April 11, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Car Bomb Rams Into Mogadishu’s Local Government Headquarters
11 April – Source: Reuters- Africa – 72 Words
A suicide bomber on Monday rammed a car packed with explosives into the entrance of the local government headquarters in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.”We are investigating for details and casualties,” Police Major Mohamed Nur told Reuters.
It is unclear who carried out the attack although Somali militant group Al Shabaab has been waging an insurgency against the government and has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past.
Key Headlines
- Car Bomb Rams Into Mogadishu’s Local Government Headquarters (Reuters)
- Somali President Urges Concessions Political Harmony Ahead Of Elections(Hiiraan Online)
- Puntland Leaders Say Leaders Forum Focused On Three Points (Horseed Media)
- Three Children Die In Somalia Floods (Shabelle News)
- Somalia Executes Journalist Killer (AFP)
- Islamic State Expands to East Africa With New Allegiance Pledge (Counter-Jihad Report)
- At the WITW Summit Female Somali Army Captain’s Story Inspires Women’s Peacebuilding Drive (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali President Urges Concessions, Political Harmony Ahead Of Elections
11 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 295 Words
Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called on the country’s political stakeholders to make concessions and engage in a political harmony few months before the horn of Africa nation holds presidential elections this year. Speaking at the government-organized national consultative forum which involved the country’s political stakeholders including regional leaders and civil society members on Sunday, Mr. Mohamud said that Somalia had made ‘impressive’ political strides on security and rebuilding:“As we move towards achieving greater goals, it’s very important for us to promote a political solution and making concessions,” he told regional leaders at the forum.
The national consultative forum seeks ‘guiding principles’ presented and endorsed at high-level partnership forum which was held in the Somali capital in July last year to enable the transfer of power when the government’s mandate expires in 2016.Somalia is preparing for presidential elections which would see the incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud face dozens of competitors seat mid this year. According to Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution, adopted in 2012, the mandates of the Somali Federal Parliament and of the Government would come to an end in August and September 2016, respectively. Somalia’s government which proposed the election this year had dismissed the likelihood of holding popular elections due to security challenges.The Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group continues to carry out violent attacks across Somalia.
Puntland Leaders Say Leaders Forum Focused On Three Points
10 April – Source: Horseed Media – 221 Words
President Dr. Abdiweli Ali Gas of Puntland on Sunday attended the preliminary meeting of the National Leadership Forum at Villa Somalia ahead of the Forum’s official opening on Monday. The meeting aimed at coming up with the agenda of the expected National Forum due on Monday. All the leaders present submitted their opinions.
Sources indicate the leaders agreed on a three point agenda which will be the main subject of discussion at the National Forum as follows.To come up with modalities on how to hold free and fair elections in the country that will usher in good governance and reclaim Somalia’s position in the World. To discuss in detail the draft constitution of Somalia, which was previously amended on several occasions without consultation with Federal member States. The draft constitution conference was proposed to be held Garowe.To discuss in detail the escalating security situation in the country since there was no National Integrated Force in place which has a national identity and operational in all regions. This reality was noted to be the main reason why arresting insecurity in the country has become an uphill task.The National Leadership Forum is expected to open its doors in Halane on Monday. It will be attended by all heads of Federal member States as well as representatives of the International community.
Three Children Die In Somalia Floods
11 April – Source: Shabelle News – 96 Words
At least three young children died in flash floods caused by heavy rains in Somalia’s south-western Gedo region, according to residents on Monday.Hours-long of heavy rainfall triggered flash floods that left three children dead in Garbaharey town, the regional capital of Gedo region.Gedo region is one of the most drought-hit areas in south-western regions of Somalia due to the lack of sufficient rains for almost two consecutive years.Hunger and thirty have killed hundreds of people and livestock in Somalia as the main water source of Shabelle river coming from neighbouring Ethiopia dried up.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Executes Journalist Killer
11 April – Source: AFP – 156 Words
Somali police on Monday executed by firing squad a journalist who assassinated colleagues for the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab jihadist group.Hassan Hanafi, sentenced to death last month after military judges said he had confessed to his role in the killing of five journalists, was executed at a police academy in the capital Mogadishu shortly after dawn.Several journalists watched the execution, who said Hanafi struggled as he was taken to be killed, with police having to tie him to the firing post.”He confessed and was found guilty of masterminding the murder of several Somali journalists… his execution has been carried out,” senior military court official Abdulahi Hussein said.Hanafi was arrested in August 2014 in Kenya and extradited to Somalia late that year. Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to operate. Some attacks are believed to be linked to score-settling among the multiple factions in power, as well as by the Shebab.
