March 3, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Three Teachers At Dadaab Refugee Camp Kidnapped By Suspected Al-Shabaab Men
03 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 219 Words
Three teachers have been kidnapped after Suspected Al-Shabaab fighters stormed a Kenyan school in Dadaab of northern Kenya, locals and officials said Thursday. The male teachers who were identified as Isaac Mwangi, Alfred Mwangangi and Isaac Kaniu work for the Khalif Udha Academy in Hagadera refugee camp in Garissa County.
North Eastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh confirmed the abduction of the trio who are non-locals. Three other teachers managed to escape the attack by hiding from their colleagues. Saleh said police who visited the scene recovered two spent cartridges. “No injury was reported during the said attack but we are investigating with an aim of establishing who these people were,” said Saleh.
Saleh said the Kenyan military was working with the Somali National Army to free the kidnapped Kenyan teachers, who are thought to have been taken across the border into Somalia. The Hagadera refugee camp is part of the Dadaab refugee complex which houses over 300,000 Somali refugees and is said to be the biggest such camp in the world.
In October 2015, a teacher working for Windle Trust, Judy Mutua, was rescued at Shaba-Difu, 15km into Somalia, in a joint Somali and Kenyan security operation after she was kidnapped from Hagarader by masked armed men.
Key Headlines
- Three Teachers At Dadaab Refugee Camp Kidnapped By Suspected Al-Shabaab Men (Goobjoog News)
- Vehicle Full Of Explosive Intercepted In Galkayo (Baidoa News)
- Government Forces Conduct Security Operations In Baidoa (Goobjoog News)
- US Steps Up In Somalia As Al-Shabaab Proves A Stubborn Foe (The Washington Post)
- Protesters Reject Creation Of UAE Military Base In Somaliland (Middle East Monitor)
- Geopolitical Time Bomb: Chaos In Somaliland Could Trigger Regional Conflict (Oilprice.com)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Vehicle Full Of Explosive Intercepted In Galkayo
03 March- Source: Baidoa News – 83 Words
The commander of the Puntland Security Forces has released a statement regarding a vehicle full of explosives which was recently captured in the outskirts of Galkayo. According to the commander the vehicle was originally plying the Bosaaso – Beledweyn route before it was intercepted by security forces saying the vehicle was meant to be used in an explosion in Puntland territory. The commander also commented on a recent operation they carried out in Mudug region saying they destroyed an Al-Shabaab base in the area.
Government Forces Conduct Security Operations In Baidoa
03 March – Source : Goobjoog News – Words
Security forces of Southwest State conducted a massive operations to beef up the security of Baidoa, the administrative capital. Minister of Security for Southwest, Abdifatah Gessey said the security operations are meant to tighten the security and foil planned attacks after the security forces were tipped off. The security forces backed by the police force have combed suburbs of Baidoa as they conducted door to door inspections. Operations curtailed the movement of people and public transport as the soldiers cordoned off the main roads of the town.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US Steps Up In Somalia As Al-Shabaab Proves A Stubborn Foe
03 March – Source : The Washington Post – 789 Words
With frequent suicide bombings and assaults on Somalia’s hotels and military targets, the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab has proved more resilient than expected, leading President Donald Trump’s administration to pursue wider military involvement here as current strategies, including drone attacks, are not enough, security experts say.
Senior U.S. officials have said the Pentagon wants to expand the military’s efforts to battle the al-Qaida-linked group. Recommendations sent to the White House would allow U.S special forces to increase assistance to the Somali National Army and give the U.S. military greater flexibility to launch more pre-emptive airstrikes.
The U.S. is likely to find counterterror efforts in Somalia difficult and expensive, analysts say especially with the recent emergence of fighters pledging alliance to the Islamic State group. “The concern in Washington has been mounting for some time now. The Trump administration is simply reiterating what has been policy, with slight variations,” said Rashid Abdi, a Horn of Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group. “U.S. special forces are already on the ground. Drone attacks have been scaled up.”
