April 7, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
New Mogadishu Air And Seaport Managers, NISA Deputy Named
06 April – Source: Jowhar.com – 108 Words
A day after top security appointments were made, Prime Minister Hassan Khayre has named new air and seaport managers for Mogadishu as well as the deputy commander of NISA. Ahmed Washington replaces Abdullahi Ali Nur as the head of Mogadishu seaport while President Farmajo’s campaign manager Mr. Yusuf Abdi Abdulle takes over the helm of Aden Adde International airport.
The appointments follow complaints by the Galmah Yonis clan over the Benadir regional appointments. Abdifatah Shaaweeye was named the Deputy Chief of the National Intelligence and Security Agency – NISA in the latest appointments seeking to stamp authority of the newly installed Farmajo led administration on key government functions.
Key Headlines
- New Mogadishu Air And Seaport Managers NISA Deputy Named (Jowhar.com)
- Vegetable Prices Shoot Up In Mogadishu As Drought Ravages The Country (Goobjoog News)
- Operations Against Al-Shabaab Underway In Lower Shabelle A Day After A Deadly Landmine Explosion(Hiiraan Online)
- Al-Shabaab Commander Surrenders In Middle Shabelle Hours After President Farmajo’s Amnesty For Militants (Kismaayo24)
- Displaced Pastoralists In Somalia Flee Drought (VOA)
- Somali Journalist Kidnapped And Tortured Impunity Continues (Reporters Without Borders)
- UN And EU Urge Vigilance As Somali Pirates Return (EuroAsia Review)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Vegetable Prices Shoot Up In Mogadishu As Drought Ravages The Country
07 April – Source : Goobjoog News – 197 Words
Vegetable prices have skyrocketed in Mogadishu in the recent months thanks to the drought which has ravaged many parts of the country.Retailers in the city say the supply of vegetables which is mainly from Lower and Middle Shabelle regions has reduced significantly and the little they get is not the best quality.
Some of the vegetable sellers in Mogadishu told Goobjoog News that the effect of the drought that hit many parts of the country is evident in the vegetable and fruit markets.The vegetable and other farm products prices have gone up by 70 to 100 per cent in the wholesale markets in Mogadishu due to short supply.Banana and pawpaw prices have also gone up. Similarly, potatoes which retailed at $1 per kilogram six months ago now sell for $3 dollars per kg.
Watermelon production has also taken a hit due to poor rains and so is mango whose supply is not expected to increase soon since it takes time before it is ready for consumption.Lower Shabelle crop farmers relying on irrigation for the farms along River Shabelle – the only river in the region – counted loses after the river dried up.
Operations Against Al-Shabaab Underway In Lower Shabelle A Day After A Deadly Landmine Explosion
06 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 120 Words
Somali government forces backed by African Union troops have begun security operations in parts of Lower Shabelle region, a day after a deadly landmine explosion killed 20 civilians traveling in a minibus. Reports from Farhaane near Qoryoley say that a security crackdown by the allied forces saw the arrest of an Al-Shabaab commander identified as Abbas Ahmed. He was arrested from his home in the town.The allied troops said the operation is aimed at stamping out Al-Shabaab elements in the region, who often behind insecurity incidents in Lower Shabelle. At least 20 people were killed in the landmine explosion near the village of Golwayn, about 120km from Mogadishu when a minibus they traveling in ran over the explosive device.
Al-Shabaab Commander Surrenders In Middle Shabelle Hours After President Farmajo’s Amnesty For Militants
07 April – Source: Kismaayo24 – 97 Words
Somali Intelligence Agency’s branch in Middle Shabelle displayed an alleged Al-Shabaab commander who defected from the militant group. His defection came barely hours after President Farmajo offered Al-Shabaab militants a 60-day amnesty amid a declaration of war on the group. The Al-Shabaab defector is identified as Mohamed Ali Yusuf and was displayed in Jowhar. He said he accepted the President’s amnesty and thus surrendered to the government. However, NISA has not revealed his work and title with Al-Shabaab. However, they said they welcomed and treated him well, and called on other militants to surrender to the government.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Displaced Pastoralists In Somalia Flee Drought
07 April – Source : VOA – Video – 2:16 Minutes
Severe drought has displaced nearly half a million people in Somalia. In the Puntland region, herders who have lost their livestock are now seeking refuge in urban areas. Those towns are struggling to deal with the influx of displaced families. Neha Wadekar has the story for VOA from the town of Qardho.
Somali Journalist Kidnapped And Tortured, Impunity Continues
06 April- Source: Reporters Without Borders – 444 Words
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns TV journalist Hanad Ali Guled’s abduction last weekend in Mogadishu and urges the authorities to shed light on this latest case of violence against media personnel.Guled, who works for privately-owned Goobjoog Television, was kidnapped from near his home by masked gunmen on 2 April and was found the next day in a field 30 km south of Mogadishu, bearing the marks of torture and unable to talk.
