19 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Mogadishu bomb targets police car wounds 6 people
- Médecins Sans Frontières seeks swift release of two abducted staff without use of force and continues medical activities to assist Somali population
- Al Shabaab arrest sympathizers of Kenyan troops
- Al Shabaa deny any involvement with yesterday’s suicide attack
- Kenyan troops reinforce position in southern Somalia
- Kenyan forces kill 75 Somali militants
- Investigation on foreign nationals held on Mogadishu coastlines continues
- Security forces foil suicide bombing
PRESS RELEASE
Médecins Sans Frontières seeks swift release of two abducted staff without use of force and continues medical activities to assist Somali population
19 Oct- Source: MSF- 420 words
Following the abduction of two MSF staff in Dadaab, Kenya, on 13 October, the international medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has no verifiable information on the identity or motives of the abductors. MSF firmly and clearly disassociates itself from any armed activities and related declarations launched following the abduction. MSF is actively and fully engaging with all relevant actors in order to seek a safe resolution of the abduction. Abductions are extremely complex and need to be handled with care, therefore MSF is very concerned that security and the resolution of the incident could be compromised by any use of force being related to the case.
“MSF is currently engaging with all relevant actors to seek the safe and swift release of our colleagues and any use of force could endanger this,” says Jose Antonio Bastos, President of MSF in Spain. “We want to strongly distance ourselves from any military or other armed activities, declarations or presumptions of responsibility related to this case.”
MSF continues to provide assistance to people affected by the current crisis in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, despite the already highly complex security environment. As a result of the attack, MSF has temporarily suspended activities in Ifo 2 camp, Dadaab, where the abduction took place. These activities include two health posts and mobile clinics that were providing primary healthcare, reproductive health and antenatal care, routine vaccination programs and referral services for secondary healthcare.
In Dagahaley camp, MSF has ensured the continuation of life-saving medical activities in the 243-bed hospital, with nearly 200 patients being treated in the in-patient therapeutic feeding centre. However, five health posts had to be momentarily suspended and medical teams are currently on stand-by, ready to resume all activities as soon as security conditions allow it. Part of the nutritional program, which was treating 15,000 people, was also put on hold.
MSF has been working in Somalia continuously since 1991 and currently operates 13 projects in the country, including medical activities related to the current emergency, vaccination and nutritional interventions. In running such programs, MSF maintains an ongoing dialogue with key actors on the ground. In Dadaab, Kenya, MSF resumed operations in 2009, while it also assists Somali refugees in the camps of Dolo Ado, Ethiopia.
“We are deeply concerned about the fate of our two colleagues. MSF is committed to continue providing healthcare to the Somali population in and outside Somalia,” says Bastos, “but the level of assistance to populations is being deeply impacted by such attacks. It is extremely alarming”.
SOMALI MEDIA
Al Shabaab arrest sympathizers of Kenyan troops
19 Oct- Source: Radio Shabelle- 93 words
Al Shabaab have arrested 18 people suspected of supporting the Kenyan troops.
Al Shabaab militants seized the suspects, including prominent businessmen in a major operations conducted in Afmadow District, Southwestern Somalia.
Al Shabaab officials have warned locals against supporting the Kenyan forces. The officials also warned of severe consequences for Somalis accompanying the Kenyan army.
Security forces foil suicide bombing
19 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, SONNA- 234 words
Three civilians and a suicide bomber were killed and 23 civilians were injured in a foiled suicide bombing near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Mogadishu.
The suicide bomber lost control of the car and hit a wall when mobile security forces patrolling the city approached him.
The Minister of Interior and National Security, Abdisamad Mo’allin Mohamud visited the scene and condemned it as a desperate attack by al Shabaab.
“The attack appears to be a continuation of attacks by the extremists against the civilians,” he said.
The Minister of Interior announced a reward to anyone providing information about activities of a possible suicide bomber. The Government will assure complete confidentiality and will not reveal any name, contact or any other identifiable information on that mission.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Defense, Hussein Arab Isse, said that Somali Armed forces will continue to liberate the country from the ruthless rule of the terrorists.
“We will not be deterred by these coward acts. We ask al Shabaab to face us in the frontlines instead of attacking soft targets (such as) innocent civilians,” the defense minister said.
The Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed, sent condolences to the families of the victims and hopes a speedy recovery for the wounded. He added that the bombing showed again that terrorism is the common enemy of the Somali people and the world and must be fought resolutely.
