April 27, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab Kills Senior National Security Officer – Police
27 April – Source : Reuters – 194 Words
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab gunmen shot and killed a senior national intelligence officer in front of his own house in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, police and militants said, in the latest such incident by the group. The security officer, who was involved in conducting security operations against the group, was sitting in front of his house without his bodyguards when armed militants shot him to death, police officer Ibrahim Nur said.
Al-Shabaab, which is waging an increasingly deadly campaign of bombings despite losing most of its territory to African Union peacekeepers supporting the Somali government, claimed responsibility. “We are behind the killing of the national security general called Mohamud Haji Ali,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al-Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters on Thursday. Nur confirmed that and said the gunmen escaped.
“Police and security forces reached the scene later to investigate and pursue the militants. It is difficult to prevent death- the officer had no guards with him when he was killed.” Nur told Reuters. Early this month, Al-Shabaab said it was also behind a car bomb attack targeting senior officials leaving a military base in Mogadishu that killed at least 15 people.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s Al-Shabaab Kills Senior National Security officer – Police (Reuters)
- Somalia -Turkey Sign Bilateral Agreements(Dhacdo.com)
- Galmudug Assembly Vows To Go On With Elections (Jowhar.com)
- Somali Pirate Gets Life In Prison For Attack On US Naval Ship(VOA)
- Somalia Envoy Urges Protection Of Businessmen In S. Sudan(Sudan Tribune)
- ‘I Don’t Have A Place In My Heart For Somalia Right Now’(The Daily Wildcat)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia -Turkey Sign Bilateral Agreements
27 April – Source : Dhacdo.com – 113 Words
The governments of Turkey and Somalia have signed several bilateral agreements. This come as President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo states visit enters its second day. The key agreements that were signed will see the two countries closely cooperate on how to improve their relationship which will include economic cooperation as well strengthening cultural ties between the two states.
Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Garaad has welcomed the deal signed between the two countries saying the agreements will be very beneficial to Somalia. The Director of Communication at Villa Somalia, Abdinur also lauded the move saying the agreements will be of great importance to Somalia adding that Somalia at this time of need for assistance.
Galmudug Assembly Vows To Go On With Elections
27 April – Source : Jowhar.com – 126 Words
Members of the Galmudug assembly have said the presidential elections scheduled for 30th of April will go on as planned. The regional MPs vowed not to agree to any extension and hold the elections on the agreed date Abdi Hassan Elmi, a member of the regional assembly says the elections will take place on the agreed date quashing reports of an extension.
The MPs said they have agreed with the Federal Government of Somalia to change the date they agreed previously in order to give room to talks between the Galmudug state and the moderate Islamist group, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa. The talks which were been sanctioned by the FGS seem to have hit a snag. Reports have emerged this week that the talks have collapsed.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Pirate Gets Life In Prison For Attack On US Naval Ship
26 April – Source : VOA – 131 Words
A Somali pirate will be spending the rest of his life in a U.S. federal prison for attacking an American Navy ship in 2010. Mohamed Farah, 31, was sentenced Wednesday for piracy and other acts in connection with the armed attack on the USS Ashland in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Djibouti. Three other defendants already got life sentences, while two more were given 15- and 33-year prison terms. The pirates set out to hijack another ship, but were stopped by a British naval vessel. They then turned their sights on the Ashland, pelting the ship with small-arms fire. The Ashland returned fire, setting the pirates’ small boat ablaze and forcing them into the sea. The Ashland was not damaged and no one on board was hurt.
Somalia Envoy Urges Protection Of Businessmen In S. Sudan
26 April – Source : Sudan Tribune – 320 Words
The Somalia Ambassador to South Sudan, Hussein Hajji Ahmed Mohamoud has urged the South Sudanese government to protection the Somalia businessmen in the war-torn, amid heavy deployment of troops in various parts of the capital, Juba. The envoy made the request during a meeting with South Sudan’s interior minister, Micheal Chiengjiek Geay on Wednesday. “The meeting resolved the issue of security challenges facing Somalia nationals residing in Juba and across the country”, the Somalia envoy told Sudan Tribune.
The interior minister, on his part, said they discussed numerous factors, including the protection of all foreign traders in the country. The two officials, at the meeting, reportedly also discussed related security issue facing both countries and vowed to cooperate in security sectors. In the past, South Sudan pointed fingers on foreigners living in the country for alleged involvement in crimes. However, Cheingjiek said such crimes would not be tolerated anymore and those who commit crimes would be dealt with.
