July 14, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Security Forces Foil Attempted Car Bombing At Popular Hotel
14 July – Source: Hiiraan Online – 125 Words
Security forces in Mogadishu have intercepted a car loaded with explosives on Thursday. Sources say the vehicle was destined for an attack at Maka-al-Mukaram Hotel. Banadir Regional administration spokesperson, Abdifatah Omar Halane told reporters that security forces managed to thwart the attack and arrest the occupants of the vehicle as well. They are reportedly being interrogated by NISA agents.
“The commander of the security intelligence of Banadir region told me that their idea was to attack Maka-al-Mukaram Hotel but Allah saved it’, Halane said. This comes barely a month after Al-Shabaab militants detonated a suicide car bomb outside Hotel Nasa-Hablod in Mogadishu killing 15 and injuring scores more. Al-Shabaab has staged several attacks at hotels in Mogadishu in the past including Maka-al-Mukaram.
Key Headlines
- Security Forces Foil Attempted Car Bombing At Popular Hotel (Hiiraan Online)
- An Elderly Man Beheaded In Hiiraan Region (Shabelle News)
- Al-Shabaab Leader Cautions Against Participating In The Upcoming Elections (Radio Dalsan)
- Suspected Islamist Recruiter Kills Four At Kenyan Police Station: Officer (Reuters)
- Somalo-Jewish Relations: Blasphemy Or Real Politic (Wardheer News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
An Elderly Man Beheaded In Hiiraan Region
14 July – Source: Shabelle News – 94 Words
Al-Shabaab fighters blamed for beheading of an elderly man at a small rural village in central Somalia on Wednesday, according to local residents. The headless body of the elder whose name was identified as Ali Santur was found dumped at Bisle area located in the western outskirts of Beledweyne on Thursday. No group claimed credit for the beheading, but Al-Shabaab controls the rural areas near Beledweyne which is the regional capital of Hiiraan, central Somalia. However, Al-Shabaab and Hiiraan regional administration have not commented on the alleged beheading of the prominent traditional elder.
Al-Shabaab Leader Cautions Against Participating In The Upcoming Elections
13 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 199 Words
Somali armed group leader has cautioned citizens against participating in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections in September this year. Ahmed Omar Abu Ubeyda who succeeded the slain founder of the group Ahmed Godane, used his first speech since taking the leadership to speak against the historic election in the horn of Africa nation, saying it is the plan of Christian’s occupation of Somali land.
He called upon people to take up arms and defend their nation against what he described as “colonist.” In his 44 minutes audio speech Abu Ubeyda has accused African union peacekeepers in the country of committing gross human rights violations against Somalis including rape and killings. He also labeled Turkey as the enemy of the people saying Ankara is hiding behind humanitarian assistance to loot Somali resources.
The speech comes as the group is losing both territory and militants joining its rival Islamic state wing in Somalia. Also Somali National Army backed by AMISOM troops pushed the group out of key strategic cities for the past two years but group’s hit and run attacks is still killing scores of people including government officials.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Suspected Islamist Recruiter Kills Four At Kenyan Police Station: Officer
13 July – Source: Reuters – 214 Words
A suspected recruiter for Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group being held in a west Kenyan police station shot dead at least four officers there on Thursday after snatching a weapon from a guard, an officer said.The incident took place at Kapenguria police station in a region near the Ugandan border.
Al-Shabaab has launched a series of attacks against Kenya in recent years, including using local recruits. The group says the attacks are aimed at driving Kenyan forces out of Somalia where they are part of an African force fighting Al-Shabaab. The suspect was detained on Wednesday for interrogation and grabbed the weapon during a routine roll call early on Thursday morning, said the officer, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly.
“I can confirm that four police officers have been killed but they could be more,” the officer told Reuters. Kenyan television channel KTN said as many as six officers had died in the continuing stand-off. KTN and other Kenyan media said police reinforcements had been deployed. “The suspect has locked himself inside one of the rooms and we are trying to get him out,” the officer said. “We have surrounded the station.” A police spokesman and a regional official had no immediate comment.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“In September of this year, Somalis will decide whether the current occupier of Vila Somalia vacates or stays for a second term. It is only then that we can seriously evaluate the Somalo-Jewish diplomatic relationship, and whether the country is ready to embark on this uncharted waters. At this time, most Somalis would reject that proposal flat out right.”
