August 16, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Government Confirms Sakoow Raid, Affirms Key Al-Shabaab Leaders Felled
16 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 259 Words
US trained Somali forces have killed several Al-Shabaab fighters including senior commanders and Al-Shabaab technicals during covert operations in southern Somalia, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. In a statement to newsrooms, the Defence Ministry confirmed its elite forces carried out clandestine operations in Sakoow town inflicting heavy losses on the militant group in a sustained campaign to secure major regions of the country ahead of the September polls.
“Somali commandos hit Al-Shabaab targets in Sakoow town, killing several fighters including senior members of the group,” the statement dated August 16 noted. The development comes amid reports Al-Shabaab leader Abu Ubaida and the group’s spokesman Abu Muscaib may have been eliminated in the raid. Somali government has not however made reference to the names and neither has it indicated the dates of the raid.
Sources have however told Goobjoog News the raids took place between 10 and 13th of this month. Meanwhile a US State Department official told BBC Somali on Monday that indeed US with Somali elite squad were involved in operations in Middle Jubba.
Our National Security correspondent says if confirmed, the death of Al-Shabaab leader including what reports said was the highest decision making unit, the Shura Council could deal a huge blow to the militant group which has been rocked by defiance from its members which declared last year allegiance to ISIL. The ISIL affiliate was however largely wiped out in a purge across various regions of Somalia. Ubeidah took over the group’s leadership in September 2014 after his predecessor Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a US airstrike.
Key Headlines
- Somali Government Confirms Sakoow Raid Affirms Key Al-Shabaab Leaders Felled (Goobjoog News)
- Tension Rises High In Central Somalia Between Two Rival Clans (Shabelle News)
- Somali Commandos Destroy Al-Shabaab Base In Southern Somalia (Goobjoog News)
- President: Somalia Standing On Its Feet Again (Shabelle News)
- Marriage Discrepancy Clouds Ilhan Omar’s Historic Primary Victory (Star Tribune)
- Toronto Activists Demand Justice For Abdirahman Abdi (Ottawa Citizen)
- In Somalia Al-Shabaab Allegedly Loses Its Leader (Stratfor)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Tension Rises High In Central Somalia Between Two Rival Clans
16 August – Source: Shabelle News – 107 Words
Fighting between armed militias belonging to two rival Somali clans is rising in parts of Mudug province in central Somalia, reports said on Tuesday. The tension began to escalate when the two feuding clans in the El-la-Helay area have deployed heavily armed militias to a disputed area in Mudug region.
The rival tribes hail from Galmudug and Puntland states of Somalia. Reports said local residents fear of violence that could force them to flee their houses. Reconciliation efforts to defuse the tension is underway as elders from both sides are meeting in the area to discuss ways to bring an end to the hostility.
Somali Commandos Destroy Al-Shabaab Base In Southern Somalia
16 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 148 Words
Somali government said on Tuesday that its elite forces destroyed several military sites in Middle Jubba where Al-Shabaab used to organise attacks against the government and the African Union forces. Somali Ministry for Defense said US trained Somali Commandos (Danab) carried out operations in Sanguni town where the forces destroyed training bases.“We were able to eliminate secret sites which Al-Shabaab carried out its subversive operations against government in the capital and other regions,” said the ministry in a statement.
The government did not say the number of Al-Shabaab fighters killed the raid. Danab comprises of two units adding up to 120 men in total, according to officials very close to the Somali National Intelligence Agency, which commands the force. Somali elite forces and US forces have in the recent past conducted covert operations in Middle Jubba and Lower Shabelle, some of the two regions which Al-Shabaab still controls.
President: Somalia Standing On Its Feet Again
16 August – Source: Shabelle News – 108 Words
President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said his country is standing on its feet again after more than two decades of conflict. Mr Mohamud said Somalia is currently facing numerous challenges, mainly threats from Al-Shabaab militants who are struggling to topple his government.
Somalia is preparing for national elections expected to be held this year. “Some Somalis who were born during the civil war don’t have any knowledge about the status of being a state and good governance,” Mohamud added. In the past 3 years, Somalia has achieved significant progress on implementation of the federalism, re-establishing international relations, army rebuilding and among others.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Marriage Discrepancy Clouds Ilhan Omar’s Historic Primary Victory
16 August – Source: Star Tribune – 564 Words
Ilhan Omar, whose victory in a Minneapolis DFL primary last week virtually assured her of becoming the nation’s first Somali-American legislator, denied recent reports that she married her brother to commit immigration fraud while remaining married to the man who is the father of her three children.
