August 9, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia’s government forces head to Marka and Jowhar
09 Aug – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 106 words
Somalia’s Defense Minister Hussein Arab Isse said that the government forces backed by AMISOM are heading to Marka and Jowhar, the headquarters of the two Shabelle regions. Hussein told reporters that the allied troops will soon get to the strategic towns that are currently controlled by al Shabaab fighters. The Minister Defense said the forces have so far accomplished success in battles against the al-Qaeda-affliated militant group.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s government forces head to Marka and Jowhar (Radio Mustaqbal)
- Bomb kills 8 Somali soldiers in Mogadishu-officials (Reuters)
- Dozen arrested in Afmadow swoop (Bar-kulan)
- One killed as blast targets Ethiopian troops in central Somalia (Radio Dalsan/Bar-kulan/Hiiraan Online)
- President Sharif signs security plan for Somalia (Radio Risaala)
- Siege of Kismayo KDF Starts Starving Port City (Strategic Intelligence News)
- Kenyan Jets bomb Al Shabaab base in southern Somalia (Mareeg Online)
SOMALI MEDIA
Dozen arrested in Afmadow swoop
09 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 139 words
Several people were last night arrested in a crackdown conducted by TFG forces and allied Raskamboni militias in Afmadow town, officials say. The crackdown targeted people believed to have been involved in a spate of insecurity that was recently witnessed in the town.
Afmadow police station commander, Adan Darod who was leading the operation was quoted as saying that several suspects were arrested in the crackdown aimed at netting individuals and groups involved in criminal activities including banditry.
Darod promised to continue with their operation until they flash out criminal gangs hiding within the area while at the same time terrorizing locals in the area. The swoops come just a day after armed gangs opened fire on government soldiers and civilians resulting death and injuries. Some locals welcomed the swoop saying it will boost security situation in their locality.
One killed as blast targets Ethiopian troops in central Somalia
09 Aug – Source: Radio Dalsan/Bar-kulan/Hiiraan Online – 77 words
One person died after a landmine targeting Ethiopian troops exploded in Beled Weyne town in Hiiraan Region. Reports say the landmine planted on the ground exploded on Ethiopian forces on their way to fetch water. Ethiopian soldiers opened fire after the blast, resulting the death of one civilian. Casualties on Ethiopian soldiers remain unknown. This is not the first time that Ethiopian forces in Beled Weyne have been targeted in a similar manner.
Somalia’s government forces head to Marka and Jowhar
09 Aug – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 106 words
Somalia’s Defense Minister Hussein Arab Isse said that the government forces backed by AMISOM are heading to Marka and Jowhar, the headquarters of the two Shabelle regions. Hussein told reporters that the allied troops will soon get to the strategic towns that are currently controlled by al Shabaab fighters. The Minister Defense said the forces have so far accomplished success in battles against the al-Qaeda-affliated militant group
School teacher killed in Baidoa town
09 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 172 words
A school teacher was last night gunned down at Baidoa’s Horsed neighbourhood after he was attacked outside a mosque by five gunmen. Five men armed with pistol attacked the victim, Mohamed Mo’alim Nurow, who was a teacher in one of the schools in Dinsoor town shortly after performing Tarawih prayer in a mosque in the neighbourhood.
Confirming the incident, area deputy district commissioner who is also a brother to the deceased, Shine Mo’alim Nurow said the gangs whose identity still remain unknown escaped from the scene of the crime.
Police arrived at the scene of the crime and conducted a search operation in the area, but no arrests have so far been made. The killing becomes the second similar incident in this neighbourhood in a span of two days. One person was killed and two others injured on Monday night when a hand grenade was hurled into a house in the neighbourhood.
President Sharif signs security plan for Somalia
08 Aug – Source: Radio Risaala – 277 words
Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed signed a security plan for his war-torn country at a conference held in Mogadishu. The conference was attended by top officials in the Somali government including the Prime Minister, Minister for Defense, commander of armed forces, and other ministers as well as foreign ambassadors in Somalia. The president said in his speech that the top players in restoring peace and order in Somalia were the former military soldiers of Somalia who came back from foreign countries where they stayed during the countries long years of lawlessness.
And he further added that the ministries that played a major role in restoring peace in Somalia were Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security and most off all, the defense ministry. He said that this security plan was meant to be in action for the next four years. Prime Minister Abdiwali Gaas said in the conference that Somalis have been suffering in the last two decades and that it was time the suffering comes to an end.
Gaas said that this plan was to bring a very much needed law and order as well as security to the country. The chief commander of armed forces also gave a speech in the conference and said that the military formulated the plan and that they believed it was a very essential plan that would achieve the desired effects. Somalia is rated to be one of the most insecure countries in the world but never the less in the recent months there had been a leap in the improvement of security in the capital which is now firmly under the government’s grip and the insurgent groups are been pushed further into remote areas.
