February 5, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Bomb Explosion Kills 2 People In Mogadishu
05 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 156 Words
A night time explosion incident in a house in Odweyne area, Daynile District in Mogadishu killed 2 people suspected to be allegedly preparing the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) said security officers.
Security officers privy to the incident who reached the scene of crime noted the explosive device went off while being prepared in the house and the 2 dead bodies found at the site were men who are thought to have been wiring up the bomb. A woman who was present in the house was injured when the explosion occurred.
Subsequent security operations conducted in the area netted several suspects who were taken into custody. Local administration of Daynile has not yet released an official statement on the incident. In mid-December 2017, a suicide bomber detonated a suicide vest during a police rehearsals exercise at the General Kahiye Police Academy in Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Bomb Explosion Kills 2 People In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- National Security Conference To Kick Off In Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
- 11 Somali Foreign Embassies Need Urgent Diplomatic Appointments (Goobjoog News)
- UK Ambassador Meets With Southwest President In Baidoa (Radio Shabelle)
- Extremists Use Political Crisis Ethnic Differences To Recruit: Study (Daily Nation)
- Surfing And Yoga On The Beach Is Helping Heal Victims Of Somalia’s War (Quartz)
NATIONAL MEDIA
National Security Conference To Kick Off In Mogadishu
05 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 85 Words
The National Security Conference is today expected to officially start in Mogadishu between regional states leaders and top federal government leaders. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed ‘Farmaajo’ is set to chair the conference which will focus on a range of security-related issues including the rebuilding of the Somali National Army.
Some of regional states leaders arrived in Mogadishu. Jubbaland and Southwest presidents are expected to arrive in the capital today. Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali ‘Gaas’ has arrived in Mogadishu on Sundayfor the two-day event.
11 Somali Foreign Embassies Need Urgent Diplomatic Appointments
05 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 265 Words
Eleven Somali foreign embassies are currently vacant and require immediate representatives. The lack of ambassadors in these embassies portrays lack of national interest, since most of them were recalled back by the federal Foreign Ministry. The 8 recalled ambassadors are Kuwait, Qatar, and UAE in the Middle East and China in the Far East. In Africa, the following countries Zambia, Sudan, Uganda and Djibouti lack diplomatic representatives.
The 3 others vacated their embassies due to different circumstance are Kenyan ambassador appointed as the federal Planning Minister, Washington representative also appointed as Foreign Minister, while the UK diplomat resigned from his post. Among the recalled ambassadors include two diplomats, that have been holding their positions since the government of the late Siad Barre, who lost their positions in reference to a law stipulating that a foreign emissary cannot hold their position for more than eight years.
The number of Somali foreign ambassadors are 30 in total, which means only 19 are currently operational in their respective embassies. Most ambassadors are appointed for countries that Somalia has some considerable Somali citizens, strong relationship, allies or economic interests. The remaining 11 vacant embassies are urgently required due to national interests which are crucial countries for Somalia especially neighbouring Kenya, which had no Somali ambassador for nearly a year as well as USA, UK, UAE, Djibouti, Uganda and Sudan. Somalia has political interests with most of these countries and some of them are more crucial than the others. Historically Somalia has never had high level embassy representative in countries like Iran, Uganda and Tanzania.
UK Ambassador Meets With Southwest President In Baidoa
04 February – Source: Radio Shabelle – 81 Words
The Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Somalia, David Concar has paid a visit to Baidoa, the interim administrative capital of Southwest state on Sunday. During his visit to Baidoa, the Ambassador and his delegate held talks with Southwest State President, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, his ministers and the regional security chiefs.
Ambassador Concar has reaffirmed UK’s support to Southwest state in security and development fields, according to state officials. The city’s security has been extremely tightened during the Concar’s visit.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Extremists Use Political Crisis, Ethnic Differences To Recruit: Study
05 December – Source: Daily Nation – 379 Words
Extremist groups have turned Kenya’s polarised political landscape into fertile recruitment and breeding grounds for the next generation of terrorists in the region. A study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) reveals that terrorists and other extremists group continue capitalising on the country’s highly ethnic and political differences to lure vulnerable individuals.
The study argued that terrorists radicalise and recruit through the same strategies used by online tribal groups in Kenya to promote tribalism and violence. The 16-month study on online extremists’ threats and responses in Kenya indicated that local terrorists learned the tactics from Isis and others who exploited social, political and economic challenges facing countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria to advance their activities. “These strategies have developed rapidly, many Kenyan Internet users have not yet responded in kind,” added the report.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“We have been ingrained, trained, and raised to just move on from any traumatic issue,” Elman said, from Mogadishu. “We don’t grieve, we don’t mourn, and it’s considered a sign of weakness or a Western belief that you talk about your problems and you actually explore them deeper to figure out how to cope.”
