April 29, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Isis Conflict: Fears Mount Over Jihadists’ Somalia Branch Led By Briton
29 April – Source: International Business Times – 131 Words
The Islamic State’s (Isis’s) growing influence in Somalia is a cause for alarm and must be checked by the international community, a Somali military leader has said. Abdul Qadir Mumin, a British passport holder, leads a large contingent of IS (Daesh) fighters in the country who have defected to the jihadist group from al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab.
Sky News unearthed evidence that jihadists are relying more and more on child soldiers to swell their ranks. Boys, some aged between 10 and 15, were recently captured during an IS attack by sea and are being held in prison in Garowe, capital of the Puntland autonomous region.
Mumin’s IS faction is reportedly operating out of the remote Galgala mountains in north eastern Somalia after it was pushed out of a nearby town by Somali forces. Puntland army chief General Mohammed Saed Hirsi told Sky News: “If Puntland is not helped to fight terrorism, there will be a breeding ground for terror here that will spread to the rest of the world.”
Women and child survivors spoke of their ordeal at the hands of jihadists. One woman told Sky News: “They throw you around from one man to another man and while that’s happening, they hit you with whips.” A child soldier who tried to escape from IS’s clutches said he was tied up to a tree for 24 hours and beaten with canes.
Key Headlines
- Isis Conflict: Fears Mount Over Jihadists’ Somalia Branch Led By Briton (IBT)
- Ministry Of Education To Conduct National Examination (Goobjoog News)
- Al-Shabaab Attacks Somali Army Barrack In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- No foreign Travel For MPs Somali Speaker (Radio Dalsan)
- Sen. Franken Condemns Reported Racial Profiling of Somali-Americans By Federal Transportation Security Administration Officers (Office of Senator Franken)
- Security Improves In Somalia As Police Force Builds Capacity – SPF Commissioner (AMISOM)
- Levi Karuhanga The General Who Pacified Liberia Somalia (Daily Monitor)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Ministry Of Education To Conduct National Examination
29 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 155 Words
Somali Ministry of Education said that it will administer national examination for students who of secondary schools in this year. Mukhtar Abdullahi Haji, the Director of the ministry’s Examination Board expressed big hopes. Haji said the ministry of education has planned to carry out unified national examination during the academic year.
He further called on education umbrella organizations to cooperate with the Ministry of Education in order to foster the national examination to be done in meantime. The Horn of Africa nation seeks to revive its education system which has collapsed after the fall Somalia’s central government in early 1991. Last year, About 7,000 Somali students sat for their final school examination for the first time in 25 years. This was the first centralized examination in which the Federal Government administered for students who completed secondary schools in Somalia since 1991.
Al-Shabaab Attacks Somali Army Barrack In Mogadishu
29 April – Source: Shabelle News – 132 Words
Al-Shabaab militants laid ambush attack on a major military base under Somali National army (SNA) in Mogadishu on Thursday night, reports said. According to Radio Shabelle sources, armed fighters from the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab have carried out coordinated attacks on SNA barracks at the former perfume factory in Mogadishu’s Huriwa district.
The SNA soldiers at the base have managed to ward off the attack after engaging heavy gun battle with Al-Shabaab fighters. Residents said both sides suffered casualties, but said numbers were not confirmed. Local authorities did not comment on the attack on SNA base in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab has been driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by AMISOM and Somali army, but the militants still launch guerrilla-style assaults and bomb attacks in the seaside capital.
No foreign Travel For MPs, Somali Speaker
28 April – Source: Radio Dalsan – 90 Words
Somali national assembly speaker has said members of parliament have been barred from travelling abroad. Prof. Mohamed Osman Jawari said the legislators are not allowed to travel outside the country during the cause of the current session of the parliament. The session is crucial for the preparation of the upcoming historic elections which will be held later this year. Somali members of parliament frequently travel outside the country and spend most of their time in Europe and neighbouring states like Kenya where they have families.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Sen. Franken Condemns Reported Racial Profiling of Somali-Americans By Federal Transportation Security Administration Officers
29 April – Source: Office of Senator Franken – 209 Words
U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) pressed the head of the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to quickly investigate charges that Somali-Americans were racially profiled by TSA officials and to put an end to any such discriminatory practices.
Sen. Franken, in a letter to TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger on Thursday, expressed “serious concerns” about the reports that a Minnesota-based TSA officer was instructed to provide information about Somali-American leaders visiting TSA offices so they could be checked for terrorist ties.
“Minnesota is home to the nation’s largest Somali-American population—a vibrant community that I’m proud to represent in the Senate,” Sen. Franken wrote in his letter. “As you know, racial and ethnic profiling undermines trust in the authorities and causes resentment among targeted groups. I therefore request that you immediately open an investigation into these reports.”