Kenyan Jets bomb Al Shabaab base in southern Somalia
08 Aug – Source: Mareeg Online – 114 words
Kenyan military Jets bombed a base run by Islamist al Shabaab rebels north of Somalia’s Kismayo port on Wednesday, local residents and officials said, but it was not immediately clear whether there were civilian casualties. A Local resident in Birta-Dheer village near Kismayo town confirmed to local media the bombardment. He also confirmed that the jets hit the militants’ base near the village early hours on Wednesday. No militant casualty was also reported in the attack.
Meanwhile, Kenyan military forces with tanks and artillery have been massing around Biibi village, a town just 85-Km away from north of Kismayu, the nerve centre of al Shabaab operations in the Horn of Africa country.
Somaliland President Meets with SSC Entourage
08 Aug – Source: Somaliland Press/Hadhwanaag Times – 123 words
Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) met with the 16-member SSC team led by outfit’s chairman Suleiman Isse Ahmed ‘Hagaltosie’ and Consisting of traditional elders, business leaders, politicians and civil society groups at the presidency.
During the meeting with the chairman of SSC Suleiman Isse Ahmed ‘Hagaltosie’ and his entourage, President Silanyo praised them for wise and bold decision they took coming to the table to negotiate for a peace solution to end the current conflict in the eastern parts of the country.
President Silanyo reaffirmed his commitment to stability, development and in a bid to promote the elusive peace which has evaded the eastern region. Finally, he appealed to them to join hands in the struggle to move forward.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Siege of Kismayo, KDF Starts Starving Port City
09 Aug – Source: Strategic Intelligence News – 177 words
The Kenya Defense Forces has started starving the port city of Kismayo the much needed logistics and outside access by laying a siege on the al Shabaab last stronghold.
Intelligence reports from military sources confirm that KDF has massed its defensive assets within striking range of the seaport city with defense positions of the KDF just 57 kilometers away from the city limits.
Kenya air-force will be in action to neutralize enemy assets including machine gun positions, artillery and air-defenses such as anti-aircraft posts. Kismayo will fall this august as planned by the Kenya Defense Forces, the same month when a new government will be elected and positioned in the now free Mogadishu.
Mogadishu residents revive old traditions after al Shabaab’s ousting
08 Aug – Source: Sabahi Online – 658 words
One year after al Shabaab’s ousting from Mogadishu, old Somali folk customs and traditions once banned by the militant group are taking root again in the city and nearby towns. This re-emergence indicates that the future looks promising after radicals influenced by foreign ideologies banned, suppressed and infringed upon Somali traditions, artists and observers say.
“The folk traditions and pastimes that Somalis enjoy for entertainment vary between Mogadishu and the southern and northern provinces,” said Somali social scientist Isse Mumin.
“Residents of these areas were known as peace-loving people,” he told Sabahi. “At the end of July each year, they would slaughter camels and cows near the coast and give the meat away to visitors to their area and needy people living among them.” He said some of these traditions date back a thousand years.
Nairobi mosque official on terror charge
07 Aug – Source: Daily Nation – 157 words
An official of a Nairobi mosque has been charged with being a member of the al Shabaab terror group. And prosecutor Senior Superintendent Onesmus Towett urged chief magistrate Esther Maina not to grant Mr Abdallah Mwasiku Kilume, 48, of Riyadh Mosque in Pumwani, bail as “his children are members of terror groups in Somalia and Afghanistan.”
“He was found with devices for detonating explosives in the CBD,” Mr Towett said. The prosecutor said the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) was pursuing leads to establish the suspect’s connections with other organised groups. The officer said investigations had “established that a daughter and a son-in-law of the suspect are members of al Shabaab in Somalia.”
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Bomb kills 8 Somali soldiers in Mogadishu-officials
09 Aug – Source: Reuters – 284 words
At least eight Somali government troops were killed when a remote-controlled bomb hit their vehicle in Mogadishu, officials said on Thursday, highlighting lingering security risks less than two weeks before the U.N.-backed government’s mandate ends. Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday evening.
Government troops and African Union peacekeepers say they have tightened security before a presidential election on August 20 when the transitional government will be dissolved.
Social media turns ‘likes’ into dollars for Somali refugees
09 Aug – Source: My Fox News – 224 words
On the fifth floor of an old office building high above and far away from the refugee crisis in east Africa, advocates are building a paper chain linking dollars to famine relief in Somalia. “The chains do feed people,” said Daniel Wordsworth, of the American Refugee Committee. ARC has received a $50,000 pledge from Hormuud Telecommunications, one of the largest telephone utility in Somalia. The pledge is contingent upon ARC getting 50,000 social media impressions for its “I Am a Star for Somalia” Facebook page.
The “I Am a Star for Somalia” campaign was launched a year ago in response to the famine that the United Nations says killed 30,000 children.
ARC’s Somalia coordinator Said Sheik-Abdi just returned from spending more than a month in the ARC-sponsored refugee camps. Sheik-Abdi said the famine in the region has mostly ended, but refugees continue to stream into Mogadishu by the thousands because they know it’s the only place where they can get assistance.
