November 13, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Al-Shabaab Carries Out Biggest Swoop Targeting Pro-ISIS Militants, Kills Top Egyptian Militant In The Process
13 October – Source: Kismaayo.com – 238 Words
Al-Shabaab has carried out one of its biggest operations targeting militants suspected of having connections with the pro-ISIS militant group in the country. The operations simultaneously took place in Middle Jubba’s Jilib and Sakow towns and Lower Shabelle’s Bula Fuulay and Kunya Barrow towns, in which a top militant from Egypt was slain and over 100 militants arrested. The Egyptian militant, who was identified as Abu Anas Al-Misri, was shot dead in a mosque in Jilib after he refused to surrender and pulled a hand grenade as Al-Shabaab fighters attempted to detain him.
Among the arrested are Al-Shabaab’s former Da’wa chief in Gedo, Moallim Da’ud, a militant journalist operating with Al-Shabaab’s mouthpiece radio, Al Andalus, and several businessmen accused of having links with the pro-ISIS militant group. This is not the first time the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group has carried out operations targeting pro-ISIS group. However, the latest swoop comes when the pro-ISIS group has increased its activities in the southern parts of the country, especially Mogadishu.
In October, Al-Shabaab killed a senior member of the Somali ISIS militant group, Mahad Moallim Mohamud ‘Jajab’, in Mogadishu, in it is bid to undermine the group and deny it to establish a stronger presence in the southern parts of the country. The pro-ISIS group, which has its main bases in Puntland’s Bari region, is yet to comment on the arrests and killings of some of its sympathizers within the Al-Shabaab group.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab Carries Out Biggest Swoop Targeting Pro-ISIS Militants Kills Top Egyptian Militant In The Process (Kismaayo)
- Balanballe Administration Calls On Residents To End Clashes In The Region (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Refugees In Dhagahley Camp Hit By Medical Strike (Radio Ergo)
- Ethiopia’s Comeback Flights To Mogadishu Worries Turkish Airlines (The Exchange)
- Somali Journalists Risk Their Lives To Report The Truth (BBC)
- Free Education Initiative Gives Hope To Children Displaced By Drought In Sanag Region (Radio Ergo)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Balanbaale Administration Calls On Residents To End Clashes In The Region
13 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 135 Words
The Balanbaale District Administration in Galgadud region has called on residents to end clan clashes in the region, Hussein Liban, the area District Commissioner (DC), told Goobjoog News that they were trying to stop the clashes in the area and bring to the negotiation table the warring sides: “We are unhappy with what is going on in Balanbaale and call upon those involved to immediately stop the conflict. People in this region should live in peace and harmony,” he said.
The DC also observed that intellectuals from Balanbaale were playing an important role in quelling conflict between members of two communities living in the region. Nearly 10 people were killed yesterday and several others injured in the clan-based clashes. There is still tension between the warring sides, despite the ongoing efforts to halt the conflict.
Somali Refugees In Dhagahley Camp Hit By Medical Strike
13 November – Source: Radio Ergo – 367 Words
Thousands of Somali refugees in Dhagahley camp in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, are bearing the brunt of weeks of a doctors’ pay strike. Health services have been paralysed in three health centres in the camp after 426 health practitioners including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and interns went on strike in October.
A distraught Kamal Ali Mohamed, who is a diabetes patient, could only hope the doctors would at least prescribe some free insulin for him. “I was an outpatient here and I have been getting insulin injections from the health centre, but for the last 10 days operations stopped at the centre,” said Kamal. “I am deeply concerned.” Kamal is worried about his deteriorating health, saying he has no money to buy insulin. “Let alone buying insulin injections, I have no bus fare to go to the health post in the nearest camp to get the injections,” he said.
Ali Magan Mohamed’s wife Habibo Ismail had pregnancy complications last month and had a stillbirth. “They refused to treat my wife as the strike was underway. She is yet to recover fully and she has no medicine,” Ali told Radio Ergo. The medical professionals went on strike to force the medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF), which runs the camp health facilities, to raise their salaries.
Abdirisaq Digale Abdi, a nurse at one of the health centres in Dhagahley, said he would continue the strike until their salaries are increased. “I work at a health centre and I earn a meagre salary of 9,200 Kenya shillings a month [about $92]. This amount is not enough for my family to live on. I have been negotiating with MSF for a long time but nothing has yet been implemented,” said Abdirisaq, a father of five children,
Abukar Mohamed, head of humanitarian affairs for MSF, confirmed that the strike had paralysed all health services and that the NGO was trying to find a solution. “MSF can confirm that the medical staff stopped their work at the camps. The strike has had an impact on the daily routine. There are ongoing talks between the agency and the staff and I hope the issue will be resolved as soon as possible,” Abukar said.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Journalists Risk Their Lives To Report The Truth
13 November – Source: BBC – Video: 2:26 Minutes
Journalists in Somalia face a constant battle with misinformation and propaganda. But, unlike in many other parts of the world, they often pay with their lives for their commitment to seeking the truth.