Somalo-Jewish Relations: Blasphemy Or Real Politic
14 July – Source: Wardheer News – 1,862 Words
These are some of the questions that I pondered while on a family vacation in West Palm Beach, Florida. Is Somalia finally joining the campaign to end the sub-Saharan diplomatic “embargo” of the Jewish state? If so, does this mean Mogadishu under HSM and CCC has abandoned the Somali National philosophy founded by the SYL that gave primacy social justice and fairness over diplomacy? Is Somalia in the throes of following real politic as opposed to justice, self-determination of oppressed people, and the philosophy of its founding fathers? Is post-civil war Somali State more comfortable to be in bed with the Jewish state as long as rent money can be realized?
On July 4, 2016, The Times of Israel spiced the feverishly awaited Eid Al-Fitr holiday (July 5th, 2016) with a surprisingly groundbreaking feature article and reported that Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud secretly met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The article also referenced a senior official close to Mahmoud who confirmed to The Times of Israel that “the meeting took place in Tel Aviv” following several low level meetings.
The news scoop reverse a 60-year-old diplomatic policy of Somalia, while it coincides with a historic visit by Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu to four East African countries that provide security to Somalia. Although President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud did not attend the Entebbe, Kampala, meeting for optical reasons, many in Mogadishu speculate that election-weary Somali President has spoken with him.
In an effort to do damage control, the Somali Federal Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SFGMOA), issued an after-thought lukewarm denial of any meeting between Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and Netanyahu. Despite such a categorical denial, it is plausible that the information carried by the Israeli newspaper is credible and equally believable on several accounts.
First, Israeli media, which is free from their government’s control, has nothing to gain by fabricating such news on Somalia. Second, it is also an established national passion by the Jewish state, its intellectual circles, and its well-established media to monitor diplomatic relations that the Israeli government scores with the outside world, and more so with the Islamic nations.
Lastly, for about four decades, Israel has maintained secretive relationship with many Arab and Islamic countries and has expertise in how to manage, leak and share, when necessary, diplomatic messages such as this one concerning the bilateral meeting between Somalia and Israel. To that end, Mr. Netanyahu never denied the contents of article, but affirmed that Israel deals all the time with countries that may not have diplomatic offices in the open.
TOP TWEETS
@ARCBriefing: Despite economic costs, political benefits mean#UPDF unlikely to carry out threat to withdraw from #Somalia in 2018 http://bit.ly/1AA9W6C
@StandWSomalia: UN Donates 2 Million to Support Peace Building Efforts in #Somalia By @allafrica
@raascawadnews : suspected #Alshabaab executes a#FAMOUS #Somalia #traditional #leader in B/weyn town
@ahmedfille : An #Alshabaab attack in North Western #Kenya in ongoing in Kapenguria. #Somalia http://xuduud.net/2016/07/14/
@Amalhoa4 : 6 women candidates for the next UNSG#UNSGcandidates, and next #Somalia president could be a woman.
@HassanIstiila: #UPDATE Four journalists have been arrested in Kismayo Sea Port. For unknown reason #Free4SomaliJournalists #Somalia
@Riskmapintel : Military Operations In Southern #Somalia Aim To Liberate Rebel Held Towns http://dlvr.it/LnfZ2G
@IOM_news : Latest Displacement Tracking Matrix by@IOM_Somalia identifies 430,062 displaced in #Somaliahttp://bit.ly/29Cvtr3
@Rooble2009 : Malala says Somali refugee girls’ future at risk if Kenya sends them home http://www.reuters.com/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Mohamed Omar Arte, the Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia met with a delegation from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa who arrived in Mogadishu, Somaliaon Monday, on a pre-election assessment mission.
Photo: AMISOM