August 15, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Security forces clash with armed militia in Mogadishu following disarmament operation
15 Aug – Source: Radio Mogadishu/RBC/BBC Somali Service/VOA Somali Service – 184 words
Heavy security operation started in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district on Friday morning following the government’s plan to disarm warlords and armed clan militias in the capital.
The security operation turned into armed clash after security forces raided the house of former Wadajir District Commissioner Ahmed Hassan Addow (Ahmed Dai) where the security forces started to search for illegal weapons.
Initial sources say that at least 10 people were killed after fierce gun battle erupted between the security forces conducting the operation and the armed militia loyal to Ahmed Dai.
During the operation, the militia was overpowered and 20 were arrested,15 guns and an assortment of ammunition recovered.
There officials leading the operation of the Federal Government of Somalia did not provide any details yet to the media concerning the ongoing operation in the capital city.
Key Headlines
- Security forces clash with armed militia in Mogadishu following disarmament operation (Radio Mogadishu/RBC)
- Three dead in clashes over grazing land dispute in Galgadud region (Radio Bar-kulan)
- At least 14 killed as AU forces attack insurgents in Mogadishu (Reuters)
- Parliamentary Social Services Committee: Scholarship recipients were fairly selected (Radio Goobjoog)
- Interim Juba administration vows to security operations against al Shabaab (Radio Shabelle/Goobjoog)
- Harardere People Enhance Development (Radio Dalsan)
- Galeyr elected president Khatumo State (Sabahi Online)
- Kenyan intelligence boss under fire over Islamist attacks quits (Reuters)
SOMALI MEDIA
Security forces clash with armed militia in Mogadishu following disarmament operation
15 Aug – Source: Radio Mogadishu/RBC/BBC Somali Service/VOA Somali Service – 184 words
Heavy security operation started in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district on Friday morning following the government’s plan to disarm warlords and armed clan militias in the capital.
The security operation turned into armed clash after security forces raided the house of former Wadajir District Commissioner Ahmed Hassan Addow (Ahmed Dai) where the security forces started to search for illegal weapons.
Initial sources say that at least 10 people were killed after fierce gun battle erupted between the security forces conducting the operation and the armed militia loyal to Ahmed Dai.
During the operation, the militia was overpowered and 20 were arrested,15 guns and an assortment of ammunition recovered.
There officials leading the operation of the Federal Government of Somalia did not provide any details yet to the media concerning the ongoing operation in the capital city.
Three dead in clashes over grazing land dispute in Galgadud region
15 Aug- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 135 words
At least three people have been killed and four others injured in clashes between pastoralist communities over grazing land disputes in areas between Balanballe and Herale in Galgadud region.
The clashes were triggered by disputes over the ownership of boreholes that were being dug in an area known as Lan-shidale in Galgadud region according to Bashir Dahir Yusuf, an official in Herale.
Yusuf added that the injured have been admitted to medical facilities in Balanballe and Herale for treatments. He called on the locals in Herale and Balanballe to work together to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Traditional elders in Balanballe and Herale are said to be stepping up efforts to end the clashes between the two pastoralist communities in the area.
Parliamentary Social Services Committee: Scholarship recipients were fairly selected
15 Aug – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 97 words
The Parliamentary Committee of Social Services stated that the list of scholarship recipients were fairly selected through evaluation test.
The Secretary of the Committee Abdullahi Omar Abshirow said that many Somali students have succeeded to get scholarships donated to the federal government by the republic of Sudan and Yemen.
He added that there are more scholarship opportunities that Arab countries donated to Somali students and will be presented in few weeks time.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education has announced the list of the students who got 2014 scholarships in Yemen and Sudan.
Interim Juba administration vows to carry out security operations against Al Shabaab
15 Aug – Source: Radio Shabelle/Goobjoog – 101 words
The Interim administration of Juba in Southern Somalia stated it will continue carrying out security operations against al Shabab in the region.
