27 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Official: Al Shabaab leaders contact Kenyan government to negotiate
- Kenya has right to pursue al Shabaab: Somali PM
- 8 dead in rifle attack in Lafey area of Mandera
- Somali Police conduct security operations in Mogadishu
- Al Shabaab arrest 15 people in Baidoa for supporting the TFG
- Puntland arrests 13 al Shabaab suspects
- Kenya spokesman rules out al Shabaab role in grenade attacks
- President Farole of Puntland welcomes Kenyan interference
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president warns soldiers against harming civilians
27 Oct – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle and Bar-Kulan – 94 words
The president of Somalia on Wednesday warned government soldiers against harming civilians. Speaking at news conference held in Mogadishu, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told soldiers of his government to make more efforts in assuring internal security and sacrificing their selves because of their people.
Somali Police conduct security operations in Mogadishu
26 Oct – Source: Bariga Afrika – 80 words
The Somali transitional federal police force yesterday carried out search operations in parts of Banadir region, aimed at ensuring the security of the city. Most areas where the Somali police conducted the operations were around the KM4 junction, through which hundreds of civilians and cars travel through everyday. Security officials confirmed that today’s search operations were intended at ensuring the safety measures of Banadir region where reiterated explosions cropped up for the past few weeks.
http://www.barigaafrika.com/
Somali PM: Kenyan forces entered Somalia with our acceptance
27 Oct – Source: Shabelle, BBC Somali Service and Mareeg Online – 148 words
The Somali interim federal prime minister yesterday said that the Kenyan forces entered Somalia with the acceptance of theirs.
In an interview with BBC Somali Service, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the premier of war torn Somalia said the Kenyan forces are supporting Somali soldiers in battling against al Shabaab in southern Somalia. He said that al Shabaab caused many problems in Somalia and neighboring Kenya and said that both countries have to make a common cause against the militant group. The premier said that al Shabaab have several times kidnapped foreigners from Kenya.
Ali spelled out that the joint press conference held in Mogadishu on Wednesday by Somali president, his premier and defense minister was aimed at the president to make clear that his previous statement against Kenyan incursion was translated in an invalid way.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Al Shabaab arrest 15 people in Baidoa for supporting the TFG
26 Oct – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 113 words
Al Shabaab yesterday arrested 15 people in Baidoa town who were accused of being supporters of the Somali government. The detained people are said to be elderly people and young men who were rounded up while in shopping centers and tea kiosks.
Reports say armed militants descended on tea kiosks and shopping centers in Baidoa’s main market and rounded up people they suspected to be government supporters. Some relatives of the detained people told Bar-Kulan that the militia refused them to receive visits from relatives during their custody. The militia threatened to take decisive measures against any of their detainees found to be government supporters once they finish their investigation.
Puntland arrests 13 al Shabaab suspects
27 Oct – Source: Somalia report – 94 words
Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland arrested 13 men who were allegedly linked to the al Shabaab terrorist group after police conducted large-scale operations to hunt down al Shabaab fighters, according to Puntland’s police commander who spoke to Somalia Report. “Over the last two weeks we have conducted a number of large operations in Puntland including our larger cities of Bosaso, Garowe and Galka`ayo. We captured 13 al Shabaab fighters who were planning to create insecurity in the region. Soon we will take them to court to be charged” said Puntland Police Commander General Ali Nuur.
President Farole of Puntland welcomes Kenyan interference
27 Oct – Source: Mareeg Online – 96 words
Abdirahman Sheikh Mohamud Farole, president of Puntland State, northeast regions has warmly welcomed Kenyan military operation in Somalia saying that al Qaeda group was in Somalia, reports said. President of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland Abdurrahman Sheikh Mohamud Farole welcomed the Kenyan army who got into Somali territory to fight against al Shabaab in Jubba Valley regions, southern Somalia. He stated that he would welcome Kenyan forces in Puntland.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Somali deportees from Netherlands held in Kenya
27 Oct – Source: Bar-kulan – 162 words
Two Somali nationals who were deported from Netherlands after their refugee status were rejected few days ago are in Kenyan custody. The deportees, Ali Mohamud Mohamed and Saleban Ibrahim are reportedly being held in Nairobi, Kenya after they were returned from Mogadishu.
Osman Abdi, a camp-mate of Mr. Mohamed told Bar-kulan that Dutch government deported the two after rejecting their refugee applications. He said the two were first brought to Kenya and immediately flown to Somalia but later they were returned to Kenya, where they are been held in custody. Abdi said he knew Mohamed for the last four years in Netherlands, where they were in the same refugee camp waiting for refugee status.
