided among the clans in all areas under Jubbaland administration equally.
It also emphasized equal power sharing among the clans in Jubbaland. Somalia’s Minister for Defense, Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali Dini who attended the negotiation meetings between the Jubaland government and politicians from Gedo region commended the move as it is significant and can play an active role in pacifying the state.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Canada: Edmonton Police Renew $440K In Cold Case Rewards
28 March – Source: CBC News – 398 Words
Edmonton’s Police Service have renewed rewards for information about 11 unsolved homicides. The awards, totally $440,000, were set to expire this month. The cases make up a little over a third of Edmonton’s 31 outstanding homicide rewards. The cold cases are up to a decade old, falling between 2006 and 2009. The majority — but not all — have links to the city’s Somali-Canadian community.
Jibril Ibrahim is the president of the Somali-Canadian Cultural Society. He hopes that these rewards will finally lead to some closure for unhealed wounds in the community, something he says is needed. “They need closure into the issue itself,” said Ibrahim. “So hopefully this will help a number of people who knew who the perpetrators were and come forward to share information.” “It will be a reminder to everyone that this issue is not closed.”
Mahamad Accord, the CEO at Taccalusa Institute, said the rewards will only work if people trust the police. This trust is something some members of the community have had problems with in the past. “Even if the reward is attractive … the community has to feel comfortable with the person they are talking to, that they will be safe talking to them,” said Accord. “That’s where the problem lies rather than the reward itself.”
Fact Check: Why No Somali Death Notices In Newspaper?
28 March – Source: SC Times – 425 Words
The St. Cloud Times is working to enlighten the debate about refugees and immigrants who make their homes in this community. We are asking readers to submit their questions and we will answer them in a series of stories over the next several months. Why are Somali families’ births reported in the St. Cloud Times, but I can’t recall ever seeing any death notices?
To answer the question of why printed obituaries for Somali residents aren’t a frequent occurrence, we asked Ahmed Abdi, a staff reporter for the St. Cloud Times who also works as an interpreter, and Mohamed Nuh Dahir, imam at the Islamic Center of St. Cloud. Dahir said there are no religious prohibitions against publishing an obituary when a Muslim dies. It simply hasn’t been a cultural custom for Somalis to do so, he said.
Historically, Somalia was a largely oral society, where people shared information by telling stories, Dahir said. News of a death typically was spread by word of mouth. Because St. Cloud’s Somali community is relatively small and close-knit, “whenever something like that happens, immediately the people, they call each other,” Abdi said. Somalis in Minnesota often share word of a family member’s death on social media, Abdi said. Death notices or condolences, called “tacsi,” also are frequently posted on Somali news websites such as SomaliTalk.com based in Minneapolis, he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“What shocks and dismays many people is why the government of a country that has already been traumatised by more than two decades of civil war, anarchy, and now terrorism would enter into deals that have the potential of causing further instability, environmental degradation, and under-development.”
With All These Shenanigans, Is There Any Hope For Somalia?
28 March – Source: Daily Nation – 712 Words
One of the consequences of state collapse in Somalia in 1991 was that foreign companies began dumping harmful toxic waste along Somalia’s largely unguarded coastline. It is even widely believed that Italian journalist Iliara Alpi’s discovery of a “guns-for-waste” trade between Italian arms manufacturers and Somali militias is what led to her murder in Mogadishu in 1994.
In 1997 the environmental NGO, Greenpeace, confirmed that Swiss and Italian companies were acting as brokers for the transportation of hazardous waste to Somalia. Later, the United Nations Development Programme concluded that the dumping of toxic waste was “rampant” along Somalia’s coastline and that local communities were developing chronic diseases such as cancer as a result.
Somalia’s coastal waters were also exploited by foreign fishing companies. In the 1990s, ships and trawlers from Europe and Asia began illegally fishing in Somalia’s waters, depleting the region’s rich marine life and depriving local fishermen of their livelihoods. It is widely believed that illegal fishing by foreign trawlers gave birth to piracy in Somalia as impoverished fishermen sought other ways of earning a living.
Of course, the hijacking of ships by Somali pirates was facilitated by an international network of brokers, who also benefited from piracy, thereby ensuring that it remained a source of income for many jobless Somali men. Now that European and other countries are policing Somali waters, incidents of piracy have reduced drastically, but other threats remain.
Recently I came across a document that shows that none other than the Somali government may be willingly entering into deals with foreign companies that would allow hazardous waste from other countries to be dumped in Somalia. According to the document, a London-based company has allegedly entered into a contract with a country in the Middle East for the export of hazardous municipal household waste to Somalia.
TOP TWEETS
@tseroney : #BREAKING: Bomb blast hits #Ethiopiatroop‘s convoy traveling near El-Lahelay village in central #Somalia, one vehicle “destroyed”
@Soomaalikabe : #Somalia #Somalia: IGAD announces the launch of a new office in #Garowe
@Abdi_AlSheikh : Somalia: UN Envoy Decries Use of Child Soldiers by Somali Militants – http://AllAfrica.com http://dlvr.it/KvYHbT #Somalia
@omabha : In pictures: United Nations’ Monitoring Group on Somalia (SEMG) Obstructs Somalia Recovery – Mareeg Mediahttp://dlvr.it/KvY0Kw #Somalia
@AnankeGroup : #Somalia – #Somaliland‘s Shire appoints Mikael Torstensson as honorary special envoy to the EU
@Rooble2009 : Somali-Canadian shot dead in Mogadishuhttps://shar.es/1YYUsR #Somalia
@jatto223 : When will #Somalia become self dependent….
@aysanei : Yes, there is a need for effective #leadership in#Somalia, but you can’t dismiss leaders just b/c they rejected the interest of your clan.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A discussion organised by AMISOM and the Ministry of Women and Human Rights took place in Mogadishu on March 26th. The discussion focused on Somali women’s leadership roles in Peacebuilding initiatives and equal political participation.
Photo: AMISOM