Juba Interim leader Ahmed Mohamed Islam addressing the media in Kismayo airport after he came from Mogadishu where he attended UN Security council ambassadors meeting with top leaders of the federal government.
He said that he met with AMISOM and government forces in Mogadishu and agreed to carry out fresh offensive against Al-shabab to restore the areas under their control.
Juba security backed by African Union peace-keeping troops claimed victory over three days clashes with al Shabaab fighters in the outskirts of Kismayo.
Harardere People Enhance Development
15 Aug- Source: Radio Dalsan- 171 words
Intellects of Haradere stepped up development issues in their district. The intellects from that district who are in Mogadishu said they want to start development projects in Harardere.
They met in Mogadishu and set up a committee which they gave the name Harardere Reconstruction and Development Committee. The members of that committee were drawn from the different communities that inhabit that district. They said the committee will soon start renovating the infrastructure in the district, notably schools which were not renovated of late. Alongside the intellects, the meeting was attended by members of the former Banadir Region Administration including Warsame Mohamed Hassan aka Joodax and Abdi Mohamed Dabaney.
Speakers at the meeting included Januune Haji Ahmed Liibaan aka Ahyaawadan, Col. Nuur Hussein Taqsiin, Col. Ali Baashi Mohamed Haji, Abdi Mohamud Warsame Dhabaney, Wiseman Abdullahi Farah Hayle, Sultan Ali Straado and Mrs. Asha Mohamud Warsame.
Haradere is located along the coast, 500 kms south of Mogadishu and has trade links with Hobyo District and Eldheer in Mudug and Galgaduud regions.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Heavy fighting in Mogadishu as Amisom troops try to disarm warlord’s militia
15 Aug- Source: Daily Nation/AFP- 381 words
Heavy fighting broke out in Mogadishu on Friday as Somali government and African Union troops battled a powerful militia warlord in a bid to disarm him, security officials said, reporting a number of casualties. “Government forces and African troops are conducting security operations in Mogadishu, and this morning militiamen confronted them,” government security official Mohamed Yusuf said. Bursts of gunfire and heavy explosions were reported before dawn, with witnesses reporting at least five dead. Rocket-propelled grenades were fired by both sides, witnesses said. Somalia’s government launched a disarmament campaign earlier this month, with troops backed by the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Friday fighting to seize weapons from militia leader Ahmed Dai.
Galeyr elected president Khatumo State
14 Aug – Source: Sabahi Online – 101 words
Lawmakers in Somalia’s Khatumo State on Thursday elected former Somali Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galeyr as the new president of the region.
Galeyr, a member of Somalia’s federal parliament, defeated the current state President Mohamed Yusuf Jama, who accepted the election results and said he would support the new Khatumo government. Galeyr won with 21 votes, while Jama received nine and one abstained.
Khatumo State was formed in 2012 by politicians from Sool and Sanaag, areas disputed by both the Somaliland regional administration and Somalia’s federal state of Puntland.Soma liland has recently tried to seize Taleh, the capital of Khatumo.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Battle erupts in Mogadishu during disarmament raid
15 Aug- Source: AP- 336 words
The sounds of warfare rattled Mogadishu residents from their beds early Friday as government troops launched a dawn attack on a house belonging to a former warlord as part of a disarmament campaign.
Explosions and gunfire were heard as troops battled militiamen loyal to the former warlord. A Somali intelligence official confirmed the operation but insisted on anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.
Launched last week, the Somali government’s disarmament campaign is an attempt to reduce the number of weapons in the violence-prone city. The government says some 500 guns were recovered during the first four operations. Friday’s operation was the fifth.
At least 14 killed as AU forces attack insurgents in Mogadishu
15 Aug- Source: Reuters- 114 words
At least 14 people were killed in heavy fighting when African Union peacekeepers entered a surburb of the Somali capital Mogadishu in an offensive against armed militias.
