August 26, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Death Toll In Somalia Beach Restaurant Attack Rises To 10
26 August – Source: Reuters – 175 Words
The death toll from an attack late on Thursday by Islamic militants on a seaside restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 10, police said. The attackers set off a car bomb at the Banadir restaurant at the city’s Lido beach before engaging security forces in a fight for several hours. The casualties comprised six civilians, two members of the security forces and two of the attackers, Ali Abdullahi, a police officer, said on Friday.
Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab claimed the attack, which ended at around 3:00 a.m. local time, police said. The group has carried out a series of deadly attacks in Somalia to try to topple the Western-backed government. In a separate incident in southern Somalia, a roadside bomb planted by Al-Shabaab militants injured 10 people, police said on Friday, raising the number of wounded from three initially. One of those wounded in the explosion in Baardhere town in Gedo region was the local district commissioner, police said.
Key Headlines
- Death Toll In Somalia Beach Restaurant Attack Rises To 10 (Reuters)
- Somalia Stops Registration Of New Universities (Goobjoog News)
- At Least 13 Injured In Bardere Cafe Bombing (Shabelle News)
- Somalia’s Federal Electoral Body Says 2016 Electoral Process Remains On Course (UNSOM)
- Moms Speak Out Against Terror Recruitment (Fox News)
- UNSOM Trains Journalists On Election Reporting In Baidoa (UNSOM)
- UPDF Wins Hearts And Minds In Somalia (Daily Monitor
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Stops Registration Of New Universities
26 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 201 Words
Somalia’s Ministry of Education said it will stop giving accreditation to the new educational institutions in Mogadishu to control quality. Mogadishu has seen an increase in privately owned educational institutions. Ismail Yussuf, Director General of the Ministry of Education said licensing and accreditation for institutions to be recognised as universities will be completely stopped.
“The ministry stopped the registration of new universities because the number of high schools graduates can not satisfy the number of the operating universities and we need to ensure the quality of graduates meets world standards,”said Yussuf. Regarding the quality of education, Ismail Yussuf said professional staff should be hired and basic facilities such as laboratories and libraries provided, in line with the country’s education regulations.
Somalia has only one public university which re-opened in 2014 after a 25 year hiatus since it closed after the collapse of government in 1991. The lack of a national policy on higher education has also significantly contributed to the poor quality of education.
At Least 13 Injured In Bardere Cafe Bombing
26 August – Source: Shabelle News – 156 Words
A bomb blast targeting a crowded cafe in Baardhere in the Gedo region has left at least 13 people injured, including a local government official and a security personnel, an official said. Confirming the incident, Mohamud Guhad Tima-Jilec who is a senior Somali security officials said city’s head of security and district commissioner were among those wounded. “City’s DC, head of security and seven security guards were wounded in a bomb blast that tore through a popular small but busy restaurant in Baardhere on Thursday afternoon,” he said.
Four civilians were also wounded in the bomb attack and transferred to a hospital. According to the security official, the type of the blast remains unclear, but the local police are opening an investigation into the explosion. No group has claimed credit for the attack, which was the latest in string of blasts in Somalia this week.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia’s Federal Electoral Body Says 2016 Electoral Process Remains On Course
26 August – Source: UNSOM – 320 Words
The 2016 electoral process will be held on time, according to the chairperson of the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) Omar Mohamed Abdulle who addressed a press conference in the Somali capital today. Mr. Abdulle said the current deadlines for selecting members of parliament and the federal president in October of this year will be met. He also welcomed the establishment of six State-Level Indirect Electoral Implementation Teams (SIEITs).
He told journalists that an electoral dispute resolution body has also been set up to adjudicate complaints about the electoral process. According to FIEIT members, the electoral process has entered its most critical stage as a list of 135 traditional elders is being finalized for selecting 14,025 members of the Electoral Colleges. These Electoral College delegates will in turn elect the 275 members of the lower house of the next federal parliament.
Flanked by five other FIEIT members, Mr. Abdulle refuted a recent media report that the FIEIT had decided to eliminate the Electoral Colleges and allow the 135 elders to directly vote on parliamentary candidates. “The committee is implementing the set of rules given by the National Leadership Forum,” he said. “Everything is running according to plan.” He reassured Somalis at home and abroad that the electoral process would be transparent and credible.
Moms Speak Out Against Terror Recruitment
26 August – Source: Fox News – 282 Words
Minnesota is one of the top recruitment places in the nation for extremist groups, but Thursday night a group of moms and community leaders are trying to change that. A long list of politicians attended the meeting at the Sabathani Community Center, including Governor Mark Dayton. To set the stage, some Somali activists briefly touched on some of the deep seated problems plaguing the Somali community right now.
