November 28, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Security Forces Impound Explosives In Hiiraan
28 November – Source: Jowhar.com – 111 Words
Somalia’s Intelligence and Security Agency officers on Sunday impounded explosives and other military supply that was hidden by Al-Shabaab in El-Gal settlement, 75 km southwest of Beledweyne. The explosives seized include landmines, improvised explosive devices and other bomb-making materials, according to the NISA commander of Hiiraan region, Hassan Kaafi Mohamed Ibrahim.
Speaking to local media, Ibrahim said the operation came following a tip-off from locals in the area, saying that the area served as Al-Shabaab’s explosives depot that was being transported to various towns in the region. NISA officers in Hiiraan have been recently conducting constant operations in and outside Beledweyne aimed at beefing up security in the region.
Key Headlines
- Somali Security Forces Impound Explosives In Hiiraan (Jowhar.com)
- Egypt Sends 15 Teachers To Somalia As Part Of Education Sector Development(Goobjoog News)
- Jostling Disputes Mar Selection Of Delegates For Northern Regions (Jowhar.com)
- Passengers Stranded At JKIA After Somalia Airplane Crash Landed On Runway (The Star Kenya)
- Obama Expands War With Al Qaeda To Include Shabab In Somalia ( New York Times)
- War On Terror Being Won By Brain Power Not Gunpowder Say Security Bosses (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Egypt Sends 15 Teachers To Somalia As Part Of Education Sector Development
28 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 282 Words
Egypt has sent the first batch of 15 teachers and administrators to Somalia as part of the its efforts to rebuild the education sector in Somalia following a bilateral agreement between the two countries.The teachers who arrived this past week in Mogadishu will run two primary schools in Mogadishu where students will be offered free education with more teachers expected to arrive in the country in the near future.The Egyptian Consular General Taamir Safwat El-Mahdy in Somalia told Goobjoog News the teachers who are under employment of the Egyptian government will start working at Sheikh Hassan Barsame and 15th May Schools in Mogadishu prior to building other schools.“The teachers will initially work at the Sheikh Hassan Barsame and 15th May Schools in Mogadishu before we build new schools. We expect more teachers from Egypt to come to Mogadishu in the near future,” said El-Mahdy.
The diplomat said the decision to deploy teachers in Somalia was in line with his country’s efforts to continue its legacy of contributing to the enhancement of the education sector in Somalia. During the Siad Barre regime which ended in 1991, Egypt and Somalia engaged in various educational exchange and capacity building programmes. This saw many Somali students further their studies through scholarships in Egypt.One of the teachers, Mohamed Sa’ad said the teachers were ready to begin work in Somalia and looking forward to more teachers coming into the country. He added their arrival was based on his country’s planning to take part in the reconstruction of Somalia’s education sector. “The Egyptian government has been planning to re-open and revamp the education sector once Somalia stabilizes and the time has come,” noted Sa’ad.
Jostling, Disputes Mar Selection Of Delegates For Northern Regions
28 November – Source: Jowhar.com – 198 Words
Days before the election of lower and upper house members from Northern regions kick off in Mogadishu, cracks have emerged on the selection of delegates who will elect the same. The dispute and jostling has taken its toll on the electoral process causing delays even as other regional states conclude their election.Sources indicate information minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Maareeye is at the center of the dispute after coming up with his own delegation list contrary to the one fronted by the Sultan of Habar Je’lo clan. Mareeye’s list has been signed by an elder who is not among the 135 elders recognized by the electoral process as the clan’s elder is reportedly hospitalized in Mogadishu.
Sources indicate the Minister enjoys rosy relations with his clan’s elder who favors his competitor Najib Yusuf Osman. The elder is also allied to the Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke who is campaigning and banking on the support of the Northern members. Both Sharmarke and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud have intensified efforts to woo the North which has 11 upper house members and 47 lower house members, making it one of the vote rich regions of the country in the upcoming presidential elections.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Passengers Stranded At JKIA After Somalia Airplane Crash Landed On Runway
28 November – Source: The Star, Kenya- 162 Words
Several passengers are still stranded at JKIA after an airplane from Somalia crash landed on the runway on Sunday evening.Officials said an aircraft from Somalia made an emergency landing on its belly and veered off the runway.Four people who were on board escaped unhurt.The officials said the runway was temporarily closed to evacuate the aircraft.Passengers coming from various airports and those taking off from JKIA were stranded for up to eight hours as officials worked to remove the plane from the scene.The runway was cleared at midnightafter many flights had been canceled.