Frequent militant attacks in the Horn of Africa country show that a push by African Union peacekeeping troops has not weakened the Islamist al Shabaab group’s capacity to wage asymmetric warfare in the capital, where coordination between Somali and foreign intelligence agencies is poor.
“At least 14 people, mostly militia, died in the fighting this morning. The government’s aim is to secure the city,” Major Abdullahi Farah, a senior police officer, told Reuters.
Kenyan intelligence boss, under fire over Islamist attacks, quits
14 Aug- Source: Reuters- 276 words
The head of the Kenyan intelligence service, which has been criticised in recent months for failing to stop a spate of attacks blamed on Islamist militants from neighbouring Somalia, resigned on Thursday, the president’s spokesman said.
The east African nation has suffered a string of gun and grenade attacks in the past several months, including the assault on the upscale Westgate shopping mall in the capital Nairobi last September, in which at least 67 people were killed.
A statement read on national television by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s spokesman Manoah Esipisu said Michael Gichangi, a fighter jet pilot who rose to the rank of major general in the armed forces, had resigned on personal grounds.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The Government should share its views with the parliament and seek new legislations through constitutional process, instead of embarking on arbitrary measures outside constitutional framework. It should also engage in a constructive dialogue with communities that have expressed grievances with its policies and insure inclusivity and transparency, as shown in its Vision 2016, is respected.”
Somalia Defies Rule of Law as New Federal Units Get Off the Ground
14 Aug- Source: Hiiraan Online- 14145 words
The foundation of a modern state is based on checks and balances or the separation of powers of legislature, judiciary and executive branches of the government, provisions that are clearly defined in the constitution. Indeed, constitutionalism is an effective mechanism that ensures rule of law.
A democratic society is built on the foundation of independent and impartial judiciary, independent media, free and fair elections and rule of law. The Provisional Constitution-despite its flaws-is the supreme law of the land, anything that is contrary to our Islamic religion is considered null and void. Somalia will fall deep down into the abyss of insecurity, corruption and lawlessness if the constitution is blatantly ignored. Somali Federal Parliament, the highest organ and the mother of all institutions, should not tolerate a government of men rather; it should promote a government of laws to the best of its ability. Somalia as state will only become viable if it is built on strong democratic foundation which must be sustained by strong civil society and platform of political parties. At present, Somalia has neither.For last couple of months a parliamentary ad hoc committee has been working on a draft legislation regarding political parties, hopefully, the parliament will pass party legislation on/or shortly after September 2014. With regard to civil society,it is, by and large, represented by an umbrella of local NGOs though wide array of organisations based on ethical, political, cultural, religious and scientific grounds are missing from the political scene.
Top tweets
@Omaar_nor Heavy fighting erupts in #Mogadishu as government troops try to disarm militia in drive to reduce weapons in #Somalia pic.twitter.com/AqT8LZqHwx
@Ahashi2013 All Somalis Support The Gov’t effort to Disarm the Warlords.Peace in Mogadishu = Peace in #Somalia. Reer#Khatumo suport the FedGovt 4 peace
@WhoseinMoulid #Somalia‘s first priority is ‘Security’, disarming warlords and politicians is a good step but need to be done fairly.
@UNOCHA In #Somalia, aid groups investigate a #poliooutbreak http://ow.ly/Aluxp http://ow.ly/i/6yZcz
@eu_echo Ahead of #AskLazzarini on the ongoing crisis in#Somalia, see our facts on the country: http://bit.ly/Xv77x2 Join them at 4PM.
Image of the day
A member of AMISOM’s Humanitarian Unit interviews a local health worker in Garbahaarey town in the Gedo region of Somalia on August 11. AMISOM’s Humanitarian Unit conducted an assessment of Garbahaarey town in the Gedo region of Somalia. The team visited the town’s hospital, school, market, and water points during the visit. Photo: AMISOM/Tobin Jones