June 22, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Jubbaland Forces Foiled Landmine Attack Outside Kismayo
22 June – Source: Halbeeg News – 183 Words
Jubbaland security forces have defused and dismantled a landmine concealed and buried in one of the main road outside of Kismayo city on Friday. The landmine was planted on the road linking Bula Gadud and Barsaguuni villages in Lower Jubbaland region. Jubbaland security officials claimed that they have diffused a landmine that weighed almost 40 kilograms. This main road is normally used by Jubbaland and Somali National Army (SNA) forces when carrying out operations against Al-Shabaab in the region.
The officials added that the landmine could have claimed the lives of security forces and innocent civilians living in the area. “The government forces have successfully averted a potential attack, after discovering the implanted landmine” a government official said.
The forces stated that they managed to dismantle the landmine explosion following tip-off by the local residents living in area. They blamed Al-Shabaab fighters for disrupting the security of the area by planting landmines and carrying out planned terror attacks against government bases. The joint SNA and Jubbaland forces launched intensive security crackdown aimed to remove and eradicate Al-Shabaab militants from Jubbaland region.
Key Headlines
- Jubbaland Forces Foiled Landmine Attack Outside Kismayo (Halbeeg News)
- Former Somali President Calls For Ceasefire In Tukaraq (Shabelle News)
- HirShabelle President Visits Warsheikh Town (Jowhar.com)
- Somali Police Officers Trained On Community Policing (AMISOM)
- For Once Mogadishu Can Watch World Cup With Little Fear (Voice Of America)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Former Somali President Calls For Ceasefire In Tukaraq
21 June – Source: Shabelle News – 177 Words
Former Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called for an immediate end to the fighting between Puntland and the breakaway region of Somaliland in Tukaraq. Mr. Mohamud urged the warring sides to halt the bloodshed, withdraw the troops from the battle zones in Sool region, and engage in peaceful dialogue to solve the conflict.
The former leader asked the local elders, traders and intellectuals to contribute to the peace efforts, aimed at halting the escalating tension in the region. Somaliland and Puntland are both pointing fingers at each other for initiating the latest fighting, which claimed the lives and forced families to flee from their house.
The tension is still high as both sides reportedly using both light and heavy artilleries near Tukaraq district. Somaliland and Puntland have hand long-standing border disputes, particularly over Sool and Sanag region. Somaliland has declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, but has since failed to win international recognition. Puntland was established as a semi-autonomous authority in 1998, but remains a member state of the federal government of Somalia.
HirShabelle President Visits Warsheikh Town
21 June – Source: Jowhar.com – 144 Words
HirShabelle President Mohamed Abdi Ware and his deputy Ali Abdullahi Hussein visited Warsheikh town, in Middle Shabelle to assess the security and social situation. The president and his delegates assessed the ongoing installation of a solar power plant in Warsheikh that aims to provide affordable electricity to hundreds of households in the town. The project, which is currently in its final phase, is being implemented by the Somali Stability Fund. The leaders also toured the site of a borehole construction.
President Ware was briefed by the town’s administration officials and the foreign and national workers on the ongoing projects on site. He praised the resident of Warsheikh and their administration for their unity and efforts to develop their town. The delegation later toured the area and the surrounding beach, that in recent months has seen many tourists coming from various regions of the country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Police Officers Trained On Community Policing
22 June – Source: AMISOM – 462 Words
A three-day workshop organized by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to foster strong working relationship between police officers and community members has concluded in Baidoa, the administrative capital of South West state. The workshop, which commenced on Tuesday, sought to enhance collaboration between the police and local residents through community policing to help promote peace and security in neighbourhoods.
Speaking at the end of the workshop, Superintendent of Police (SP) Offor Joseph Emeka, AMISOM Police Reform, Restructuring and Development Advisor, noted the seminar educated police officers and residents on the importance of community policing in maintaining of law and order in regions. “Community policing is the technique that every country in the world has embraced as the best way to get the people policed and to provide security and safety for the people in the community,” SP Emeka explained.
He noted that Somalia, which is emerging from decades of war, stands to benefit enormously from the system and urged residents to embrace it, saying community policing has been implemented in many countries and proved to be successful. The workshop is expected to help in the formulation of a document, which will help streamline the functions of the police and its relations with the public. Forty officers representing both the federal and state police attended the workshop.
Mohamed Ali Tabit, a youth leader who participated in the meeting, stressed the importance of nurturing a cordial working relationship between the police and community members in fighting crime and promoting peace and reconciliation. “Police are important to the government just as they are to the community. The police maintain the security of the country, which also depends on the community. If the community fails to work with the police, the police will not perform their duties well,” Mr. Tabit observed.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Al-Shabaab fighters shot to death two people watching a World Cup match in a cinema in 2006, and killed more than 70 when it bombed two World Cup parties in Uganda’s capital in 2010.”
