April 4, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Al-Shabaab Admits To Be Behind Puntland Attack
04 April – Source: VOA Somali – 131 Words
Al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamud Raage told the group’s radio station Andalus that they sent hundreds of its fighters to carry out the mid-March attack in parts of the northeastern administration of Puntland. Ali Dhere did not specify the number of Al-Shabaab fighters killed in the confrontation with Puntland forces.
Puntland and its neighboring region of Galmudug claimed victory over Al-Shabaab, each saying it had killed hundreds of the group’s fighters and captured dozens others. In pictures shown by the two regional administrations, most of the arrested or surrendered Al-Shabaab fighters were young children some in their early teens. Ali Dhere paid tribute to fallen Al-Shabaab fighters in the attack , hoped swift recovery for the injured and prayed for the freedom of the Al-Shabaab captives in the hands of Puntland and Galmudug.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab Admits To Be Behind Puntland Attack (VOA Somali)
- Bosasso Police Arrest A Man Over Al-Shabaab Links (Goobjoog News)
- Federal MP Calls On Puntland To Protect Life And Property Of Southerners In Puntland (Goobjoog News)
- Naval Flotilla Dispatched To Gulf of Aden (Financial Tribune)
- El-Adde Major’s Kin Finally Get Body For Burial (Daily Nation)
- Ethiopia Beat Somalia In Addis Ababa (Confederation of African Football)
- Misleading Puntland And Holding Somalia Hostage: The Hypocrisy Of Abdiweli Gaas (Mareeg Media)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Bosasso Police Arrest A Man Over Al-Shabaab Links
04 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 266 Words
Police in Bossaso have arrested a man suspected to be an Al-Shabaab member and recovered a pistol from him. The man, identified as an Ethiopian Oromo, was apprehended from a house in the Bossaso neighbourhoods police said. He was alone at the time of the arrest. Bossaso police commandant, Abdirisack Afgaduud said the man wanted to carry out assassination attacks in the town. “The Oromo suspected to be Al-Shabaab with wanted to carry out assassination attacks in the town but the police foiled the attack” said Afgaduud.
The arrest and the recovery came days after Al-Shabaab carried out suicide attack at a hotel in the central town of Galkayo in which six people died, including a senior local government official. Somalia’s Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab rebels — who are fighting to overthrow the country’s government — said they carried out the attack, in a statement broadcasted on the insurgents’ Radio Andalus. “The mujahedeen fighters targeted the head of the finances for Puntland in the Mudug region, and together with five of his security guards they were killed in the attack,” the radio broadcast said quoting Al-Shabaab commanders.
Galkayo, which straddles the border between the two states of Puntland and Galmudug, lies some 650 kilometres (400 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu. Early last month Puntland forces engaged weeklong fighting in Gara’ad district where 120 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed.
Federal MP Calls On Puntland To Protect Life And Property Of Southerners In Puntland
04 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 126 Words
Federal MP Mayow Hussein in an interview with Goobjoog News called on Puntland state leadership to stop the recent widely reported targets against civilians from southern regions of the country. He said there have been numerous reports that many people were physically attacked while some others faced threats or their properties looted.
“People keep calling me about these incidents. We have incidents in Goldogob, Qardo, Burtinille, Ba’adwayne and other town in Puntland,” said the MP. There were allegations that the suicide bomber in last week’s explosion in Galkayo came from the southern parts of the country leading to reprisal attacks by locals against residents from southern regions. MP Hussein Mayo called Somali Government to intervene on what he called the intolerable acts against southerners in Puntland.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Naval Flotilla Dispatched To Gulf of Aden
04 April – Source: Financial Tribune – 162 Words
Iranian Navy’s 40th flotilla of warships has left for the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea on a mission to provide security, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced on Saturday. The Navy seeks to reinforce its “mighty presence” in the northern parts of the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea as part of the grand plans set by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Admiral Sayyari told reporters in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Tasnim News Agency reported.
According to the commander, the 40th fleet consists of the Alborz destroyer and the Tonb warship. Since November 2008, the navy has conducted anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb Strait to protect the country’s vessels against pirate attacks. Under the terms of several UN Security Council resolutions, nations can deploy warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia to protect their vessels against pirates.
El-Adde Major’s Kin Finally Get Body For Burial
04 April – Source: Daily Nation – 511 Words
For several months, hundreds of people have been arriving in Misesi Village, Kisii County, to pay tribute to a fallen soldier. Maj Geoffrey Obwoge was the commander of the Kenya Defence Forces unit that was attacked by Al-Shaabab insurgents in El-Adde on January 15. The raid begun with a suicide car bomb at the gate of the base after which dozens of gunmen followed, shooting as they went on a killing orgy.