The passengers are being cleared slowly.”It has not been an easy night due to the runway closure, we are glad 99 per cent of our diverted flights have already landed in Nairobi,” KQ said via twitter.Kenya Airways said they expect spillover delays on Monday’s operations due to the closure.”Keep checking our website for updated departure times,” the national carrier said.
Obama Expands War With Al Qaeda To Include Shabab In Somalia
27 November – Source: The New York Times – 1559 Words
The escalating American military engagement in Somalia has led the Obama administration to expand the legal scope of the war against Al Qaeda, a move that will strengthen President-elect Donald J. Trump’s authority to combat thousands of Islamist fighters in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation.The administration has decided to deem the Shabab, the Islamist militant group in Somalia, to be part of the armed conflict that Congress authorized against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to senior American officials. The move is intended to shore up the legal basis for an intensifying campaign of airstrikes and other counterterrorism operations, carried out largely in support of African Union and Somali government forces.
The executive branch’s stretching of the 2001 war authorization against the original Al Qaeda to cover other Islamist groups in countries far from Afghanistan — even ones, like the Shabab, that did not exist at the time — has prompted recurring objections from some legal and foreign policy experts.The Shabab decision is expected to be publicly disclosed next month in a letter to Congress listing global deployments. It is part of the Obama administration’s pattern of relaxing various self-imposed rules for airstrikes against Islamist militants as it tries to help its partner forces in several conflicts.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Kenya experienced three attacks with 21 deaths after July 2015, an analysis of media reports shows. The war is by no means won, however, and terrorists can stage an attack anywhere any time, but the days when they threw grenades into buses and churches and put the country under siege appear behind us.”
War On Terror Being Won By Brain Power Not Gunpowder, Say Security Bosses
28 November – Source: Daily Nation – 1605 Words
After being beaten bloody by the Somali terror group — whose members sauntered through a mall shooting shoppers and slaughtered students at a university — Kenya is finally learning how to fight the extremists.Even though Al-Shabaab dealt Kenya the worst military defeat on record last year, when it breached the security of the El Ade base and massacred service personnel, the group’s ability to carry out attacks further from the border is a lot less today than it was three years ago.
Global Terrorism Database statistics show terror attacks declined by more than three quarters in 2015 from the previous year. The National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) says terrorist incidents have gone down even further this year, with most of them taking place in towns bordering Somalia.
Some 1,007 Kenyans were killed in terrorism related incidents between 2008 and October this year. Between 2008 and July 2015, Kenya experienced 340 terrorist attacks by local and international perpetrators, 986 deaths and at least 1,520 injuries, according to US-based National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
Kenya experienced three attacks with 21 deaths after July 2015, an analysis of media reports shows. The war is by no means won, however, and terrorists can stage an attack anywhere any time, but the days when they threw grenades into buses and churches and put the country under siege appear behind us. So what has worked?First, fighting terrorism has become the business of all armed services — police, prison warders, game rangers and, particularly, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and its shadowy intelligence resources whose methods are reportedly brutal but effective.
Secondly, there seems to have been a realisation that it is not good having agencies working at cross purposes and, at times, shooting one another. Lacking Coordination: Kenyan security forces had, in the immediate aftermath of the September 2013 Westgate Mall terror attack, been blamed for lacking coordination, giving the Islamist militants room to operate. The most notable blunder resulted from a misunderstanding between the elite Reconnaissance (Recce) Squad of the General Service Unit (GSU) and the KDF, who were called in to end the siege. The Recce Squad was forced to withdraw after friendly fire directed at them injured several officers.
TOP TWEETS
@nuurist:While addressing 4th AU Annual #HumanitarianSymposium , @AMB_Affey thanked the @AU_PSD for its positive role in stabilisation of #Somalia
@t_mcconnell:Men made a mess of #Somalia, now women want a chance to fix it https://yhoo.it/2gmI9km my @AFP report
@omabha:Passengers stranded at JKIA after Somalia airplane crash landed on runway – The Star, Kenya http://dlvr.it/Mlz972 #Somalia
@MSFNairobi:#Ethiopia: Refugees in border town of Dolo Ado escape drought and insecurity of #Somaliahttp://buff.ly/2gxkWLk
@omabha:Two women defy the odds to run for president in Somalia – africanews http://dlvr.it/Mlyfnw #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
UNHCR Special Envoy, Mohamed Abdi Affey addresses the AU Annual Humanitarian Symposium.
Photo: @nuurist