For Once, Mogadishu Can Watch World Cup With Little Fear
22 June – Source: Voice Of America – 560 Words
For years, residents of Mogadishu wanting to watch the World Cup on TV have done so at risk to life and limb. Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab — an opponent of both sports and entertainment in general — threatened violence against anyone watching the games. The danger was especially high in 2010, when al-Shabab fighters controlled most of the Somali capital and gangs of Islamists patrolled the city, searching for anyone trying view the games in secret. “The lucky few, who could watch in the government-controlled areas at the time, did so having one eye on the TV and the other on the door, with the sound turned down,” said Ahmed Aden, a 20-year-old Mogadishu resident.
The 2018 World Cup has been different. The tournament is still young, but there have been no reported attacks on Somalis watching the games on TV, either in public or private. Residents of Somalia’s capital have been gathering to watch the World Cup on big screens inside hotels, restaurants, and government centers. While watching a match between Australia and Denmark with dozens of young men in a Mogadishu restaurant, Somalia’s Security Ministry spokesman Abdiaziz Hildhiban said the change is due to improved security and a greater willingness of people to ignore what he termed the “terrorists’ psychological war.”
“For Mogadishu residents, this year is different from the previous years because for the first time in many years, they can freely watch the World Cup in groups with no direct threat from Al-Shabaab,” said Hildhiban.”No more physical and psychological war can threaten our youth from enjoying sports.” Al-Shabaab contends that sports are un-Islamic and a waste of time, and that they turn young men away from the group’s raison d’etre, jihad.
Al-Shabaab fighters shot to death two people watching a World Cup match in a cinema in 2006, and killed more than 70 when it bombed two World Cup parties in Uganda’s capital in 2010. Somalis wishing to watch the Cup were exposed to such violence because few individuals could afford satellite TV in Mogadishu, meaning public screenings were often the only way matches could be seen.
However, an increased presence of Somali government soldiers and African Union peacekeepers, along with private guards at many viewing sites, has made Somalis feel safer about enjoying the World Cup in public. “In 2014, such crowds of soccer watchers could be an easy target for terrorist attacks, but now it comes after the first Ramadan without a single terrorist major attack in the city for years due to the security we beefed up,” Hildhiban said.
The threat of attack has not entirely receded.In April, at least five people were killed and 10 others injured after a bomb was detonated during a soccer game in Somalia’s port city of Barawe, a former Al-Shabaab stronghold.In Mogadishu, Al-Shabaab has bombed and/or shot up more than 20 hotels and restaurants in the last five years, killing hundreds.
But it is becoming harder for football-haters to keep Somalis away from the country’s favorite sport.High-speed internet and satellite TV have taken off in the past few years, allowing more people to watch games from the privacy of their homes.
Somalia’s minister for youth and sport, Khadija Mohamed Diriye, believes athletics and the city’s reviving entertainment scene will “distract Somali youth from pursuing extremist ideologies and the deadly migration to Europe.”
TOP TWEETS
@DalsanFM: AU Keen On Resolving Logistical Challenges Facing Its Mission In Somalia https://www.radiodalsan.com/
@TC_Mogadishu: Turkey is listed as the leading country with 8.07 billion USD worth in the 2018 Global Humanitarian Assistance Report,also preserving her leading position as the “most generous nation” in the world w/ a 0.85 % ratio of national income to hum.assistance.
@HarunMaruf: In a new twist, @SomaliPM now denies entering an agreement with Ethiopia following PM Abiy Ahmed’s visit. “We did not enter any agreement with Ethiopia…we issued a communique…ports belong to Somali people,” he told Somali community in Norway.
@DalsanFM: #Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed mediating between#Somalia and #UAE. @SomaliPM is expected to visit Abu Dhabi for round one of talks.
@Mohtall77: Ministry of Youth and Sports of #SomalilandOrganises Two Youth Sensitization Workshops on Youth Youth Challenges, in #Erigavo and #Lasanod which is Funded by@UNFPA_SOMALIA.
@mpfsomalia: Meet Fardowsa, a Somali #refugee in #Uganda. Thanks to her #digitalidentity, she has been able to open a bank account , register her SIM card , and go to university :http://wrld.bg/CKvi30kAhro #communitiesandrefugees#worldrefugeeday #id4d #financialinclusion
@HarunMaruf: Somali regional lawmaker says 19 women have been raped this month along Mogadishu-Baidoa road. Qasim Mogow of Southwest says 11 victims were raped in the same day, June 9. Both Al-Shabab and Govt soldiers control different parts of it, one of the most dangerous roads to travel.
@SSCVoices: We have never heard about Somali PM@SomaliPM talking about the injustice inflicted by Somaliland on the people of Lasanod by here we have him meeting Somaliland representative in secret @TheVillaSomalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Foreign Ministers Ahmed Issa Awad at the IGAD summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Photo: @TheVillaSomalia