“I urged Somalia citizens to distance themselves from criminal activities like human trafficking, money laundering or counterfeit,” urged the minister, adding that the government would direct the security organs, immigration and customs department to monitor borders in relation to any violation of cross borders regulations. Currently, the majority of traders who operate and sell goods in the South Sudanese capital and in other parts of the country are foreigners, most of them from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Villagers stepped over piles of their neighbors’ bodies and left empty-handed, deprived of food and water for nearly a month, relying on tree branches to combat starvation and their own urine to keep hydrated. Though Chirango’s family survived the emigration, most did not. Of the few hundred who escaped 26 years ago, about 40 percent of the group reached Kenya. “Parents and loved ones would have to walk away from their children because they could no longer afford to carry them,” he said.”
‘I Don’t Have A Place In My Heart For Somalia Right Now’
26 April – Source : The Daily Wildcat – 921 Words
When ethnic Bantus of Somalia faced genocide during the early ‘90s, 6-year-old Abdirahman Chirango escaped on foot across hundreds of miles to his country’s southwestern border. He remained in a congested refugee camp for more than a decade. Chirango fled to Kenya in 1991 with his maternal grandmother, two aunts, younger sister, an uncle who carried his infant brother and fellow Bantu villagers in search of security amidst Somalia’s raging inter-tribal wars. Families were forced to abandon their livelihoods because of imminent terrorization from militants who, according to Chirango, plotted to massacre his people if they stayed.
As a boy, he helplessly witnessed the murder of his mother for resisting rape and the branding of his uncle and grandmother for protecting her. Chirango numbly watched as flames engulfed their house. “I can still see my young brother sitting next to the lifeless body of my mom, suckling her breast,” he recalled, “[and] my sister splashing in the blood of my mother.” Following brief hesitation, Chirango continued his recollection, his 6-foot-2 frame tensing in a tidy, vintage, gray suit. “Up to today, I can still smell the smell of burning homes,” he said.
As a minority group, Somali Bantus faced vehement persecution by majority clans with Arab roots as a result of their alleged inferiority. Their origin of ancestry comes from countries near the eastern ridge of Africa. Experts say Somali Bantus were kidnapped from Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi by slave traders in the 19th century. What Chirango encountered more than two decades ago plagues his childhood, thus deepening his detachment from Somalia. “Our only hope was to go to Kenya, forget everything that happened and come back home, but it was all a fantasy,” the 32-year-old said. “It was a dream that would never come through.”
Villagers stepped over piles of their neighbors’ bodies and left empty-handed, deprived of food and water for nearly a month, relying on tree branches to combat starvation and their own urine to keep hydrated. Though Chirango’s family survived the emigration, most did not. Of the few hundred who escaped 26 years ago, about 40 percent of the group reached Kenya. “Parents and loved ones would have to walk away from their children because they could no longer afford to carry them,” he said.
The same militiamen from whom Chirango’s people retreated also occupied their encampment at Dagahaley Refugee Camp, regularly stealing refugees’ sparse food rations from their dirt-stained tents. Contrary to everyone’s wishful thinking, their quality of life did not get better on the other side. In fact, Chirango said their level of subjected marginalization in Dadaab matched the degradation they faced back home.
TOP TWEETS
@alertnetclimate: Climate change deepening Horn of Africa’s hunger crisis, Oxfam says http://tmsnrt.rs/2p6HN7M #Ethiopia #Kenya #Somalia
@HassanIstiila: #BREAKING: 2 brothers were shot in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district, one of them died, the two men named Saney Mohamed & Mustaf Mohamed #Somalia
@CTNSIS : Al-Shabaab Attempted Raid on KDF Army Base in Baardhere Southern Somalia, Repulsed… http://fb.me/22ZFZxQWf
@ferigom69: Somali pirate gets life in prison for attack on US Navy ship |@scoopit http://sco.lt/7yfB5N #Somalia #piracy #USA
@HarunMaruf: Video: Sustaining the effort and rebuilding Somali maritime forces key to combating piracy https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=
@UNICEFAfrica: Health promoter Fowziyo is proud of her work, educating mothers in #Somalia to protect their children from disease. Via@unicefsomalia.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo inspect a guard of honor accompanied by his Turkish counterpart President Tayyip Recep Erdogan
Photo: Radio Muqdisho