He added that Dutch authorities rejected Mohamad’s refugee application on October 19 of this year. Mohamud was immediately deported from Netherlands to East Africa together with Mr. Ibrahim whose refugee application was also rejected. It is not up to now clear why they are being held in Kenyan custody.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenya spokesman rules out al Shabaab role in grenade attacks
27 Oct – Source: the People – 222 words
The government has ruled out the involvement of al Shabaab militia in the recent twin grenade attacks in Nairobi. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the explosions were works of two young guys inspired by the militia. “It may have been two or three young guys inspired by Al-Shabaab leadership,” he said.
Police sources told The People that some suspects arrested in connection with the two attacks had confessed of having visited Somalia sometime last year and made contact with al Shabaab. The suspects reportedly confessed about their “soft heart” for the militia although they did not subscribe to it as members. One person was killed and 20 injured in the Monday [24 October] blasts, one at a nightclub and a second at a crowded downtown bus station.
The explosions came two days after the US embassy in Kenya warned it had credible information regarding an imminent terror attack. The embassy offered no details on who might carry out such an attack, but it said it had limited American government visits and urged citizens to consider deferring travel to Kenya.
The attack was likely to target places where foreigners congregate, the embassy said. Kenya has been on edge since it sent troops across the border into Somalia to pursue the al Shabaab militants, an extremist Islamic group the US and other countries consider a terrorist organization.
11 Somalis nabbed, ship impounded in Malindi
26 Oct – Source: Nairobi Star – 135 words
Police yesterday arrested 11 suspected Somali aliens at Robinson Island. They also impounded a ship with tea leaves at the jetty within the resort town. The 11 were arrested at an isolated island not far from Ngomeni during an operation following a tip off that some al Shabaab militia planned to sneek into the country.
The island is inhabited by fishermen and recently some people have arrived from Somalia following Kenya military incursion in Somali. The ship carrying tea leaves was on the way to Kismayu in Somali from Mombasa and had crew of seven.
Malindi police chief Wellington Choka said they arrested the aliens after an ambush. He said security operations will continue to protect the town which is a key tourist destination. Choka said no ship is being allowed to sail to Somalia.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
US welcome UNSC “unanimous” call to pursue Somali piracy kingpins
27 Oct – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 255 words
The United States welcomed UN Security Council’s “unanimous call to all nations in the world to continue their cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of all persons responsible for acts of piracy, armed robbery at sea, and kidnap for ransom off the coast of Somalia.” State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement, late on Wednesday, that this includes “key figures of criminal networks involved in piracy who illicitly plan, organize, facilitate, or finance and profit from such attacks.”
“We also welcome the further practical steps taken by the Council in support of national, regional and international efforts to prosecute pirates, and to enhance related prison capacity,” she added.
Nuland stressed that this development “is the latest indication of growing international consensus that these transnational criminals pose a serious shared security challenge for the safety and well-being of seafarers, global commerce and humanitarian aid.” Separately, the State Department confirmed that a U.S. citizen has been kidnapped in northern Somalia.
It said, “We remain concerned about the individual’s safety and well-being.” And affirmed that “we are working with contacts in Kenya and Somalia to ascertain further information and have been in contact with the individual’s family to provide all appropriate consular assistance.” “The United States condemns kidnappings of any kind, and we call for the immediate release of all of the victims involved,” it stressed.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/
8 dead in rifle attack in Lafey area of Mandera
27 Oct – Source: KTV, Al Jazeera – 35 words
8 people are feared dead in a grenade, assault rifle attack in a bus in Lafey area of Mandera. Kenyan forces ambushed by al Shabaab militants at Delbio, 3km from Taabta, no word yet about casualties
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Official: al Shabaab leaders contact Kenyan government to negotiate
27 Oct – Source: CNN – 211 words
Al Shabaab leaders contacted the Kenyan government to negotiate as its forces pursue the Islamist militants deeper into Somalia, a Kenyan government official told CNN on Thursday.
“They want to talk,” said the official, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to talk to the media. The Kenyan air force struck several al Shabaab training sites early Monday, a military spokesman said. The revelation comes a day after Somalia praised Kenya for helping battle the extremist group. The nation’s president thanked Kenya for working with the Somali transitional government “to stabilize Somalia” and training its soldiers as well as hosting (a) huge number of Somali refugees.”
Kenyan forces entered Somalia on October 15 in a strike on al Shabaab, a Somali militant group that Kenya blames for recent kidnappings of foreigners in the nation.
The Kenyan forces are ultimately seeking to take the Somali port city of Kismayo, described by the United Nations as a key stronghold and source of cash for al Shabaab. The United Nations estimates the group collects up to $50 million a year from businesses in Kismayo, about half of its annual income.
