April 12, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia And AU Troops Recaptures Town From Al- Shabaab In Galgalduud
12 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 194 Words
African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) troops and Somali National Army (SNA) have liberated a strategic town in central Somalia on Monday, officials said. The allied forces took control of Gal’ad town after a major offensive against the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, according to residents. Mohamed Hashi Abdi, who is the deputy president of Galmudug State, said the joint forces took the town after Al-Shabaab fighters were defeated: “The joint forces clashed with the militants in Gal’ad town in Galgadud region, where Al-Shabaab has been operating from lately, before driving the fighters out of the town.” ,
The civilian population has vacated the town to neighbouring districts for fear of collateral damage. The Al-Shabaab group has recently increased attacks against AU and Somali forces in several regions.. The AMISOM forces have also increased airstrikes in southern Somalia in the recent past, killing more than 50 militants late last month. Al-Shabaab lost key strongholds between 2012 and 2013 to the AU troops but the group has since carried out deadly attacks in the Somali capital of Mogadish
Key Headlines
- Somalia And AU Troops Recaptures Town From Al- Shabaab In Galgalduud (Goobjoog News)
- Somali National Army Marks 56th Anniversary(Goobjoog News)
- Dubai Conference Explores Somalia’s Potential Investment opportunities (Hiiraan Online)
- ‘We Said We’d Come Back Stronger – Somali Bravanese Community Centre Destroyed By Racists Rises From The Ashes (Times Series )
- An Olympic Dream Shattered (UNHCR)
- Leaving Behind Whatever Dies (IRIN)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali National Army Marks 56th Anniversary
12 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 154 Words
Celebrations are underway in Mogadishu as the country marks the 56th anniversary of the National Army Day since establishment in 1960. The event is scheduled to take place in Somalia Ministry of Defence headquarters in Mogadishu. The function is expected to be graced by Somalia government leaders, AMISOM and UN officers.
Early Tuesday morning all major roads in Mogadishu were closed as part of the measures to tighten security ahead of the events. Recently, Somali National Army and African Union forces have been gaining key towns from Al Shabaab. Somali National Army was established on 12 April in 1960 and they are remembered for their historic actions in the past and present. In the 1980s SNA was regarded as one of the strongest armies in Africa. But the collapse of government in 1991 led to disintegration and loss of past glory. The current government is working on a troops’ integration programme to rebuild the national army.
Dubai Conference Explores Somalia’s Potential Investment opportunities
12 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 397 Words
Amid security challenges, Somalia is looking forward to overcome decades of conflict which entirely shattered the country’s infrastructures and investment opportunities. The Somali capital of Mogadishu has received a new thrust in recent years — thanks to the relative stability in the city following the ouster of the Islamist militants in 2011. Foreign business entities and potential donors have since started showing interest in investing in the horn of Africa nation.
More than 50 investment experts, investors, business professionals including Somalis and practitioners gathered at the Annual Investment Meeting in Dubai on Monday to discuss ways and means to attract investment from new emerging markets:“It was an opportunity to discuss about investing in emerging markets, and Somalia was among the key locations raised by some foreign companies and potential donors.” said Abubakar Mubarak, the executive manager of Royal Meats, a Dubai-based Somali meat company who attended the conference“Most of the investors have shown interest in investing in the fields of telecommunication, transportation, airports, ports, agriculture, fishing and livestock in Somalia,” he told Hiiraan Online.
The development comes few months after Somalia’s Parliament approved the foreign investment law in November last year. The country’s economy, which has survived decades of political anarchy, still faces hurdles as a result of lack of trade regulations and competition.In recent years, the Somali government has been trying to encourage direct foreign investments in spite of security threats by the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as of 2012 Somalia had some of the lowest development indicators in the world, in addition to a “strikingly low” Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.285.This would rank the impoverished horn of Africa nation amongst the lowest in the world as result of “inequalities across different social groups.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
‘We Said We’d Come Back Stronger – Somali Bravanese Community Centre Destroyed By Racists Rises From The Ashes
12 April – Source : Times Series – 386 Words
MEMBERS of a Somali cultural centre which was destroyed by extremists have vowed not to be “cowards” as they prepare to move into their new home.The Al-Rahma Islamic Centre, in Muswell Hill, was burnt to the ground in an arson attack in 2013 and the letters EDL (English Defence League) were found scrawled on the wrecked building.But after three years of uncertainty, members were thrilled to learn planning approval for a new base in Tarling Road, East Finchley, was approved by Barnet Council’s planning committee.
