April 6, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Sanbaloolshe Returns To Intelligence, Mogadishu Mayor Axed In Security Shake-up
06 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 108 Words
Former head of the intelligence agency NISA, Abdullahi Sanbalooshe, has been re-appointed in the same capacity as Mogadishu mayor Yusuf Jima’ale is relieved of his duties to be replaced by Somalia’s deputy head of mission in Washington,Thabit Abdi Mohamed.Reports from Villa Somalia also indicate President Mohamed Farmaajo has appointed,Jima’ale Irfid as chief of defense staff while Abdihakim Dahir Sa’id will now head the police.Sources close to the developments say president Farmaajo told the council of ministers he was declaring a full scale war against the militant group Al-Shabaab, a day after two bombings killed six people and injured at least 15 others in Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Sanbaloolshe Returns To Intelligence Mogadishu Mayor Axed In Security Shake-up (Goobjoog News)
- Bodies of Somali Refugees Killed In Yemen Attack Yet To Be Buried As Families Seek Answers (Goobjoog News)
- Turkey Condemns Bomb Attack In Somali Capital (Shabelle News)
- Bomb Blast Near KM-4 Junction In Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- Galmudug Wraps Up Registration Of Candidates Vying For The Region’s Presidency (Jowhar.com)
- Somali Prime Minister UAE Ambassador Discuss Relief Efforts In Dealing With Severe Drought Crisis (Emirates News Agency)
- UPDF Soldiers Given Medals In Somalia(Daily Monitor)
- President Trump Must Rethink Decision To Escalate U.S. Military Involvement In Somalia (Cleveland.com)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Bodies of Somali Refugees Killed In Yemen Attack Yet To Be Buried As Families Seek Answers
06 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 331 Words
The bodies of Somali refugees killed in suspected gunship attack in the coast of Yemen are yet to be buried about three weeks after the attack while some families are still in the dark over the fate of their loved ones. Somali consular general in Yemen Ahmed Abdi Hassan told Goobjoog News only nine families have contacted the authorities in Yemen to allow the burial of their deceased kin in Yemen while 31 other bodies still remain unclaimed. “We have received confirmation from nine families in Burco asking their kin to be buried in Yemen. We are confirming their names and will go on with the burial soonest,” Hassan said.
Despite Somali and UN call for probe over possible cases of war crimes against the refugees, both sides in the two year Yemeni war have distanced themselves from responsibility but traded accusations. Some of the families are yet to get any information regarding their loved ones. Sahro Osman whose daughter Xafso Omar Ismail, 20 was also killed in the March 17 attack says she has not received any information. “No one has called me to date. I just heard some families in Burco have been contacted but I have no information about what is going on,” said Sahro. Sahro said she would like her daughter be buried in Yemen, but, “they must confirm to me that they indeed buried her.” Sahro lives in Laas Anod in Somaliland.
Hassan said seven of the 17 injured persons are in critical condition and will require further treatment abroad. “The government of Somalia is organizing for further treatment of the seven people who are critical injured,” said Hassan. The diplomat said Prime Minister Hassan Khaire and Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Garad have formed a committee to facilitate the treatment of the injured and ensure the burial of the deceased. Women and children are under the care and custody of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Hassan said noting some of the refugees are in detention centres.
Turkey Condemns Bomb Attack In Somali Capital
06 April – Source : Shabelle News – 116 Words
Turkey has condemned the bomb attack in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu that left seven civilians dead. “We condemn the bomb-laden vehicle attack, which caused the death of seven civilians, including primary and university students and many injuries carried out today in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry added: “We condemn this malicious terrorist attack and we wish God’s mercy on those who lost their lives, convey our condolences to their family and a speedy recovery to the wounded.” At least seven people were killed and more than 10 others wounded in a car bomb attack targeting a busy cafe near two ministry buildings around lunch time in capital Mogadishu on Wednesday.
Bomb Blast Near KM-4 Junction In Mogadishu
05 April – Source : Garowe Online – 178 Words
At least four people were confirmed wounded in a bomb blast targeted Qatar embassy in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Wednesday evening. An eyewitness said the explosion has resulted from an Improvised Explosives Device (IED) planted in a highway near the heavily guarded diplomatic zone around busy KM4 junction in the capital. The blast has left four pedestrians wounded who were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.
Somali Police and the security guards of Qatar Embassy cordoned off the scene, and launched an investigation into the incident, according to the witnesses who spoke to Garowe Online over the phone from the area. This was the second bomb attack in Mogadishu in a day. At least seven people, mostly civilians were killed, and a dozen wounded in a car bomb explosion at lunchtime on Wednesday at a restaurant near the headquarters of ministries of Internal Security and Youth in the city. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings, however, the Al-Qaida-linked group Al Shabaab often carries out such attacks in Mogadishu, to topple the UN-backed Somalia’s Federal Government.
Galmudug Wraps Up Registration Of Candidates Vying For The Region’s Presidency
06 April – Source : Jowhar.com – 141 Words
Galmudug presidential election commission has said they wrapped up the registration process for the presidential candidates ahead of the poll slated for April 10. The commission chairman MP, Mohamed Hassan Gelle said Wednesday was the deadline for candidates’ registration process. He said three aspirants enrolled to contest in the presidential poll on April 10. The three are Ahmed Du’ale Haaf, Abdikadir Shirwa’ and Ahmed Sharif.