Defiant elders fight back against al Shabaab order
19 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 208 words
Traditional elders in Bay and Bakol regions have hit back and defied al Shabaab’s recent orders compelling locals to join its militias in effort to fight against Kenyan troops advancing towards rebel-strongholds in Lower Jubba.
Issack Yonis, one of the area traditional elders, conformed to Bar-kulan that they will defy al Shabaab’s call, saying that people in these regions need to work on development and peace in the region.
He urged rebel leaders to stop luring youths in Bay and Bakol regions into their war against Kenyan troops.
Al Shabaab rebel leaders in Baidoa have on Tuesday morning compelled locals to join their militias in lower Jubba to hunker down for battle with advancing Kenyan and government troops.
Using loudspeakers mounted on pick-up trucks, the rebel group asked people in Baidoa to take part in the fight against Kenyan troops, which they accused of invading Somalia.
Al Shabaab leader Adan Ali called on people to take part in what he called a Holy war against aggressors, ordering them to immediately register with them.
He threatened that his administration will punish those who refuse to join their war against Kenyan troops.
Al Shabaab’s orders come a time Kenyan government is reportedly advancing on rebel held Afmadow town, 120 KM from Kenyan border.
Al Shabaab deny any involvement with yesterday’s suicide attack
18 Oct- Source: Mareeg Online, Shabelle, BBC Somali Service- 110 words
Al Shabaab have completely denied that it was involved in the car bomb attack which occurred in the Somali capital Mogadishu yesterday, killing over 10 people and injuring 20 others, officials said.
Al Shabaab officials refused to admit any involvement in yesterday suicide attack that happened at Ex-foreign affairs ministry, between two very busy junctions Benadir and Zope.
5 of the injured in Madina and Benadir hospitals in Mogadishu are reported to have died while other 20 others were still in both those hospitals as medical staff confirmed it to the local F.M stations in Mogadishu this morning.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Al Shabaab compel locals in Baidoa to join their fight against Kenyan troops in Lower Juba
18 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 118 words
Al Shabaab rebels in Baidoa have on Tuesday morning compelled locals to join their militias in lower Jubba to hunker down for battle with advancing Kenyan and government troops, reports say.
Using loudspeakers mounted on pick-up trucks, the rebel group asked people in Baidoa to take part in the fight against Kenyan troops which they accused of invading Somalia.
Al Shabaab leader Adan Ali called on people to take part in what he called a Holy war against aggressors, ordering them to immediately register with them.
He threatened that his administration will punish those who refuse to join their war against Kenyan troops.
Al Shabaab’s orders comes a time Kenyan government is reportedly advancing on rebel-held Afmadow town, 120 KM from Kenyan border.
Al Shabaab to Kenya: ‘pull your troops out of Somalia’
19 Oct- Source: Radio BBC Somali Service, Star FM- 126 words
Al Shabaab have threatened to conduct a retaliatory attack if the Government of Kenya does not pullout its troops from Somalia.
Speaking to the BBC Somali service yesterday, al Shabaab spokesman Ali Rage appealed to the Kenyan public to convince their government to take their troops back.
The threat by the militant group came two days after Kenyan military forces launched an operation against al Shabaab for alleged kidnappings.
The Kenyan Government has vowed to take an aerial and ground operation to push the militants back.
There were reports that Kenyan forces entered Afmadow town in Somalia 100 kilometer from the boarder.
It came after Kenyan forces entered Qoqani town after days of aerial bombardment with support of tanks and other military vehicles.
Grenade attack on radio Galkayo in Puntland
19 Oct- Source: Raxanreeb, Radio Kulmiye, NUSJOS – 596 words
Unknown assailants attacked with hand grenades Radio Galkayo station in the self-autonomous state of Puntland of Somalia yesterday evening, around 06:50PM local time.
The attackers threw a bomb from a back fence of the station and damaged the back wall and windows of the office of the station’s director. No human casualties were reported.
“We don’t know why we are attacked and we do not know who did the attack”, said Abdullahi Hersi Adde, the managing director of Radio Galkayo who spoke to NUSOJ. “We have been lucky that nobody was harmed in the attack and all the staff are fine now. But we are in fear now, we are very much worried about our safety”, lameted the director Mr. Adde.
“We condemn the attack on the radio station and we call the authorities of the region to fully investigate the event and at the same time to protect the journalists and the station facilities”, said Burhaan Daahir, NUSOJ president.
http://www.raxanreeb.com/?p=
Tension is high in Elwak town, military movements reported
19 Oct- Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye- 119 words
The situation in Elwak town in Gedo region of southern Somalia is very tense as the Somali government and al Shabaab fighters are making military maneuvers.