Ethiopia’s Comeback Flights To Mogadishu Worries Turkish Airlines
12 November – Source: The Exchange – 333 Words
The national flag carrier airline of Turkey, Turkish Airlines should be wary of Africa’s largest airline by revenue and profit comeback as it seeks to grow its influence and dominance in the continent. Ethiopia Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier resumed its Addis – Ababa flight early this month after close to four decades of absence.
The Ethiopian Airlines halted its Mogadishu, Somalia flight over 41 years ago, following a border conflict that emerged between the two sister countries in the 1970s. The historical Ogaden War between July 1977 and March 1978 was a territorial and political vendetta that caused bad blood between the East African countries breaking economic cooperation.
A similar incident was between Eritrea and Ethiopia that crippled any bilateral relations between them for a long time. Such political disputes have rendered most African countries growth and development in their economies leaving agony at the core of the disagreements. However, African governments are experiencing a reformation as they look to build better futures for their citizens.
Since Turkish Airlines was the only other carrier operating the Mogadishu flight, the re-start of the Addis Ababa – Mogadishu flight by the Ethiopian will spur stiffer competition in the aviation sector. Ethiopian Airlines has proved to be no match for other African airlines as it has soared higher and wider beyond the boundaries of the continent.
As cited by the African Exponent site, the Ethiopian Airline Group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said: “Flight to Mogadishu is our 117 destination after over 40 years…that is achieved because of the peace and friendship prevailing in the Horn of Africa. “This direct commercial flight to Somalia promotes tourism, trade, and investment, we are planning to start cargo flight and increase the flight frequencies to daily and double daily.
“We have already checked that Mogadishu is peaceful and secured now. “Our flights will quickly grow to multiple daily flights given the huge volume of traffic between the two sisterly countries and the significant traffic between Somalia and the rest of the world.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“I took my children, two boys and two girls, to the school. My children never attended school before this one because I was financially unstable but now they have a chance to get an education,”
Free Education Initiative Gives Hope To Children Displaced By Drought In Sanag Region
12 November – Source: Radio Ergo – 431 Words
An initiative by university graduates and students is enabling nomadic Somali children whose education was cut short by the punishing drought to catch up on their studies. The group of 150 youth have set up classes for children of destitute pastoralist families, displaced by drought and resettled in Hingalol, Elbuh and Damala-Hagare villages in Sanag region. So far, 120 children have enrolled for the programme and are resuming learning.
Abdirahman Jama, the chairperson of the group, told Radio Ergo they opened three schools in the villages to give free education to the children. The schools each have two rooms and enroll children aged between six and 11 for classes in reading, writing, and mathematics. “The idea to set up these schools came to mind after we saw children from these villages whose families are poor staying at home with no access to education,” Abdirahman said. “We have hired teachers from the areas to teach 120 children,among them 75 girls.”
Abdirahman said six teachers have been hired on a monthly salary of $100 each. “Our monthly budget is between $4,000 and $4,500 based on contributions. These cater for the rent, salaries for the teachers, as well as learning materials such as chalk, books and pens,” he said. Mohamud Ahmed, 11, whose family was displaced by the drought is among the pupils at one of the schools. “When I grow up, I want to be an engineer. I am learning mathematics and how to write the Somali language. I also learn the Quran,” he said.
Aisha Aidid Guleid, a mother of three, fled a rural area on the outskirts of Hingalol town after the drought wiped out their livestock.After settling in Hingalol, Aisha started a small business selling vegetables to support her family. She told Radio Ergo that she is relieved that her three children are being supported to go to school. “We appreciate the opportunities given to children. To us, it is something big because it gave our children who used to stay at home a chance to access free education. I would not be able to pay their fees,” Aisha said.
TOP TWEETS
@Doelm: Today in Mogadishu Somali women activists and MPs meet to discuss role of women at the grassroots to contribute to policy formulation on tolerance, dialogue, reconciliation & negotiation,peace#ROL4peace @UNDPSomalia @NLinKenya@SwedeninSomalia @gconway_UNDP @UNSomalia
@Halbeeg_News: AMISOM works on final document for exit plan from Somalia https://en.halbeeg.com/2018/
@UNSomalia: Senior @UN official Rai Zenenga arrived in#Baidoa a little while ago and met South West State’s acting president Abdikadir Sharif Shekhuna about the state’s upcoming presidential #election – he stressed the need to ensure the integrity and credibility of the #electoral process.
@Mogadishu_News: BREAKING: Huge rally is on-going in#Galkacyo town as mob of angry people set some rubber tires on fire and block roads in protest over death sentence against Abdirisak Hussein, who was accused of having links with#AlShabaab – Media reports #Somalia
@ParadigmHQ: Here, Mohammed Ibrahim of the Somalia’s National ICT & Digital Economy Office discusses his organization’s work “to strengthen the role of Internet-enabled services and how this will help the country achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
https://news.itu.int/somalia-
@unicefsomalia: Lunch time at this school in KM13, funded by@JapanGov. For students who often don’t have enough to eat at home, free meal like this makes a big difference in their physical and mental development. It keep them in school and learning and attracts new ones. https://www.unicef.org/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire chairing the National Economic Council meeting held in Mogadishu yesterday.
Photo: @SomaliPM