February 17, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
AMISOM Will Stay In Somalia Till SNA Is Reformed, Says President Farmaajo
17 February – Source : Goobjoog News – 161 Words
Somalia’s newly elected president; Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo said troops of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will remain Somalia until Somalia’s army is capable of effectively taking over the country’s security from African Union troops. President Farmaajo commended AMISOM for its role to improve Somalia security during the years his predecessor, Hassan Sheikh had been in office.
“AMISOM did a lot of work (here in Somalia), they defended and supported the government to function, we praise them (AMISOM) and All troop contributing nations. We shall work together until we reform our army,” said president Farmaajo.Speaking at handing over ceremony observed by high-ranking officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari, Farmaajo said Somalia will put more efforts to train its troops who will replace AU forces.
AU sent its troops to Somalia to back Somalia’s weak government soldiers in 2007. Over 22,000-strong AU forces prop up Somali National Army (SNA) in the fight against militants in central and southern Somalia.
Key Headlines
- AMISOM Will Stay In Somalia Till SNA Is Reformed Says President Farmaajo (Goobjoog News)
- Two Killed In Violent Robbery In Dharkenley District (Goobjoog News)
- Somaliland Warns Politicians And Journalists From Travelling To Somalia (Radio Dalsan)
- Somali Forces Secure Villa Somalia As President Spends His First Night In The Palace (Dhacdo.com)
- Al-Shabaab Claims Attack As New Somali Leader Takes Office (The East African)
- Somalia’s Peaceful Presidential Handover Bolsters Hope (United States Institute for Peace Blog)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Two Killed In Violent Robbery In Dharkenley District
17 February – Source : Goobjoog News – 180 Words
One person has been killed and another one wounded after several gunmen in SNA uniform raided a shop in Mogadishu’s Dharkenley district on Friday night in the latest violent robbery targeting civilians across Mogadishu. The gunmen who were armed with pistols and AK 47 rifles made away with unspecified amount of money after shooting their victim to death during the attack that is believed to have lasted half an hour, according to resident who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The gunmen entered the shop pretending to be customers before they ordered the shop assistants to lie down but the attendants tried to repel. The robbers opened fire leading the death of one of shop attendant and injured the other one,” said the witness. Somali security forces, afterwards, arrived on the scene conducting a search operation nearby in pursuit of killers, but they did not manage to arrest the culprits. Attacks against locals by unknown gunmen have increased in recent months in Mogadishu, but mainly take place in the districts of Dharkenley and Wadajir where assailants with SNA uniform are active.
Somaliland Warns Politicians And Journalists From Travelling To Somalia
17 February – Source: Radio Dalsan – 112 Words
The Minister for Information of the breakaway region of Somaliland , Osman Abdullahi Sahardiid said the administration will not tolerate the visits made by politicians and journalists to Mogadishu and come back to Hargeisa without any repercussions. He accused the said visitors to Mogadishu to be campaigning against the sovereignty of Somaliland .
The Minister who spoke to the press in Hargeysa said the people of Somaliland are committed in their bid to have their own country independent from the rest of Somalia. His comments come days after social activist and reporter, Abdimalik Coldoon was arrested by Somaliland police on arrival from Mogadishu where he met Somalia’s newly elected President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.
Somali Forces Secure Villa Somalia As President Spends His First Night In The Palace
16 February – Source: Dhacdo.com – 80 Words
The forces of the Federal Government of Somalia have last night secured roads that lead to Villa Somalia as President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo spent his first night in the presidential palace.Forces from the Somali Police Force(SPF) and others drawn from the intelligence were seen patrolling the streets near Villa Somalia subjecting motorist plying the route to several checks. This come after mortar shells hit a neighbourhood near the presidential palace during yesterdays power handover ceremony.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Claims Attack As New Somali Leader Takes Office
17 February -Source : The East African – 401 Words
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab extremists claimed a mortar strike that left two children dead near the presidential palace Thursday during a handover ceremony at which new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed officially took office. Several explosions were heard near the palace during the handover ceremony, which comes several days before Mohamed — better known by his nickname Farmajo — is officially sworn in.”Two innocent children were killed and three others including their parents wounded after a mortar shell landed on their house near (a school) behind the presidential palace, the incident is still being investigated,” said local police commander Mohamed Abdukadir.”We don’t know where it was fired from but it targeted civilian houses.”
The Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram and Twitter accounts, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist accounts.Witnesses reported about three mortar blasts, one of which hit a house.”It was very terrible to see these innocent children being killed, the mortar shells were seemingly targeting the presidential palace but it landed in nearby areas including this house,” said witness Abdikarin Duale.
The attack underlines the challenge facing the new president, who has inherited an administration with limited control over Somali territory due to the presence of Shabaab, and is heavily propped up by the international community.Farmajo, whose brief stint at prime minister in 2010-11 showed him to be a no-nonsense leader set on improving governance and cracking down on corruption, is hugely popular in the country.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Emerging from more than two decades of war, it still easily fits the description of fragile. But the peaceful, congratulatory images of Farmajo flanked by his most recent two predecessors, Mohamud and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, after the election was another sign that Somalia is emerging from the rubble.”
Somalia’s Peaceful Presidential Handover Bolsters Hope
17 February – Source : United States Institute for Peace Blog – 592 Words
A Washington D.C. taxi driver from Somalia reflected the mixture of relief and anxiety among his countrymen back home and other observers the day after the country’s latest momentous election last week. “My heart is smiling,” he told me after I’d greeted him with some of the few words of Somali that I know. But our conversation soon turned, naturally, to the hurdles yet to come for a strategic but struggling coastal sliver along the Horn of Africa.
The surprise victory of former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” Mohamed over incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Feb. 8 by a 184-97 vote margin marked the third consecutive peaceful election of a president for Somalia since the country began emerging from decades of war. Although, for security reasons, it was members of parliament selecting the president in a secret ballot rather than the general election hoped for last year, the result is a remarkable feat. Just over a decade ago, the country was considered a failed state, stuck in an abyss of sectarianism, factionalism, government corruption and war that all provided a ripe environment for transnational terrorist groups.
Slowly and with intense international aid and guidance as well as recent investment from Gulf countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, Somalia is trying to climb out of that abyss. Emerging from more than two decades of war, it still easily fits the description of fragile. But the peaceful, congratulatory images of Farmajo flanked by his most recent two predecessors, Mohamud and Sharif Shaikh Ahmed, after the election was another sign that Somalia is emerging from the rubble.
Somalia remains a hopeful yet closely watched experiment for regional and international players, in part because of the massive challenge of rebuilding the country and the society at every level all at once. Amid rampant government corruption, societal divisions and continuing small-scale attacks by the al-Shabab extremist group, the government and its international backers are trying to restore basic services such as schools, health clinics and infrastructure.
TOP TWEETS
@TheStarKenya: Somalia praised for holding peaceful polls http://ow.ly/2z2E3095PsS
@AbdirahmanCumar: Somalia remains a hopeful yet closely watched experiment for regional and international players.https://www.usip.org/
@Hamza_Africa: Aden Ade, #Somalia‘s first president, made history as the first African head of state to peacefully hand power to a freely elected successor
@USAIDSomalia: #Somalia #youth celebrating National Youth Day in#Hargeisa Feb 20, 2017 @USAID @US2SOMALIA #SLYouthday@mercycorps
@FAOnews: W/out immediate help #Somalia could see a full-blown famine catastrophy
@MaishJnr: Somalia’s new leader faces delicate balancing acthttps://www.capitalfm.co.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalia new president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo Officially assumes office in a colorful ceremony attended by senior government officials.
Photo: @MudaneFarmaajo