Islamic State Expands to East Africa With New Allegiance Pledge
10 April – Source: Counter-Jihadi Report – : 248 Words
A new terrorist group in Somalia has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State styling itself “Jabha East Africa” (The East-African Front).In a statement the group recognized the Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the “rightful Khalifa (leader) of all Muslims.”“We in Jahba East Africa are advising all East Africans to leave al-Shabaab and their sponsor groups, like Al-Muhajiroun, Al-Hijra and Ansar Islam,” the statement said.“Like Al-Shabaab the sponsor groups have not understood the binding obligation of the Khalifah (caliphate).“We are telling the mujahideen in East Africa that al-Shabaab has now become a psychological and physical prison.“To pledge bayah to Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is freedom for the mujahideen in East Africa and opportunity to wage jihad according to the Sunnah against the enemies of Allah.”
Despite rumors circulating that Somalia’s primary jihadist group Al-Shabaab was considering pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, the group has not yet done so. The Islamic State has accepted pledges of allegiance from terrorist groups around the world. The most notorious of the Islamic State’s vassals is Boko Haram, now styling itself the Islamic State in West Africa. Boko Haram reportedly has a higher body count than the Islamic State’s main army in Syria and Iraq.Other important ISIS vassals include Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines and Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in the Egyptian Sinai.On Saturday April 9 a car bomb killed three people at a restaurant in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Describing her journey to rise in the military ranks to a captain rank, Elman said that despite a negative misperception towards her, something she said failed to put off her passion to serve in the army.“Initially it was seen as very negative, as someone who was disrespecting my culture, my religion, but over time people started to embrace the idea of women wearing pants,”
At the WITW Summit, Female Somali Army Captain’s Story Inspires Women’s Peacebuilding Drive
11 April -Source: Hiiraan Online – 380 Words
For Iman Elman, a 24 years-old female Somali army captain, the decision to return home and join Somali army wasn’t an easy one, but rather a one which against all odds she had to take it to break barriers.Having enrolled into the military for the traditionally conservative country where women’s duties are largely limited to family life, Elman who grew up in Canada had to challenge gender stereotypes for years, a journey which grabbed the attention of panelists at the Women in the World Summit in New York City last week.
Among three African women from Nigeria and Somalia who were invited to the summit, Iman spoke about the threat of militants to peace and her own country of Somalia where the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group is waging a deadly insurgency across large parts of the country.“I knew I wanted to put an end to it and knew that meant I would have to deal with al-Shabab head-on. By joining the army, I’d actually be able to contribute and restore peace back to the country,” she said.
TOP TWEETS
@Yassinjuma #Somalia executes #Alshabab Journalist Hanafi Hassan for his role in the assassination of Somali journalists
@OCHASom :In #Somalia, communities affected by El Niño induced drought receive life-saving assistancehttp://bit.ly/1SYJcU
@Fatumaabdulahi: Love it! Somali culture very much alive despite aggressive attempt by Wahhabis to Arabise it. #Baidoa#Somalia
@AlinoorMB:There was a time in #Mogadishu you would call a random landline number, it leads to a friendship! #Somalia
@Agayare:Hassan Hanafi was arrested in Nairobi by #Kenyansecurity in 2014 and handed over to #Somalia‘s government.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali Chief of Defense Forces Maj. Gen. Mohamed Adan Ahmed shakes hands with AMISOM Ag FC Maj. Gen. Mohammedesha Zeyinu
Photo: AMISOM.