Surfing And Yoga On The Beach Is Helping Heal Victims Of Somalia’s War
04 February – Source: Quartz – 498 Words
Somalia has the longest coastline in mainland Africa, stretching more than 3,000 kilometers (1880 miles) across the Horn. But for decades, those pristine beaches remained untouched and devoid of people and activities. And as the nation gained a semblance of peace in 2011, Somalis flocked there to swim and eat at newly-opened seaside restaurants, only for them to become a target for terrorists. The attacks on beachgoers was a testament to the continued erosion of safe spaces amid an increasing wave of brazen and hellacious violence.
Ilwad Elman, a 28-year-old social activist, wants to change that by leveraging the ocean’s proximity as a way to heal old wounds and alleviate the problems of war. Through her organization the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, the 2017 Quartz Africa Innovator works to reintegrate former child soldiers and assisting victims of sexual violence. The prolonged conflict, limited care facilities and the social stigma associated with mental problems have meant the prevalence of mental illness in Somalia—one in three according to the World Health Organization in 2011—is higher than in other low-income and war-torn nations.
To deal with this, Elman has introduced yoga and surfing therapy as a way to explore the therapeutic benefits that spending time in the ocean, learning to surf, and connecting with one’s body through yoga can have on victims of war. Elman says they hope to explore these alternative techniques to therapy and counseling to empower young people to open up, share their stories, and challenge the emotional and psychological stress they face on a daily basis.
“We have been ingrained, trained, and raised to just move on from any traumatic issue,” Elman said, from Mogadishu. “We don’t grieve, we don’t mourn, and it’s considered a sign of weakness or a Western belief that you talk about your problems and you actually explore them deeper to figure out how to cope.” For the yoga project, the organization sent two of its caseworkers to train with the Nairobi-based Africa Yoga Project, which uses the practice of yoga to boost employability and increase service engagement. After coming back, the social workers integrated yoga into their existing support systems.
For the surfing, the Cape Town-based Waves for Change, which uses therapy to engage youth in townships donated 10 boards. Elman then engaged some of the child soldiers rehabilitating at their center to help them cope with physical and psychological trauma. “So many of the people we work with have been in survival mode their whole lives,” Elman said. And surf therapy has been “a great tool to start a conversation.” Elman said threats still persisted during training sessions at beaches.
Traditional social structures also meant physical openness by girls in public was frowned upon at times. But Elman says they are determined to go through with the project, and also collect empirical evidence on the true impacts and benefits of these activities. “It will be really important in building an architecture for mental health in Somalia,” she said.
TOP TWEETS
@Goobjoognews: #BreakingNews: #Somali federal government today sent engineers from a foreign firm to assess #Hobyo port,@Gaalmudug state in the company of federal ministers and MPs.
@DalsanFM 4m4: Former Alshabaab deputy leader Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansoor reportedly recruiting fighters in Bay and Bakool for a planned military operation against Alshabaab with the backing of the #SouthWestState forces.
Goobjoog News. @Goobjoognews: 11 #Somali foreign embassies that need urgent diplomatic appointments.http://bit.ly/2nCryya
@qzafrica: Surfing and yoga on the beach is helping heal victims of Somalia’s war [Photos]
http://qz.com/1197734 – @qzafrica
@DalsanFM: Unknown gunmen have shot dead a school teacher in Dharkenley district of #Mogadishu #Somalia. The gunmen fled the scene.
@Eye_on_Somalia: #Goobjoog Bomb explosion kills 2 people in Mogadishu http://ift.tt/2E27Ztt #Somalia
@AbdulBillowAli: Excellent piece @Lattif, amazing stuff@IlwadElman. A must read. #Somalia
@MohammedYarrow: In the Horn of Africa, family poultry farming can be a viable alternative livelihood means to the increasingly drought-plagued pastoral system. It is both a Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation measure
@Goobjoognews: #Somali national security council meeting expected to be held in #Mogadishu in the coming hours.
@DalsanFM: 3 Killed In Mogadishu House Explosion –http://radiodalsan.com/en/3-
@Eye_on_Somalia: #Goobjoog 11 Somali foreign embassies need urgent diplomatic appointments http://ift.tt/2sawkYg #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Southwest President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and United Kingdom Ambassador David Concar in Baydhabo, Somalia.
Photo: @DConcar