Chairman Abubakar Ali, who founded the centre when he moved to Barnet from war-torn Somali in 1992, said: “From day one, we said we’d come back and we’d get stronger and stronger.“Now we have the chance to be members of the community again and get back on our feet. We are not going to be cowards. It’s been a big relief.“When it happened, it felt like we didn’t exist and that nobody wanted us. But the council and the community stood behind us and have supported us. That’s been very fulfilling.”
An Olympic Dream, Shattered
11 April – Source: UNHCR – 1271 Words
After competing for Somalia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Samia Yusuf Omar was determined to return to the track at the 2012 London Games. Yet there is no happy ending to this remarkable young woman’s quest for Olympic glory.In his book, An Olympic Dream, published last month in English by SelfMadeHero, the award-winning German graphic artist Reinhard Kleist traces the last years of the Somali sprinter’s life, ending with her ill-fated attempt to reach safety in Europe.
A graphic narrative – billed as a novel but also a work of graphic journalism – it begins with her participation in the Beijing Olympics and follows her ambitious, desperate and ultimately doomed attempts to compete in London in 2012.It is a story of ambition and drive, and the refusal to accept that poverty, repression, threats and violence cannot be overcome.It is also the story of millions of displaced by war and hunger – 59.5 million by the end of 2014, and even greater numbers forecast for 2015 – who opt for dangerous routes towards a better and safer life in the absence of other alternatives.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has pushed for an increase in safe, orderly ways for refugees to access protection in Europe under managed programmes – such as humanitarian admission programmes, private sponsorships, family reunion, student scholarships and labour mobility schemes – so that refugees do not resort to smugglers and traffickers to reach safety.The graphic narrative – billed as a novel but also a work of graphic journalism – follows Samia’s ambitious, desperate and doomed attempts to compete in London in 2012. Reinhard Kleist.It was Samia’s ambition and drive that inspired Kleist, who was in London last March to promote the English version of a book that came out in German in the spring of 2015, just as the refugee emergency began to have a major impact in Europe.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Pastoralists have been forced further and further afield in a search for grazing. The Somaliland military and private transporters have been able to truck some of those who become stranded back to their areas of origin, including between 700 and 1,000 families from Ethiopia’s Somali region who crossed the eastern border looking for pasture,”
Leaving Behind Whatever Dies
11 April – Source: IRIN News – 852 Words
The severe drought in Ethiopia has made headline news. But it has also scorched northern Somalia – a region far less able to cope with the impact.Some 385,000 people are already facing a hunger crisis in self-declared independent Somaliland and semi-autonomous Puntland, further to the east.The UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA, says an estimated 1.7 million people, nearly 40 percent of the 4.6 million people living in these areas, are in need of humanitarian assistance and livelihood support.“Of these, 1.3 million people are at risk of slipping into acute food insecurity if they do not receive assistance,” it warned.
Ali Sheikh Omar Qabil, director of the Family Health Department at the Ministry of Health, told IRIN that the El Niño-linked drought had affected more than 650,000 people in Somaliland, and was particularly bad in its western regions. “People are suffering hunger, diseases and high rates of malnutrition,” he said.Although the total number in need in neighbouring Ethiopia is far greater – potentially 16 million could be drought-affected by the middle of this year out of a population close to 100 million – Somalia is far poorer, its government is less effective, and humanitarian access is much more limited.
As a result of El Niño, two consecutive rainy seasons have failed in Somaliland and Puntland. Somaliland’s worst-affected regions are the scrublands of Awdal and Selel, whose shallow watercourses normally rejuvenate the arid land when it rains, providing pasture for livestock.The forecasts for the Gu rains (April to June) “are less than favourable,” according to a statement from the UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA. It has appealed for $105 million to urgently scale up “critical, life-saving” aid and to build resilience in northern Somalia. “If funding is not secured now, the consequences will be grave,” it added.
TOP TWEETS
@MOALIMUU:The 56th anniversary of Somalia’s military founding is being commemorated in #Mogadishu. Most parts of the capital is locked down .#Somalia
@africamedia_CPJ :In @WSJ: Al-Shabaab Media Officer Executed for Killings of Five Somali #Journalists:http://www.wsj.com/articles/
@MinisterHashi:Happy 56th anniversary to z members of z Somali Armed Forces. We appreciate your sacrifices under very difficult circumstances. #Somalia
@XHNews:Night life in #Somalia capital spotted under improved#security despite sporadic bombings http://xhne.ws/8SkJP
@OCHASom:‘Leaving behind whatever dies.’ #Somalia drought devastates livelihoods. Story via @irinnews http://bit.ly/1S2vez2
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A Somali National Army Officer during a parade to mark the 56th anniversary since the formation of the Somali army.
Photo:AMISOM