January 18, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Tension As Somali Forces Close In On Al-Shabaab Stronghold
18 January – Source: Shabelle News – 113 Words
Tension was reported near the southern port town of Kismayo as Somali National Army forces and African Union troops move closer to Al-Shabaab stronghold. Reports said the tension rose after allied forces advanced towards Bulo-Gadud and Bar-Sanguni areas which are currently under Al-Shabaab control. Residents in the two villages say a heavy fighting may erupt at any time.
The development came following an airstrike by the U.S. warplanes against Al-Shabaab bases in Bar-Sanguni, located about 45 kilometers north of Kismayo city on Wednesday. Somali military and Jubbaland soldiers backed by AMISOM and U.S. personnel have been fighting Al-Shabaab in the outskirts of Kismayo in the past five years.
Key Headlines
- Tension As Somali Forces Close In On Al-Shabaab Stronghold (Shabelle News)
- Minister of Internal Security Visits Balcad Town (Horn Observer)
- Construction Of Barawe Air And Sea Port Kicks Off (Dhacdo.com)
- Somali Religious Scholars Conference Underway In Kismayo (Hiiraan Online)
- Five Al Shabaab abductees On Police Radar After Escaping From Somalia (The Star Kenya)
- Somali Fisherwoman Breaks Boundaries In Mogadishu (BBC)
- Somalia To Probe Evictions Of Thousands Of Displaced Families (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Minister of Internal Security Visits Balcad Town
18 January – Source: Horn Observer – 134 Words
Somalia Minister of Internal Security Mr. Mohamed Abukar Islow has on Wednesday visited the town of Balcad, 30 kilometers north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, local media reports. The Minister on his visit was accompanied by local officials from the town who briefed the Minister about the urgent needs of the town. The Minister is accompanied by federal lawmakers including Lawmaker Mr. Abdulkadir Arabow Ibrahim
“We have seen in our town eyes the serious damages of the road that connects Mogadishu to Balcad and the other needs.” Lawmaker Mr. Arabow said “We hope that the road will be reconstructed very urgently.” Minister Islow reiterated the role of the Somali military in the town will be resumed to improve the security. Somali forces have been battling Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda affiliate in the region in recent months.
Construction Of Barawe Air And Sea Port Kicks Off
18 January – Source: Dhacdo.com – 126 Words
The South West regional state has begun the construction of air and sea ports of Barawe town in the Lower Shabelle after subsequent arrangements to start the two projects. South West state’s Speaker of Parliament Abdikadir Sharif Sheikhuna, Minister for Defence and Minister for Internal Security, Mohamed Madobe Nunow have yesterday toured the port city. The leaders have surveyed the construction of the airport which began yesterday.
Mr. Nunow said their administration will work on how to develop the seaport of the town so that the people of South West can make imports directly. The Minister mentioned that the leaders mainly went there to assess the construction of the two ports. South West does not currently have a well-functioning seaport and mainly depends on Mogadishu Port.
Somali Religious Scholars Conference Underway In Kismayo
17 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 121 Words
Some of the main Somali religious scholars are taking part in a conference which will go on for some days in Kismayo. Sheikh Bashir Salad, the chairman of the scholars’ umbrella told the VOA Somali Service that the aim of their conference is to create awareness against tribalism and encourage peaceful coexistence.
Sheikh Salad denied rumors that their conference in Kismayo is politically motivated. He notes that it is not the first meeting of its kind, saying they held similar events in the country and outside the country several times in the past. He said no political issues would be discussed in the conference, and the main agenda will exclusively be to raise awareness on issues of importance for the society.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Five Al-Shabaab Abductees On Police Radar After Escaping From Somalia
18 January – Source: The Star – 341 Words
Security agencies are hunting for five al Shabaab abductees who escaped from cells in Somalia. Sources at KDF said the five were due to be executed by the militants for communicating with al Shabaab fugitive Ahmed Iman Ali. They suspect the five have sneaked into the country to seek refuge from the terror group. Ali, who was a vocal Al Shabaab propagandist, fell out with the leadership of the terror group in mid last year. This was after several Kenyans were executed allegedly for over spying and leaking information to Ali and the Kenyan government. Ali was against the executions as it targeted mostly Kenyan fighters, most of which he was responsible for their recruitment.