On Tuesday, a large number of Kenyan forces poured in the town of Elwak to pursue al Shabaab fighters whom they accused of kidnapping foreigners inside Kenya.
Latest reports suggested that al Shabaab fighters are stationed outside of the town after moving from Busar village, about 40 kilometers from Elwak.
Col. Ahmed Mohamoud Abdi, the spokesman of Somali forces in Elwak told Shabelle radio that Somali soldiers with the help of Kenyan troops halted the planned offensive against the rebel group after heavy torrential rains in the region.
Injuries, death toll go up following Tuesday’s uicide attack in Mogadishu
19 Oct- Source: Radio Kulmiye, Shabelle, Radio Mogadishu, Risaala- 80 words
The number of injured people and the death toll result of Tuesday’s suicide attack in Mogadishu has gone up, according to medics. At least five people have been so far confirmed dead and more 30 others injured, medical sources in Mogadishu told local media.
A suicide car bomber on Tuesday blew himself up near the headquarters of Somalia’s former foreign ministry.
Residents flee from Afmadow
19 Oct- Source: Diirad- 93 words
Residents in Afmadow district of lower Jubba region are reported to have begun fleeing from homes as the Somali national army, Ras Kamboni movement and Kenyan troops are close to the city, reports said.
There is also tension in Elwak district between TFG forces backed by Kenyan forces and al Shabaab this morning, government officials told reporters.
http://www.diirad.com/news-in-
Investigation on foreign nationals held on Mogadishu coastlines continues
19 Oct- Source: Shabelle- 100 words
The police forces of Somali interim federal government are still probing the Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals who were arrested on Mogadishu’s coastlines a day ago, navy chief said on Wednesday.
Speaking to Shabelle radio, Admiral Farah Ahmed Omar Qarre, Somalia’s navy chief said that the seven foreigners, who were captured with a boat carrying weapons at Mogadishu’s coastline of Lido, were being fully probed.
The police forces will continue the investigations and details will be available later, Qarre said.
http://shabelle.net/article.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenyan forces kill 75 Somali militants
19 Oct- Source: the Standard- 1016 words
Kenyan soldiers with the help of the Somali Transitional Federal Government forces announced that they have killed 75 al Shabaab terrorists since the Operation Linda Nchi began.
The troops backed by TFG soldiers have now secured the towns of Qoqani, Tabda and Afmadow in Somalia. No casualties were reported on the Kenyan side and the port of Kismayu on Somalia’s coastline is the next clear target as the war enters Day Five today. Even as Kenya’s military made steady gains, a car bomb exploded some kilometres from the venue where Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula and Defence Minister Yusuf Haji were meeting with representatives of the TFG in Mogadishu.
It occurred as Haji and Wetangula — who also met TFG President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed — were at the city’s main airport for talks with Somali government officials on the way forward in the fight.
It was not immediately clear if the two events were linked.
“There was heavy explosion near the Foreign Affairs ministry building,” said Mr Mohamed Adan, Somalia Government official said.
“It was a car bomb that exploded, but we don’t know what it was targeting,” the witness, Mr Ali Abdi Rahman told AFP.
Witnesses said they saw the dead bodies of two people but could not identify whether they were civilians.
In Afmadow, a rebel stronghold, warplanes swooped low. A senior commander of a militia group allied to the Western-backed Somalia Government said his fighters were stationed about 12km outside Afmadow as pounding rain slowed the advance.
“We are in the village of Cag Libaax, 12km to the west of Afmadow. We are heading to Afmadow, but we are slowed by rains and muddy soils,” said Abdinasir Serar.
Kenya, Somalia seal pact to hit Shabaab
18 Oct- Source: Daily Nation- 397 words
The Kenya and Somali governments on Tuesday agreed on a joint strategy to wipe out the al Shabaab militants.
As Kenyan troops moved deeper into Somalia, taking ground previously held by the militant group, a meeting in Mogadishu attended by Kenyan Foreign minister Moses Wetang’ula, Defence minister Yusuf Haji and Somalia President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed, discussed the joint military offensive against the insurgents.
But even as the meeting took place, the Somali capital was rocked by a huge car bomb explosion outside the former Foreign Affairs building.
At the battle front, the military declared that it will intensify its operations targeting al Shabaab strongholds.
“Our forces will be concentrating on operations in Afmadow region today,” said Kenya army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir.