“Right now the division in this country is ridiculous, we feel left out. I’m a Minnesotan first. It doesn’t matter where I came from,” said Asma Jama, a victim of hate crime.” Everyone knows I’m an immigrant. But I’m a Minnesotan now as I stand here. I’m sorry we already feel like we are left out like we don’t matter.”
This meeting was part of a series of community meetings hosted by the group called Voice of East African Women. The goal is to provide opportunities for members of the Somali community to be able interact and voice concerns to elected officials Community members, women, and elders touched on a range of concerns including Islamaphobia, terror recruitment of Somali youth and how to stop it, and a need for after school programs for kids.
UNSOM Trains Journalists On Election Reporting In Baidoa
26 August – Source: UNSOM – 310 Words
A two-day training workshop for Somali journalists on election reporting ended today and participants said they felt better prepared to cover the country’s upcoming electoral process. The workshop, organized by the United Nations Assistance Mission to Somalia (UNSOM), addressed a variety of topics ranging from the rules governing coverage of the 2016 electoral process to press freedom issues and the role of the United Nations in the process.
Participants of the workshop held in Baidoa described it as timely and thanked UNSOM for its role in the professional development of journalists. “We have learnt a lot during the training. We were taught how to report in an unbiased, accurate and professional fashion on news about the electoral process, the importance of empowering women and the 30 per cent quota reserved for women in parliament, among other topics,” SWS radio journalist Shukri Ismail Ahmed said.
Warsan Radio journalist Adan Hassan Osman (Geesey) said, “We were told about challenges journalists might face and how to overcome those during the 2016 electoral process and also how to report effectively.” Interim South West Administration Minister of Information, Hassan Abdi Mohamed, congratulated UNSOM for organizing the training. “The most important thing the journalists were taught during the two-day training was to be impartial, truthful and accurate in their reporting,” Minister Hassan said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“In spite of all this savagery, the fight for the hearts, soul and mind of the civilian population pressed on. It was very important not only to defeat the enemy on the battlefield, but also to establish a relationship with the people. By 2012, Amisom hospitals and outpatient clinics would provide free medical treatment to more than 12,000 Somalis every month, including wounded enemy fighters.”
UPDF Wins Hearts And Minds In Somalia
25 August – Source: Daily Monitor – 2,120 Words
He could hardly eat and had not spoken a word in seven months. He also cried endlessly. Awesi, a six-year-old Somali boy, had lost his family members in an Improvised Explosive Device attack in 2011. The explosion ripped through the family house, killing everybody inside. The little boy was outside the house playing with friends when the bomb went off.
He survived the impact of thunderous blast. But he was badly injured, there were deep cuts across his chest, legs and on the head. When they found him, Awesi was barely alive but the UPDF rescue team rushed the poor soul to the Amisom hospital. In the hospital, he refused to eat or talk to anyone. Was it the shock? What was to be done with Awesi?
But it would not end just yet for him. Patient inquiry by the soldiers eventually led to information that his grandmother lived in one of the Mogadishu suburbs. She was traced and brought to the hospital to care for young Awesi. Slowly, Awesi began to communicate but he would only speak to his grandmother. Ms Pamela Ankunda, formerly working with the Uganda Media Centre, was in Mogadishu at the time. She remembers how hard it was in the beginning to get the little boy to open up.
“We bought him sweets and biscuits to convince him to talk but he refused. He instead asked for a toy gun,” Ms Ankunda, who is now at Internal Affairs, says. And it was through his grandmother that he asked for the ‘gun’. But something of a miracle later happened after the seventh month. One day, he smiled and started talking to the Ugandan military medics who were treating him. Through his grandmother, he was asked whether he liked football, to which he answered yes. When he received the ball, he smiled and from then started talking to the medics even in the absence of his grandmother.
TOP TWEETS
@UnfpaComores: Japanese funding provided health system support for reduction of maternal & neonatal deaths & related illnesses #Somalia #TICAD6
@lasoco : Somalia: Jubbaland Assists Kenya Fight Against Al Shabaab – http://AllAfrica.com http://j.mp/2bTPMhc #Somalia
@nothiefs : Car bomb followed by ongoing gunfire, #AlShabaabattacks #Mogadishu‘s Banadir Beach #Somalia
@africaarguments : In March, the US launched its deadliest ever airstrike. It was in #Somalia. http://buff.ly/2bj71vv
@alijira : “Security,peace,
@ferigom69 : Somalia is at a “good turning point,” says UNDP Head Helen Clark | @scoopit http://sco.lt/5iXKlN #Somalia
@Mr_Omarsson : Indeed. Ownership is a key. Only #Somaliscan know their needs and how to prioritise #SOM @SomaliaEU#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark described the country as being “at a good turning point” during her visit to the Somali capital.
Photo: UNSOM