The five militants, who are originally from Lamu and Malindi, are said to have been taken into custody towards the end of last year. Reports indicated that Ali is seeking asylum from the government amid several attempts by al Shabaab to kill him. Animosity and hatred has been rife within al Shabaab with intelligence reports indicating that Kenyans in the group are the most affected. At stake is that local Somali fighters, who consider Kenyans as moles for the security agents, have isolated the Kenyan foreign fighters.
Al Shabaab has been fighting for years to try to topple Somalia’s central government and rule the Horn of Africa country in line with their interpretation of Islamic Law. The terror group has in the past publicly executed Kenyans who they accuse of collaborating with the Kenyan troops. Those killed in the last one year include former Moi University student Jared Mokaya Omambia, Faraj Abdulmajid, Ahmed Yusuf Hassan, Ahmed Nur Abdi Osoble, Abdullah Talal Musa, Hashim Othman Selali among many others.
The mistrust between the native Al Shabaab Somali fighters and other foreign fighters has also seen the eruption of several splinter factions emerging from the group. The indigenous Somalis are in support of the establishment of ‘Somali only’ Al Shabaab group while foreign fighters have threatened to join a splinter group pledging their allegiance to the Islamic State.
Somali Fisherwoman Breaks Boundaries In Mogadishu
17 January – Source: BBC – Video: 1:23 Minutes
Riyan Abukar Ali is determined to succeed as a fisherwoman in Somalia, in a trade dominated by men. She used be a tuk-tuk driver, but took to the seas off the coast of the capital Mogadishu when the social pressures of being a woman in her previous job became too much.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Aid groups say that thousands of families fleeing drought and conflict were forcefully evicted from more than 20 informal camps,”
Somalia To Probe Evictions Of Thousands Of Displaced Families
17 January – Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation – 421 Words
The Somali government responded to widespread criticism by aid agencies on Wednesday, promising to investigate reports that thousands of families fleeing drought and conflict were forcefully evicted from more than 20 informal camps. The United Nations and groups such as the Somalia NGO Consortium say more than 4,000 families, or about 20,000 people, had their homes bulldozed last month inside settlements on the outskirts of the capital of Mogadishu.
The demolitions on private land were unannounced, they said, and pleas by the community – largely women and children – for time to collect their belongings and go safely were not granted. Some aid workers who witnessed the evictions said uniformed government soldiers were involved in the demolitions. “Regarding the forced evictions, we are really deeply concerned. We are investigating the number of evictions,” Gamal Hassan, Somalia’s minister for planning, investment and economic development, told participants at a U.N. event. “We have to make sure we investigate and have to make sure we know exactly what happened. And then we will issue a report and you can take a look at it and see what happened and how it happened,” he said by video conference from Mogadishu.
The impoverished east African nation of more than 12 million people has been witnessing an unprecedented drought, with poor rains for four consecutive seasons. It has also been mired in conflict since 1991 and its Western-backed government is struggling to assert control over poor, rural areas under the Islamist militant group al Shabaab. The U.N. says drought and violence have forced more than 2 million people to seek refuge elsewhere in the country, often in informal settlements located around small towns and cities.
TOP TWEETS
@DalsanFM: Ex Galmudug Minister Says Merger With ASWJ “Unconstitutional” – http://radiodalsan.com/en/ex-
@Goobjoognews: #BreakingNews: The inauguration of the final reconciliation meeting between @Gaalmudug State and Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama’ah @aswj started now in Dhusamareeb. President Mohamed Abdullahi @M_Farmaajo and @UNSomaliaMichael @SRSGKeating are among the attendants.
@DalsanFM: Internal security minister Mohamed Abukar Islow says SNA soldiers to be deployed to man the road linking Mogadishu to Balaad after recent series of attacks by Alshabaab. At least ten people were killed in the latest attack on remote towns of Hirshaballe. #Somaolia
@DalsanFM: Former #Galmudug Minister of Constitutional Affairs Osman Mohamed Ali says planned merger with #ASWJ that is to be witnessed by @M_Farmaajo is unconstitutional. Osman says Galmudug representatives in the talks had no mandate to represent the administration. #Somalia
Goobjoog News. @Goobjoognews: Q and A: One on one with UN Deputy Representative in #Somalia Peter de Clercq@UNdeClercq . http://bit.ly/2ri8kCi
@Goobjoognews: #Somali federal government is on the process of finding a strong local security force to replace@amisomsomalia troops.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo) with ASWJ leader Sheikh Mohamed Shakir in Galgaduud, Mudug region for the amalgamation ceremony.
Photo: @DalsanFM