Kenyan troops have pushed at least 120 kilometres into Somalia to reach Afmadow region, guided by pro-government Somali forces, backed by heavy aerial bombardments, but slowed down by heavy rains pounding the region.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
Ruling on piracy trials illegal, top court told
18 Oct- Source: Daily Nation- 344 words
A judge’s ruling in a piracy case has been criticised as unlawful and a transgression of the Penal Code.
Public Prosecutions director Keriako Tobiko told the Court of Appeal that Mr Justice Mohammed Ibrahim erred in relying on scholarly articles instead of the law and existing judgments.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Ibrahim, now a Supreme Court judge, ended the prosecution of nine suspected Somali pirates on grounds that Kenyan courts lacked powers to deal with events outside Kenyan territorial waters.
Through special prosecutor Patrick Kiage, Mr Tobiko also accused the judge of deliberately delaying delivery of the judgment for eight months.
Mr Kiage argued that whereas the matter was a criminal offence, the judge used maritime commercial law to rule that Kenyan courts have no jurisdiction to try and prosecute piracy cases.
Ship hijacking cases off Somalia coast fall sharply
18 Oct- Source: Business Daily 405 words
The number of ships hijacked off the coast of Somali continued to fall sharply due to patrols and intervention by international naval forces, raising hope for gradual reduction in the cost of freight services along the key sea route.
Despite piracy on the world’s seas having risen to a record high this year, statistics released on Tuesday show that Somali pirates have only managed to hijack 24 vessels off the country’s coastline in the nine months to September compared to 35 in a similar period last year, marking a 31 per cent drop.
Hijackings were successful in just 12 per cent of all 199 attempts this year, down from 28 per cent in a similar period in 2010 when 126 were taken over, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.
“Somali pirates are finding it harder to hijack ships and get the ransom they ask for. The navies deserve to be complimented on their excellent work.
They are a vital force in deterring and disrupting pirate activity,” IBM director Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement.
Several international navies including the US, France, Russia, and Britain are currently active on the waters around the Gulf of Aden which is a key route that connects markets in Africa to Europe, Asia and even the Americas.
German Navy in search for missing Kenyans
18 Oct- Source: Nairobi Star- 358 words
A German team is helping in the search for seven Kenyan fishermen who were lost at sea near the Kenya-Somali border more than a week ago. The German Navy and a helicopter abandoned a ship they were escorting, when its commanders heard that there were Kenyans who needed help.
The team set out to sea on Sunday evening, but by yesterday they had not found the fishermen. The Editor of Somalia Report Andrew Mwangura said the fishermen had been reportedly seen 40 nautical miles from South of Kismayu in Somalia, where they had anchored. “When the German Navy intervened and promised to rescue the team, they went up to the area and did a water and aerial search but to no avail. As we speak, they have returned with bad news that they did not trace the fishermen,” said Mwangura.
Reports had indicated that Kenya Navy officers had seen a fishing vessel anchored in the area during their patrols, but it was difficult to reach to them. The Germans had to abandon the search and continue the escorting the ship and patrolling the Indian Ocean.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali roadside bomb injures four people in Mogadishu
19 Oct- Source: Reuters, AFP – 66 words
A roadside bomb in Hamar-jajab district in Mogadishu injured four civilians Wednesday and a man was arrested carrying another explosive device, police said.Abdullahi Nur, a police captain, said the bomb appeared to target a police car. “A few minutes later we captured a man carrying another remotely controlled bomb,” Nur said.
The injured were taken to the hospital, while no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
French hostage taken from Kenya to Somalia dies
19 Oct- ABC News, AP- 110 words
France’s Foreign Ministry says a Frenchwoman who was taken hostage off a resort in northern Kenya and had been held in Somalia has died.
The ministry says in a statement that unspecified “contacts” had indicated to French officials that Marie Dedieu had died but that the date and circumstances of her death were not immediately clear.
The ministry said Wednesday that the kidnappers “probably refused to give her the medication we sent her.” Kenya’s government blamed the attack on Somali militants from the al-Shabab group.
Dedieu, who French officials said was in her 60s, was captured from an island resort near the northern Kenyan town of Lamu on Oct. 1.
http://abcnews.go.com/
4m people remain in crisis: Somalia
19 Oct- Source: China Daily, Xinhua- 122 words
In Somalia, 4 million people remains in crisis, including 1.8 million in humanitarian emergency and 830,000 in an acute food and livelihood crisis, the United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said here on Tuesday.
OCHA spokesperson Elizabeth Byears said the October to December rains had started in theregion and would provide much needed relief for many areas affected by dryness in the Horn of Africa.