“Allegations that she married her brother and is legally married to two people are categorically ridiculous and false,” campaign spokesman Ben Goldfarb said Monday. The questions surfaced over the weekend in a report on the conservative website Power Line, which gained recognition for its role in covering forged documents relating to President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard. Power Line reported that Omar was married to two men at the same time, including to her brother. The story quickly spread to other conservative-leaning websites and news organizations.
Omar defeated two tough DFL opponents — including the longest serving House member in state history — by marshaling an effective grassroots campaign that surpassed turnout expectations for both white and minority voters. Omar spent part of her childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya before immigrating to the United States as a child knowing little English.
Hennepin County records show Omar applied for a marriage license in 2002 but never used it. It was not immediately known whom she planned to marry. Seven years later, Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in Eden Prairie, according to their marriage record. Elmi could not be reached for comment. Minnesota courts have no records of Omar and Elmi filing for divorce.
Toronto Activists Demand Justice For Abdirahman Abdi
16 August – Source: Ottawa Citizen -239 Words
Toronto Black Lives Matter activists shut down a busy Toronto intersection Monday morning for a news conference demanding justice for Ottawa man Abdirahman Abdi, who died after an altercation with police last month. The activists briefly took over the intersection of Yonge and Dundas streets to erect a banner and make a series of demands they said were in conjunction with a diverse coalition of Somali community leaders and organizers.Hashim Yusuf, a Black Lives Matter-Toronto organizer, argued that, “Brother Adirahman Abdi was executed in public by the bare hands” of the arresting officer and that police must be held accountable for “gross power abuse.”
A Special Investigations Unit probe into the incident is ongoing. The SIU is a civilian police watchdog that investigates incidents involving civilians and police resulting in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.Toronto activists also took aim at the SIU and hospital officials, who they allege withheld news of the 37-year-old’s death for more than 24 hours.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“In the past, disruptions in Al-Shabaab’s upper ranks have led to significant adjustments in how the group conducts attacks abroad or uses foreign fighters inside Somali borders.”
In Somalia, Al-Shabaab Allegedly Loses Its Leader
15 August – Source: Stratfor – 485 Words
Reports have emerged that Abu Ubeida, the leader of Somalia’s al Shabaab militant group, may have been captured or killed in an Aug. 11 military operation in southern Somalia. Since then, news of ongoing security activities in Saakow, a town located in an area on the Juba River controlled by al Shabaab, have continued to trickle out of various media outlets.
The alleged involvement of both Somali and U.S. special operations forces, as well as rumors of the interdiction of local communications networks, hinted that a significant offensive against key al Shabaab fighters or facilities was in the works. However, the news that Ubeida and several other top leaders were the targets of the raid could indicate a critical tactical victory in the ongoing effort to rein in the militant group.
Ubeida, also known as Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Diriya, became the leader of al Shabaab in September 2014 after his predecessor, Ahmad Abdi Godane, was killed in a U.S. airstrike. Since that time, Somali and U.S. officials have successfully targeted a number of high-ranking al Shabaab figures in a series of raids and airstrikes. (In particular, leaders of the group’s internal intelligence organization, Amniyaat, have been caught in the government’s crosshairs.)
The sharp improvement in the government’s results can largely be attributed to the development of intelligence sources, better Somali intelligence capabilities, or the focus of U.S. intelligence assets on tracking and targeting individuals of interest in Somalia. Therefore, while the death or capture of the group’s leader is itself a notable event, the raid also reiterates the increasing success of Somali and U.S. attempts to strike at al Shabaab’s core leadership.
TOP TWEETS
@Daudoo: #IGAD report says #AlShabaab maintains “safe houses in #Kenya within which they can securely meet, plan, and execute operations.” #Somalia
@TheTrueSomalian: Somali National Army and AMISOM capture 4 villages from Al-Shabaab near Bardhere town in southern Somalia’s Gedo region #Somalia
@radiogarowe : #Somalia: Puntland VP’s security unit raids Amal Bank Garowe HQ http://bit.ly/2bjkSkA
@OceanBanter : @Lateline great piece on #IUUfishing in#Somalia.#QuestionYourHunger to help build#EnforceableOceans.http://www.
@AbdulBillowAli : #US forces reportedly kill more than 30 militants in southern #Somalia.
@longbomb: From David Langan: Looks like #Somalia will re-launch a full postal system, with new stamps!, next year:http://postcardsandtravel.
@gcmcSomalia : #Somalia Somalia: Regional groups in Africa see continuing Al-Shabab threat http://bit.ly/2bmkdLc #crisismanagement
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalis attending the Global Somali Diaspora International Conference held in Jazeera Palace Hotel in Mogadishu.
Photo: @HassanIstiila