Currently about 50 U.S. commandos rotate in and out of this Horn of Africa nation to advise and assist local troops. The commandos have accompanied Somali forces in several raids against al-Shabab fighters in which dozens of militants were killed, according to Somali intelligence officials, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Protesters Reject Creation Of UAE Military Base In Somaliland
02 March – Source : Middle East Monitor – 173 Words
Scores of people demonstrated outside the UAE embassy in London today in protest against the establishment of an Emirati military base in Somaliland. Protesters carried banners in Arabic and English calling for an end to wars and for the funds to be redirected to aid projects rather than military warfare, “Somaliland needs aid not military base”, in reference to Somalia’s breakaway northern territory. “We are not against the UAE, the Emirates and its people are our brothers. They’ve helped us throughout time,” a protester said.
“We don’t want to be dragged into a war. Our country is stable. We don’t care if someone is Shia or Sunni, we are all Muslim.” “All we want is peace,” another explained, “but our government has sold land to the UAE for a military base so it can attack Yemen, but the people of Yemen are our brothers and we don’t want to be dragged into this war on them.” News that the UAE is to build a military base in Berbera was made public last month.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The UAE reportedly paid only $1.5-million for the port lease, and then immediately dismissed the longtime employees of the facility. Moreover, the new Government in Somalia, under Pres. Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, which came into office on February 8, 2017, was quick to condemn the UAE Berbera port deal, and so was the Government of Djibouti, which had canceled a DW Ports deal with the Port of Djibouti because of corruption issues.”
Geopolitical Time Bomb: Chaos In Somaliland Could Trigger Regional Conflict
01 March – Source: Oilprice.com – 2,284 Words
The broader conflicts around control of the Red Sea and its littorals are being played out in the new aspects of the transformation of the Republic of Somaliland, which dominates the southern coastline of the Red Sea mouth into the Indian Ocean, but which also remains internationally unrecognized. At its core, the collapse of governance in Somaliland — centered in its deep-seated corruption — has given strength to a number of factors relating solely to Somaliland itself:
Moving away from, rather than towards, international recognition: The abandonment, which began with the inauguration of the Kulmiye Party Government on July 20, 2010, of the consistent path toward international recognition has led to a decline in international credibility due to corruption and the fact that the Kulmiye Government has refused to conduct constitutionally-scheduled elections.1 It has, in other words, clung to power illegally, something which probably would not have happened had Somaliland been recognized by (and come under the ambit of) the African Union [witness the comparable attempt by the President of The Gambia, Yahyah Jammeh to stay in office after being defeated in elections in late 2016].
Rising radical Islamism, which has given strength to the Shura council (established in the 1990s) based in the city of Burao (capital in the north-western Togdheer region), as well as to the jihadist terrorist organization, al-Shabaab. The primary target for Somaliland’s radical jihadists is Ethiopia, which is already being transformed by the continuing and substantial Saudi Arabian investment in madrasas and mosques in what had been a Christian-dominant country.
TOP TWEETS
@Abdi_AlSheikh: US steps up in Somalia as al-Shabab proves a stubborn foe – Washington Post http://dlvr.it/NX028F #Somalia
@unicefsomalia: Immunization campaign underway. 1.3 mil children under-5 in southern/central regions & 2.4 mil across #Somalia will be protected. #endpolio
@USAIDSomalia: “Head Teachers r the bridge between school, community and education authorities” Min of #Education @USAID Head Teachers Training #mogadishu
@Rooble2009 : Backpacking in Mogadishu; Not the Smartest Thing I’ve Ever Done http://onestep4ward.com/
@IntRefRights:Despite insecurity #refugee returns 2 #Somalia from #Kenya nears 50,000 with 10,062 in 2017 alone acc 2 @UNHCR_Kenya
@UNmigration: Over 360,000 #children have been affected by the recent #drought in #Somalia. Help save lives: http://bit.ly/2lDhYI4
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmake hands over duties to the newly appointed Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre
Photo: @TheVillaSomalia