However, the rainfall was not be well-distributed. The south of Somalia had seen little to norainfall which was expected to exacerbate the drought, result in unfavorable conditions forupcoming cropping activities and further deplete water resources.
At the same time, torrential rain had hit drought displaced families living in camps in Mogadishu,causing additional suffers to the displaced.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
Mogadishu bomb targets police car, wounds 6 people
19 Oct- Source: Reuters- 170 words
A remotely detonated bomb exploded near the seaport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Wednesday, wounding six people and a man was arrested carrying another explosive device, police said.
Abdullahi Nur, a police captain, said the bomb appeared to target a police car. The attack happened a day after a suicide bomber killed six people in the city following threats from al Qaeda-linked rebels of a wave of strikes on government targets.
“The bomb in the bag was remotely controlled. A mobile phone was used to detonate it,” Nur said. The police car was not hit, he added.
“A few minutes later we captured a man carrying another remotely controlled bomb,” Nur said.
Earlier this month, a suicide truck bomb claimed by the al Shabaab group killed more than 70 people inside a compound housing government ministries, the militants’ deadliest attack in the country since launching an insurgency in early 2007.
The rebels have pulled almost all their combatants out of Mogadishu but had vowed more attacks on the city.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
Kenyan troops reinforce position in southern Somalia
19 Oct- Source: AFP- 271 words
Kenyan troops reinforced positions in southern Somalia in preparation for fresh assaults against the Al-Qaeda linked Islamist Shebab militia, army officials said Wednesday.
“Our forces are in good shape to fight this battle to the end,” said army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir, on the fourth day since Kenya declared war on the Shebab militia and confirmed it had sent its army across the border.
The main forward base of Kenyan operations is at Qoqani, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) as they prepare to push forward to seize Afmadow, which Somali government forces are fighting to secure.
“Elements of them (Somali government forces) are in Afmadow, and we are working hand-inhand with them, gathering information and intelligence,” Chirchir added.
Heavy air strikes are reported to have been hitting Shebab positions in efforts to dislodge the militants, before Kenyan-backed Somali government ground troops move in to drive out rebels, according to witnesses.
“Our aircraft are involved in the operations,” Chirchir said, adding that Kenya was “cooperating” with Somali government forces and aligned militia forces.
Pro-government gunmen from the Ras Kamboni militia group have also been fighting against Shebab insurgents.
Officials said the only Kenyan casualties had been the crash of a military helicopter inside Kenya, reportedly due to mechanical failure.
“In terms of injuries, the first attack saw the death of 73 Shebab, while on our own side the only casualties so far was the coming down of the helicopter, with the death of five Kenyan soldiers,” Chirchir said.
However, a police source in the Kenyan border town of Garissa told AFP that there were Kenyan casualties, including both dead and wounded soldiers.
Somali raiders cause increase in global piracy
18 Oct – Source: Washington Times – 327 words
Piracy has risen to record levels this year, with Somalia’s 21st-century buccaneers responsible more than half of it, according to new figures from the International Maritime Bureau.
The bureau, part of the global business advocacy group the International Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday there had been 352 attacks in 2011 up to the end of September.
“Figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past nine months are higher than we’ve ever recorded in the same period of any past year,” said bureau Director Pottengal Mukundan, who has monitored global piracy since 1991.
He said Somali pirates attacked 199 vessels this year, up from 126 for the first nine months of last year. But he also noted that fewer of their attacks were succeeding.
Only 24 vessels were hijacked successfully this year compared with 35 for the same period in 2010, the bureau said – a 12 percent success rate, down from 28 percent in 2010.
“Somali pirates are finding it harder to hijack ships and get the ransom they ask for,” said Mr. Mukundan, calling on the international naval forces now deployed in the area to be “maintained or increased.”
Robert Young Pelton, who monitors pirate activity for his website Somaliareport.com, told The Washington Times the decrease is largely due to improved onboard security measures, like blocking access points from the sea with barbed wire and hardening engine control rooms so that crews can hide while awaiting rescue.
But he warned that Somali pirates, thwarted in hijacking larger vessels by new security measures, are turning increasingly to kidnapping tourists and seizing smaller vessels like fishing boats.
“You can get $4.5 million for a bulk container,” he said, “but that might take you months or even a year” to negotiate and get the money.
A Western tourist is worth as much as half a million dollars, he said.
“The pirates are creative,” he said. “They are entrepreneurial – they morph. Every time we stop them, they come up with something new.”
http://www.washingtontimes.