The charges of racial profiling were raised by a local TSA manager whose supervisor asked him to provide names of Somali leaders visiting the local TSA office so they could be checked against terrorist databases. The manager said he’s never been asked to help screen any other visitors for terrorist ties. Sen. Franken said he will continue to monitor the situation to ensure TSA takes action on the racial profiling reports.
Security Improves In Somalia As Police Force Builds Capacity – SPF Commissioner
28 April – Source: AMISOM – 338 Words
The security situation in Somalia has seen improvement with the strengthening of its national police force despite the constant threat of terrorist attacks from Al Shabaab, the Force’s Commissioner, Gen Mohammed Sheikh Hamud, has said. Gen Hamud said the police service, which is receiving training from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is focusing on internal security and learning from terror attacks that take place in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
“People do not realize the improvements made in security. They only comment when there is an explosion or suicide attack. These attacks will continue as long as we have radicalized youth. It is not an easy thing as it is also happening in other cities, including Europe. But if you compare since 2010, we are in a better state of security”, Gen Hamud told a group of journalists from countries that have contributed troops to the regional force.
The journalists were in Mogadishu to report on the situation in Somalia and the steps AMISOM has made in stabilizing Somalia and degrading Al Shabaab. AMISOM Police Commissioner, Brig. Gen. Anand Pillay, who was also present, said the country’s revamped police force is being structured to accommodate the country’s new federal system of government. He said the two police forces are engaged in security measures in advance of the holy month of Ramadhan that starts in early July and general elections later this year.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“He inspired Amisom’s decisive move towards defeating al-Shabaab and liberating the city of Mogadishu. Subsequent commanders have since been taking Gen. Levi Karuhanga’s method of work as a reference point in their operations. His contribution to the stabilisation of Somalia is highly commendable and will always be a reference point and source of inspiration.”
Levi Karuhanga, The General Who Pacified Liberia, Somalia
29 April – Source: Daily Monitor – 1,004 Words
The late Maj. Gen. Levi Karuhanga has been described as a ‘selfless soldier’ whose contribution to the restoration of peace in Somalia, Liberia and Uganda can never go unnoticed. Gen. Karuhanga died last week at Nakasero hospital in Kampala. Fellow military officers, ministers, members of the diplomatic corps from various parts of the world praised and eulogized the fallen Court Martial chairperson and commander Reserve Forces as a hero and patriot who never raised his voice to complain during his service as a commander in different assignments.
Justus Muhanguzi, Gen. Karuhanga’s brother, says the fallen soldier was neither bewitched nor killed. Karuhanga did his daily work assignments and on returning home begun talking of difficulty in breathing. He had been battling diabetes and hypertension for some time. The deceased reported to work at the General Court Martial from where he proceeded for the check- up because he had difficulty in breathing.
“My brother drove himself to Nakasero hospital on Thursday (April 21), and was immediately sent to the intensive care unit amid protests that he would be okay. The doctors later discovered that he had a serious heart problem,” Muhanguzi said after burial in Kigoma village, Nyabubare Sub-county in Bushenyi District, on Monday.
But the deceased, Muhanguzi says joked with people around, before they proceeded to his home in Ntinda where they had lunch at around 3pm. “At around 5:30pm I left his house but was surprised to get a call from one of my nephews at around 7:30pm that Gen. Karuhanga was weakened and unconscious. I advised them to rush him to Nakasero hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival,” he told Daily Monitor.
Muhanguzi recalled that his brother’s complications started last month when he went on a routine check -up at Case Clinic for diabetes and hypertension only for doctors to advise that he had a problem with his heart. Before his death, doctors had recommended that Gen. Karuhanga travels to India for treatment. “He returned with hopes of recovering steadily,” Muhanguzi adds.
TOP TWEETS
@SomaliFaces : “I am a single father and it’s not easy raising 7 children alone… https://tmblr.co/Z2N3bi25jhxBU #somalifaces#somalia #puntland #marriage
@Tuuryare_Africa: #UPDATE: Two civilian people wounded and an #AMISOM military vehicle burned down in a roadside blast in#Halgan town – Residents. #Somalia .
@omabha : Somalia: Puntland President eyes Arab investment on Saudi visit – Garowe Online http://dlvr.it/LB3K5S #Somalia
@Bogorad_Olga : #Somalia: according to #alShabaab affiliated media, the group carried out attacks on SNA bases in#Mogadishu‘s Hodan & Huriwa districts
@mustafaxaaji : “Join the #PoliceForce instead of taking risk Journeys” #Somalia police commissioner tells #Youth..
@Soomaalikabe: #Somalia #Somalia ISIL is competing with Al-Shabaab for recruits in Somalia and appears to be gaining traction http://soomaalikabe.com/?p=52
@Anisa_Hajimumin : In #Somalia there are over 10,000 grad students whom have nothing to do with menial jobs! A job is a job
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali Police Commission advises the youth to join the Somali Police Force instead of taking risk journeys across the sea.
Photo: @mustafaxaaji