Kenyan officials declared self-defense justifies crossing the border with Somalia, saying a recent spate of kidnappings threatened its security and constituted an attack.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/
Kenyan motives in Somalia predate recent abductions
27 Oct – Source: New York Times – 1101 words
The Kenyan government revealed on Wednesday that its extensive military foray into Somalia this month to battle Islamist militants was not simply a response to a wave of recent kidnappings, as previously claimed, but was actually planned far in advance, part of a covert strategy to penetrate Somalia and keep the violence in one of Africa’s most anarchic countries from spilling into one of Africa’s most stable.
For several years, the American-backed Kenyan military has been secretly arming and training clan-based militias inside Somalia to safeguard Kenya’s borders and economic interests, especially a huge port to be built just 60 miles south of Somalia.
But now many diplomats, analysts and Kenyans fear that the country, by essentially invading southern Somalia, has bitten off far more than it can chew, opening itself up to terrorist reprisals and impeding the stressed relief efforts to save hundreds of thousands of starving Somalis.
Somalia has been a thorn in Kenya’s side ever since Kenya became independent in 1963. Somalia has become synonymous with famine, war and anarchy, while Kenya has become one of America’s closest African allies, a bastion of stability and a favorite of tourists worldwide.
Kenyan officials said it was becoming impossible to coexist with a failed state next door. They consider al Shabaab, a ruthless militant group that controls much of southern Somalia, a “clear and present danger,” responsible for piracy, militant attacks and cross-border raids.
When Kenya sent troops storming across Somalia’s border on Oct. 16, government officials initially said that they were chasing kidnappers who had recently abducted four Westerners inside Kenya, two from beachside bungalows, and that Kenya had to defend its tourism industry.
But on Wednesday, Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government’s chief spokesman, revised this rationale, saying the kidnappings were more of a “good launch pad.” “An operation of this magnitude is not planned in a week,” Mr. Mutua said. “It’s been in the pipeline for a while.”
Many analysts wonder how Kenya will be able to stabilize Somalia when the United Nations, the United States, Ethiopia and the African Union have all intervened before, with little success. They argue that the Kenyan operation seems uncoordinated and poorly planned, with hundreds of troops bogged down in the mud during seasonal rains.
Kenyan military officials also publicly said the United States and France were helping them, but both countries quickly distanced themselves from the operation, insisting that they were not taking part in the combat. “The invasion was a serious miscalculation, and the Kenyan economy is going to suffer badly,” said David M. Anderson, a Kenya specialist at Oxford.
The Shabaab, who have pledged allegiance to al Qaeda, have killed hundreds in suicide attacks in Somalia and are now vowing to punish Kenya, much as they struck Uganda last year for sending peacekeepers. There have already been two grenade attacks in Nairobi, which Kenyan officials said were the work of Shabaab members, and this usually laid-back capital city has shifted into war mode.
Security guards peer into purses at supermarkets, shopping centers are deserted because many Kenyans are now scared to congregate in public and the American government has warned of “an imminent threat of terrorist attacks” at malls and nightclubs.
Despite their close relationship with Kenyan security services, which receive millions of dollars in American aid each year, American officials said they had been caught off guard by the incursion.
“The United States did not encourage the Kenyan government to act, nor did Kenya seek our views,” said Katya Thomas, a spokeswoman at the American Embassy in Nairobi. “We note that Kenya has a right to defend itself.”
Pentagon officials are now watching cautiously. “This is not something that’s coordinated with us at all, so it’s not something we have much knowledge about,” a senior Pentagon official. “We want to see how this develops.” Pentagon officials said the immediate impact of dispersing Shabaab fighters was good. But without knowing much about the overall Kenyan strategy or long-term plan, they are a bit wary. “It’s difficult to discern what the next step is,” the official said.
Kenyan officials say the next step is marching to Kismayu, a port town controlled by al Shabaab, who derives tens of millions of dollars a year in taxes from it. But Lazarus Sumbeiywo, a former leader of Kenya’s army, said the Kenyans were erring tactically. “It should have been surgical strikes,” Mr. Sumbeiywo said, arguing for small teams of Special Forces to hunt down militants and eliminate them quietly.
In 1990, before he became chief of staff, Mr. Sumbeiywo said, he ran special operations to kill Somali gunmen who had infiltrated Kenya. He said that his men had worked in small units and that Kenya had been bedeviled by Somalia for decades. “It was like that all the way from the beginning,” he said, describing how Kenyan forces fought Somali militants in the 1960s and 1970s, losing hundreds of men.
Kenya has tried to use proxy militias in Somalia to push out al Shabaab and create a buffer zone stretching to Kismayu. But the militias have been struggling, and Kenyan officials said their plans for a major port in Lamu, near Somalia’s border, were imperiled by the instability pouring out of southern Somalia.
“This isn’t about tourism,” said a senior Kenyan official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “This is about our long-term development plan. Kenya cannot achieve economically what it wants with the situation the way it is in Somalia, especially Kismayu.” “Just imagine you’re trying to swim,” he added. “If someone is holding your leg and your arm, how far can you swim?”