Shortly before his abduction, Guled received threats in connection with Media for Aid, a programme he recently co-founded with the aim of providing information to rural residents hit by a drought.Violence against media personnel is unfortunately only too common in Somalia. Abdihamid Mohamed Osman, a Universal TV technician also known as Karazai, narrowly escaped being killed by the explosion of a bomb placed under his car in the Mogadishu district of Hamarwayne on 12 March.
The deputy police chief, Gen. Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, told RSF that the Criminal Investigation Division was investigating both cases and would soon report its findings.In reality, the investigations into attacks of this kind almost never lead to the identification of those responsible, and it is this impunity that encourages more violence against journalists.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“While we have seen a very welcome decline in piracy off Somalia since the last reported hijack by Somali pirates in 2012, the reality is that piracy off the coast of Somalia has not been eradicated and the underlying conditions have not changed,”
UN And EU Urge Vigilance As Somali Pirates Return
07 April – Source : EURASIA Review – 784 Words
With the Somali pirates back after a lull of five years, the United Nations and the European Union anti-piracy taskforce (EU Naval Force) are urging greater vigilance and asking ships to continue to follow the advice of navies and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) when planning passage off Somalia. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov said: “After . . . attacks, following a lull of five years, it is clear that Somali pirates are resurgent and intent on continuing attacks on commercial shipping. I urge the international community to be vigilant, to work in close partnership and to hold the Somali pirates accountable.” Fedotov was speaking after a spate of recent piracy attacks off Somalia.
According to analysts, there are several reasons for resurgence in piracy, including drought, famine, corruption, a surge of smuggled weapons and the influence of the Islamic State. A Pakistan-owned cargo vessel, which was carrying food, was hijacked off the coast of central Somalia, Somali officials said on April 4, according to the New York Times. The hijacking came hours after the pirates hijacked an Indian vessel along the coast of Somalia near a village named El Hur.
Abdillahi Ahmed Ali, mayor of Somali town Hobyo, confirmed the incident while talking to Voice of America, but expressed unawareness about the number of crew members on the Pakistani vessel called Salama 1. An Indian registered cargo dhow, which was hijacked by suspected Somali pirates on April 1, was meanwhile in the vicinity of Hobyo, the EU Naval Force said on April 3. “EU Naval Force can confirm that an Indian registered cargo dhow was seized by suspected pirates on 01 April and is now in the vicinity of Hobyo, Somalia,” a statement on its website said.
Commenting the recent attacks, the head of UNODC’s Nairobi-based Maritime Crime Programme Alan Cole said: “The threat of Somali piracy has never gone away: it has been suppressed by the good work of the shipping industry and their security teams, navies, and UNODC’s support to the trial and imprisonment of 1,300 pirates.”
Large parts of the Somali coast remain beyond the reach of law enforcement authorities so ships should continue to follow the advice of navies and the International Maritime Organisation when planning passage off Somalia. UNODC continues to support the trials of piracy suspects in the region and the Somali maritime law enforcement agencies as they extend their reach around the Somali coast.
TOP TWEETS
@HassanIstiila: #BREAKING: Mortar shells lands in #Mogadishu‘s Wadajir district, leaving at least two people. #Somalia
@NRC_Norway: Somalia is inching closer to famine. Here are 4 things that could push the country over the line http://ow.ly/Sbkb30aEqou
@KTNKenya: Somalia President gives Al Shabaab militants 60-day amnesty https://goo.gl/xkvtsp
^FK
@SomaliaNewsroom : Sister company of DP World (which will develop Berbera port in #Somaliland) will develop Bosaso port in #Puntland
@MOALIMUU: Three people died after several mortars landed in Danwadaagaha in Wadajir neighbourhood in #Mogadishu . #Somalia
@Daudoo: BREAKING: Several Loud explosions just heard around #Mogadishu airport & #AMISOM‘s Halane military base – Residents #Somalia
@MogadishuNews1: #Breaking: several mortar rounds that landed Mogadishu’s #Wadajir district kill 3 pple, #Somalia @Mogadishuupdate @AadamIbraahim
@MogadishuNews1: #Updates: today’s mortar attack fired from unknown destination was aimed at #Mogadishu‘s Aden Adde airport @Mogadishuupdate @xasanmmc
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The immediate former Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Dr. Abdisalan Hadliye Omar officially hand over office to the incoming minister,Yusuf Garad in a colourful ceremony held at the ministry offices
Photo: Radio Muqdisho