“We’re done with the registration phase and will now get ready for the remaining stage of the process,” he said, reiterating their stand that the poll will not be pushed back from its scheduled date of April 10. However, it appears that the process might be hit by another delay as pressure from the Somali Federal Government and Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a (ASWJ) to postpone the poll to allow more stakeholders participate in the process, takes momentum.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Prime Minister, UAE Ambassador Discuss Relief Efforts In Dealing With Severe Drought Crisis
06 April – Source : Emirates News Agency – 112 Words
Hassan Ali Khayre, Somali Prime Minister, has met with Mohammed Ahmed Othman Al Hammadi, UAE Ambassador to Somalia, to discuss relief efforts in dealing with the severe drought crisis currently affecting most of the country. In a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu, the two parties reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and means of enhancing them in various fields besides discussing means of boosting cooperation. The Somali Prime Minister expressed his thanks and appreciation to the UAE for its continuous support of Somalia in various fields. The UAE Ambassador also expressed his thanks to the Somali Prime Minister for his efforts in consolidating bilateral relations between the two countries.
UPDF Soldiers Given Medals In Somalia
06 April – Source : Daily Monitor – 331 Words
Uganda’s soldiers returning home from Somalia were on Tuesday given medals as recognition for their peace support operations in the Horn of Africa.The medals which are given to all African Union soldiers ending their tour of duty in Somalia were this time given to Battle Group 18 which has been replaced by Ugabag 21.
The Special Representative of the African Union Commission Chairperson (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira, who presided over the award ceremony, thanked Uganda for deploying troops for the recent ten years to help stabilise Somalia.“UPDF could have remained in Kampala and Luwero Triangle and elsewhere but understood very well that as long as Somalia [remained] what it was in 2007, Uganda would not be safe,” Mr Madeira said.
Uganda was the first country to deploy troops in Somalia in 2007 and 2010 al shabaab carried out suicide bomb attacks as retaliation for its troop presence in Mogadishu.Currently, Uganda has over 6,000 troops whose role is to guard key government installations including presidential palace, parliament, airport and seaport.“Let me take this opportunity to thank your country and thank all your colleagues from Uganda who started this Mission by sacrificing their lives,” Mr Madeira said.
The medals parade, the first of its kind, was attended by the AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen. Osman Noor Soubagleh, his deputy, Maj. Gen. Abreha Tesfaye and the Uganda Contingent Commander Brig. Kayanja Muhanga.AMISOM Sector Commanders from Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti and the outgoing Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Lydia Wanyoto also attended the function.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Before funneling more money, weapons and air support to the feckless Somali government, the Trump administration should reassess U.S. policy on Somalia, and should not treat Somalia as one entity, which is no longer the case,”
President Trump Must Rethink Decision To Escalate U.S. Military Involvement In Somalia
05 April – Source : Cleveland.com – 889 Words
In January, The New York Times reported that the Donald Trump transition team had sent a four-page series of questions to the State Department about U.S. policy on Africa regarding foreign aid programs and U.S. counterterrorism efforts.I did find the following question –“We’ve been fighting al-Shabaab for a decade, why haven’t we won?” — a reasonable one to ask the State Department and the Pentagon.
Al-Shabab is an al-Qaida-affiliated militant group battling the U.S.-backed, embattled Somali government. Al-Shabab has been waging deadly attacks in south Somalia and neighboring Kenya.To counter the threat of al-Shabaab, the Pentagon has been seeking to expand its military involvement in Somalia. And, on Wednesday, President Trump authorized the Pentagon’s plan to escalate its anti-terror campaign against al-Shabaab, including designating parts of Somalia an “area of active hostilities” for military targeting purposes for at least 180 days, according to the officials cited in a New York Times story.
This followed President Trump’s request from the Pentagon for a comprehensive plan to defeat the Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated groups. But the military operations can exacerbate the humanitarian crisis; currently millions of Somalis are on the brink of famine. There is a possibility of al-Shabab using civilian casualties as propaganda against America, which could further undermine U.S. interests in the region.
The United States could be seen as dictating the political outcome of Somalia’s multifaceted power struggle. The escalation of U.S. involvement would embolden the corrupt government in Mogadishu in the belief they would be able to rely on the U.S. Africa Command, created by the George W. Bush administration in 2008, to do their bidding.Somalia’s struggle against al-Shabab is not only a military one but a political one. Without any real political progress on the ground, or reliable local partner, the Pentagon’s efforts to back African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops and the Somali Army, made up rival clan militias, in the campaign against al-Shabab would be futile.
TOP TWEETS
@HassanIstiila: Outgoing Interior Security Minister Abdirizak Omar revealed that Alshabaab has been using the Mogadishu port to import bomb making material.
@HarunMaruf: Muslim scholars from Egypt, Somalia, Libya and Kuwait have announced formation of a new religious group called “Proclaimers of the Truth”.
@MogadishuNews1: #Somalia president: The country is in war and the govt will launch systematic security plans 2 fight #Alshabab“s threat, @AadamIbraahim
@HarunMaruf: Experts in Somalia believe the new religious group is Takfiri who are said to have extreme views on interpretations of religion.
@Omaar_nor: Heavy fighting between #Alshabaab and #Somali forces erupts at #Boofoow & #Kabtanlaas near the port town of #Marka in Lower Shabelle region.
@Omaar_nor: The battle broke out after #SNA soldiers backed by @amisomsomalia attacked #Ashabaab-held villages near #Janaale town. Casualties reported.
@HassanIstiila: #UPDATE: Somali military army recaptured four locations in Janaale town in lower shabeelle region. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, dressed in military fatigue today as he declared total war against Al-Shabaab and requesting support from the somali population.
Photo: @TheVillaSomalia