Somali officials, despite being enemies of al Shabaab, have been furious about the Kenyan incursion. Somalia’s president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, called it an “inappropriate” encroachment on Somali sovereignty the dispute has left Western diplomats to mediate between the two sides, but Mr. Mutua said that “a lot has been lost in translation” and that the Kenyans and the Somalis were still close.
Still, aid organizations are deeply concerned that the military operations will affect efforts to reach starving people in Somalia’s famine-stricken interior. The United Nations has said that tens of thousands of Somalis have died and that 750,000 could starve to death. Al Shabaab controls many of the hardest-hit areas, and has blocked most Western aid groups from entering.
“Some of the drought-affected people who arrived from other parts of the country are now facing multiple displacements in the wake of the military activities,” a United Nations report said Wednesday. “Movement of humanitarian personnel and supplies are also likely to be restricted, subsequently affecting the timely delivery of assistance.”
Kenya has right to pursue al Shabaab: Somali PM
27 Oct – Source: Reuters – 269 words
Kenya has every right to pursue al Shabaab rebels in Somalia, but Somali government troops must be in charge of operations against the Islamist rebels, Somalia’s prime minister said.
Kenya deployed troops inside the anarchic Horn of Africa nation 12-days ago in an offensive against al Shabaab fighters it blames for a series of kidnappings on its soil and frequent cross-border incursions.
Somalia’s president cast doubt on his government’s support for the incursion on Monday. On Wednesday, Mogadishu reiterated there was no deal with Kenya to send in its troops, but said the prime minister would now liaise with Nairobi.
“We support Kenya’s operation inside Somalia because they support, train and provide other military support to our troops to defeat al Shabaab and we are very grateful to Kenya,” Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said in an interview.
“But we have to understand one thing: Somalia has the lead, our military has the lead in all operations taking place inside Somalia,” he said late on Wednesday. The Somali government has so far stopped short of asking Kenyan troops to leave and the prime minister’s comments show the authorities appear to accept the incursion, which has the backing of Western allies supporting the Mogadishu government.
“My government supports any self defense action Kenya takes against al Shabaab. Al Shabaab has inflicted a negative economic impact on Kenya,” the prime minister said.
“Kenya has suffered at the hands of al Shabaab who are Somali terrorists crossing from the Somali border to the Kenyan border. So, therefore, Kenya has the right to pursue them inside Somali and defeat them,” he said.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
New census data: Minn.’s Somali population grows
27 Oct – Source: Star Tribune – 463 words
Minnesota’s Somali population is still the largest in the United States, according to new census data released early Thursday that raised the number of people of Somali ancestry in the state to more than 32,000.
The new estimate is based on American Community Surveys taken by the bureau from 2008-2010 and updates last year’s estimate of nearly 27,000 Somalis in the state. Because the estimates are derived from surveys, they include a margin of error, which means the census calculates the population could be as high as 36,000 or as low as 29,000.
“The (Somali) community has long felt it is a bit larger than the Census Bureau estimate, but this number doesn’t feel uncomfortable to me,” State Demographer Tom Gillaspy said.
The estimate includes both people born in Somalia and their descendants. Other states that have large Somali populations include Ohio with 12,300, Washington with 9,300 and California with 7,500, according to the latest estimates.
The Somali immigration to Minnesota has been the largest part of a broader influx of people from sub-Saharan Africa in recent years in the state. That broader group now numbers more than 100,000 in the state, according to the new estimates, and promises to keep growing as young couples marry and have children.
Like most immigrant groups, Somalis in Minnesota are younger than the general population with a median age of about 25 years. About half of the Somali population is 24 years old or younger. The median age of the state’s general population is more than a decade older at 37 years, and only about a third of the population is 24 years old or younger.
http://m.startribune.com/news/
BLOGS/EDITORIAL/CULTURE
Kenya’s strategy in Somalia is to conquer and get out
27 Oct – Source: Africa Review – 696 words
I have witnessed and covered my fair share of wars. Among the things I have learnt is that the way a people make war — and peace — often tells you a lot about their national character and history. Now that Kenya has taken war to the provocative al Shabaab militia in Somalia, it is fascinating seeing how it is prosecuting the campaign.
Every day in the first few days, military spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir held media briefings about the progress of the war. Also, we see daily photos of soldiers in armored cars, Humvees, and military planes refueling that is routine stuff in war, you would think.
Until you compare it to the case of Uganda and Rwanda. In early 1999, the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and Rwanda Patriotic Army (now Rwanda Defense Forces) invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo, where barely two years earlier, they had helped to overthrow the despicable dictator Mobutu Sese Sek and install Laurent Kabila as president.
I was then the editor of the main independent paper in Uganda, The Monitor. The media didn’t know Uganda had invaded DRC, and no one expected that it would.