“It’s a really bad situation,” said Sheik-Abdi. “There are families who are sleeping without food, and there are children who are sick and cannot get the proper treatment anywhere in Mogadishu.” ARC has distributed more than 200 metric tons of food so far this year in Mogadishu. Wordsworth says the pledge of $50,000 will help feed many more.
Diplomat to start Somalia’s first stock market
08 Aug – Source: Reuters – 381 words
A Somali diplomat wants to start the Horn of Africa’s first ever stock exchange in neighbouring Kenya and he expects telecom, banking and money transfer firms that have defied decades of conflict to list their shares on the bourse.
“Somalis are very enterprising people … and they want to join other east Africans that have working stock exchanges,” said Idd Mohamed, Ambassador extraordinary and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. “Initially the exchange will be based in Nairobi, but if the situation improves we could move it to Mogadishu.”
Somali constitution makes big promises to children
08 Aug – Source: AP – 622 words
Isaq Abdi works 15-hour days as the right-hand boy of a Somali woman who sells the narcotic leaf khat. Abdi tends the kiosk and delivers the mild stimulant to customers. At day’s end, the homeless boy receives his reward: A handful of chewed sticks that his customers throw away.
He rebundles the best and sells them to Mogadishu’s poor, earning less than a $1 to help care for his younger sister and their mother. Children in Somalia have long suffered from poverty and war. Very few are lucky enough to go to school.
Last week Somali leaders voted in a new provisional constitution that greatly expands the rights afforded to children. It bars child labor and protects children from neglect and abuse. It outlaws the use of child soldiers and bans child marriage. It says every child has the right to care from their parents, and that every person in Somalia has the right to free education until secondary school.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Somalia is at a critical cross-road and there is a pressing need to demand reform and start a revolution before it’s too late. We should not be silent and become witness to unsubtle swindle. What is being dubbed as a road map to end Somalia’s transition now seems to be a clear and present danger led by corrupt and crooked politicians with full pockets of bribes, kickbacks and fraudulent promises.”
The Scam of the Somali Transition
09 Aug – Source: New Somalia Blog – 727 Words
The current and hasty process to end the transition and form a permanent legitimate government in Somalia is bound to fail for self-fulfilling prophecy. Somalia is once again headed down to the same and familiar failures. The current road map started on a wrong footing. It all began with a simulated drafting of a borrowed constitution. The draft was highly guarded, secret and ever shifting document before it was endorsed and ratified just few days ago.
Then Somalia’s so-called benefactors selected some unscrupulous non-entities as signatories and sole stakeholders of the road map. To add insult to injury, the staged signatories agreed on the same shameful 4.5 clan system for power-sharing. The staged ones agreed on the same failed scenarios to select yet another inflated and disproportionate parliament based on the same clannish system they were masters of. They did this with the behest of their backers and with the realization of how skilled they are to manipulate the road map.
“The disappointing finish of Zamzam demonstrates the huge gulf between her country and the rest of the world in every conceivable walk of life. This is the cost of a destructive and debilitating twenty-one year civil war that decimated the entire fabric of the nation, both economically and socially. Sports, in particular, had taken a severe beating during the civil war to the extent that the Chinese-built state-of-the-art sports facilities in the outskirts of Mogadishu were reduced to mere rubbles, and later had to become a base for the despicable and deviant al Shabaab, the al Qaeda affiliated terror group.”
Zamzam’s Brave but Dismal run in the London Olympics demonstrates the huge Gulf between Somalia and the rest of the world
09 Aug – Source: Harowo – 741 Words
Zamzam Mohamed Farah carried the blue Somali flag in front of a global audience of more than one billion people in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics 2012. The mere sight of the blue Somali flag being waved in this great sporting occasion had brought tears of joy to millions of Somalis who have known nothing but war, famine and displacement for the past twenty or so years.
As we all glued to the TV screens, it was obvious the slightly-built athlete from the most bombed city on earth was no match to the more muscular competitors in her lineup. The race was won before Zamzam’s one had started in earnest. Indeed, nobody was expecting Zamzam to win a medal, but the fact that she participated in the race and, indeed, finished is a consolation for a country whose people were busy tearing each other into pieces for the best of the last two decades.
Top tweets
@lawofwomen Camel milk is used to make quality ice cream in places like #Israel. Another would be profitable sector for#Somalia – diary.
@t_mcconnell: Bad weather stops #piracy off #Somalia for a full month, EU navy takes the credit: http://bit.ly/Qfwoq6 by@MikePflanz.
@FreelanceJRNLST The first time in #Somali history foreign Police forces start work at Police HQs in #Mogadishu. Can this move make #Mogadishu more secure?
@africaintellect Construction boom in #Mogadishu with#African finance firms gearing to enter the #Somali market. Finally good news from that region.
@SomaliaNewsroom #Somalia: #Shabaab pulls many forces out of Marka, into Qoryooley & Buulomareer in anticipation of TFG-allied troops http://bit.ly/O41yTg.
Image of the day
Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Arab Isse (left) and UN Deputy Special Representative Peter de Clercq (right) sign Action Plan to end killing and maiming of children. Photo: UNPOS