The Kenyan military has, however, remained tight-lipped regarding the number of fatalities in the attack, even as burials of a number of servicemen goes on in various parts of the country. In Kisii, family members said Maj Obwoge’s body would be buried on Wednesday in Ogembo Township. When the Nation visited the area, burial plans were going on as family and villagers said they had come to terms with the soldier’s death.
The soldier’s mother Elizabeth could not hold back tears. “Now that my son’s remains have been found, there is nothing else to do except plan his burial,” she said. The soldier’s wife, Rhoda, was in grief when the Nation contacted her in Eldoret.
Ethiopia Beat Somalia In Addis Ababa
04 April – Source: Confederation of African Football – 348 Words
Ethiopia emerged victorious over Somalia 2-1 in their U-20 AFCON 2017 First Round first leg clash on Sundayin Addis Ababa. Two goals in each half were enough to hand the host a vital win against their Eastern neighbours. The visitors started on a bright note, resulting in two attempts at goal in the opening minute with striker Feysel Hashi leading the onslaughts.
However, the hosts broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when Ame Mohammed’s cross was headed home by Surafel Awel to give Ethiopia the lead. Awel soared above his marker to head over Somalia custodian Mustaf Hussein. Mohammed should have doubled the lead in the 39th minute after beating his marker with some good piece of skill but shot off target.
Ethiopia dominated possession for after the recess but were wasteful in front of goal, while the Somalis grew in confidence. The visitors silenced the home crowd in the 77th minute when Isse Ibrahim amazingly scored a header to restore parity. However, their celebration was cut short three minutes later when defender Tesfaye Shibru headed home from point blank range to restore the lead. Ethiopia takes a narrow lead into the second leg in a fortnight in Djibouti.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Nonetheless, the Somali people domestically and abroad continued to have faith and a desire to see their country move forward. As a minimum, every Somali expected elections to take place no matter the circumstances or which electoral model was eventually settled on. This alone meant that progress was being made—however slow.”
Misleading Puntland And Holding Somalia Hostage: The Hypocrisy Of Abdiweli Gaas
04 April – Source: Mareeg Media – 863 Words
In February 2106, I published a short article titled “Puntland is experiencing a crisis of leadership, not an electoral dispute with the Federal Government” and highlighted the challenges facing Puntland and why a crisis of leadership was the cause of all the increasing misfortunes. I also stressed the growing distrust of Gaas in Puntland and called for a change of guard if Puntland was to overcome its challenges.
This short article serves as an extension. The indecisiveness and the poor leadership of President Abdiweli Gaas are uncovered verifying that indeed Puntland is experiencing a crisis of leadership. For the last few months and as far back as September 2015, the Somali Federal Government and people have been occupied with finding a path to continue building on their political process. Public consultations and the re-instatement of the 2011-2012 Roadmap signatories (renamed the National Leadership Forum) gave the country great momentum to advance dialogues on many controversial issues.
So many contentious issues including the Constitutional Review and Implementation Process, Fiscal Federalism of which resource sharing and division of Federal and Regional State Powers is a top, and Integration of the Somali National Army have been under discussion. However, at center stage came the debate on the electoral process for 2016. We have all followed the numerous consultative meetings across the country and the efforts of the Federal Government, international partners and regions entities in finding a harmonious election option based on the principles of enhancing legitimacy and transparency. In the end, the public consultations did not bare fruits.
TOP TWEETS
@MogadishuNews : #BREAKING Former #Puntland president Abdirahman Faroole declares he’s running for President of#Somalia in 2016.
@TheSouthFaceNGO : #Somalia‘s privately-owned electricity companies charge customers a fortune. http://bit.ly/238CSPu @Hamza_Africa #Africa
@NRC_HoA : http://bit.ly/1W4t4E9 Education is a right. It is the key to rebuilding a peaceful and prosperous #Somalia
@Eye_on_Somalia : #goobjoog Somaliland receives USD 1m to deal with drought from Somalia: The breakaway Somaliland admi… http://bit.ly/1qiLpBA #somalia
@UNSomalia : We praise the #Puntland State of #Somaliaacceptance to play a full role in the 2016 electoral process
@HassanIstiila: 74% of Somali population is under age of 30. The #youngsters are the power of our country #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Signing ceremondy during the agreement between Federal Government of Somalia and the Government of Puntland State of Somalia.
Photo: UNSOM