December 1, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
UPDF Captures Somali Territory From Al-Shabaab
01 December – Source: New Vision – 380 Words
The Somali National Forces supported by African Union Forces from Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) contingent have overpowered Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia, flashing them out of Aysoora town, located 280km south West of Mogadishu. According to Capt. Flavia Terimulungi, the UPDF contingent spokesperson, “on 28th November 2015, our operation code-named ‘Fagia Adui’ which means ‘sweep the enemy’ in Kiswahili saw forces move 20Km further from Baraawe port towards Kisimayo port.”
Terimulungi adds in a press statement that, “the attack was conducted at dawn and by7:00am, Al-Shabaab had been subdued and the territory objectively secured and as they fled, they left their families behind.” Since September, Al-Shabaab has been controlling a stretch of 79Kms from Subley to Baraawe Port which has been the main supply point and source of revenue for the insurgents. The Al-Shabaab also used Aysoora as a base to carry out attacks on Baraawe district.
Earlier media reports indicated that the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala also joined the contingent at the frontline in making final preparations for the operation to conquer territory through meetings with the commanders and giving morale to the troops. The statement says that Battle Group XVII Commander, Col Bob Ogiki whose unit conducted the operation, briefed troops about the significance of the move.
“Securing Aysoora will allow free movement of the population that has been restricted up until now, it will also facilitate the provision of the much needed humanitarian assistance to the local population,” Ogiki said. He added that the capture of Aysoora denies Al-Shabaab another source of illegal income after a string of defeats and the loss of their major source of revenue in Baraawe and many other places: “This operation should be a demonstration of AMISOM’s continuing determination to support the people of Somalia as they embark on a new path of renewal and reconstruction,” he said.
Key Headlines
- UPDF Captures Somali Territory From Al-Shabaab (New Vision)
- Army Troops In Gedo Complain Of Delayed Salaries (Goobjoog News)
- Two Rival Somali Regions Reach Peace Deal After Deadly Fighting (Hiiraan Online)
- Major Conference To Discuss One Curriculum For Somalia Schools Ends In Mogadishu (Wacaal Media)
- Somalia Fighting: 30 Dead 40 000 Flee (News24)
- Terror Drill Ends In Death Of Woman (Sky News)
- Kenya-Somalia Border Wall To Shut Out Al-Shabaab Under Construction Amid Debate (IBTimes)
- “Clan-blind” And Educated Younger Generations To Save A Nation in Ruins (Horseed Media)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Army Troops In Gedo Complain Of Delayed Salaries
01 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 178 Words
Hundreds of Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers, many of whom are on the war frontline, have had to go without monthly salaries for over a year, a military official has said. Speaking to Goobjoog News, Col. Adan Jeele Farah said SNA soldiers in Gedo have not been paid since last year.
He pointed out that the wives and children of the soldiers are spending most of the nights on empty stomachs as their husbands and fathers die defending the country: “We were trained in Kenya and positioned in Gedo region, but no one can stay without a salary because we have wives and children who expect money from us at the end of the month,” lamented Col Adan, a military commander in southern Somalia, who added that disgruntled soldiers have set up illegal checkpoints to extort money from civilians.
A United Nations report released recently suggests that corruption was one consequence of non payment of the soldiers’ wages. In the report, the UN Monitoring Group accuses senior Somali military commanders of inflating troop numbers and embezzling funds meant for salaries.
Two Rival Somali Regions Reach Peace Deal After Deadly Fighting
30 November – Source: Hiiraan Online – 258 Words
Leaders from Puntand and its neighboring Galmudug state agreed to observe a ceasefire deal on Monday to end the deadly conflict which has claimed at least 20 lives since last week. Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, who helped broker the peace deal, said that the two sides agreed to cease hostilities and pull their military troops out of the war zone as well as swap prisoners.
“We are very pleased to have finally solved he conflict and the two sides have committed themselves to honor the deal,” the Premier said at a press conference in Galkayo town. As parts of the initial ceasefire instigation, Galmudug authorities handed over prisoners captured in the fighting which displaced hundreds of residents from their homes. The deal, which was reached after hours of talks that dragged late Monday, envisages the setting up a combined task force that would help address the root cause of the crisis.
The clashes that involved trucks mounted with machine guns and anti-aircraft rockets erupted after an argument involving the construction of a new road by Puntland in the town, which was halted by Galmudug forces: “While we are honoring the deal, we have handed over prisoners captured during the war to the Somali prime minister.” said Abdikarim Hussein Guled, Galmudug president.
The development is indeed a major breakthrough, which officials say will finally end the clashes that risked leading to clannish warfare across the country. Somalia is just recovering from decades of civil war. Galkayo town is divided into two zones, where the northern portion forms part of Puntland state, while its southern part is governed by the Galmudug administration.
Major Conference To Discuss One Curriculum For Somalia Schools Ends In Mogadishu
01 December – Source: Wacaal Media – 90 Words
A major educational conference has concluded in the capital of Mogadishu, where the introduction of educational curriculum for Somalia schools was discussed among other issues. Education Minister Dr. Khadra Bashir Ali, who spoke at the event, said the conference was designated to chart the way forward for education in Somalia: “The conference has resolved to introduce a comprehensive curriculum for schools in Somalia, which will uplift the educational standards of this country” said the Minister. Educational officials from the Federal government and member States attended the conference among other stakeholders.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Fighting: 30 Dead, 40 000 Flee
01 December – Source: News24 – 127 words
The United Nations says renewed fighting between armed forces in Somalia’s central Galmudug region and semi-autonomous Puntland to the north have killed more than 30 people and forced 40 000 people to flee according to estimates. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that UN aid agencies and international humanitarian organisations have temporarily relocated because of the latest fighting which began on November 28. Dujarric said this has left a gap in providing basic services to vulnerable communities in the area, although local non-governmental organizations are providing mobile health care, water and sanitation services. He said the UN humanitarian agency continues to warn that Somalia’s needs “are immense,” with an estimated 4.9 million people in need of assistance and 1.1 million displaced around the country.
Terror Drill Ends In Death Of Woman
01 December – Source: Sky News – 234 Words
A woman was killed and many were injured as students and staff in a Kenyan university fled from what they thought was a terror attack. A drill was organised by Nairobi-based Strathmore University and security agencies to test the students’ response, but some students were not aware that the gunshots were part of a drill. When the simulation began at noon at the university’s Madaraka campus, people made for the quickest exit they could find. Some were left standing on window ledges and some were reported to have jumped from as high as the fourth floor. The university said one staff member, Esther Kidemba, died of head injuries and 31 other staff members and students were in hospital.
A statement from the university said it has launched an “intensive assessment” of “key lessons learnt”. It added: “This simulation was aimed at testing the preparedness of the university community and emergency team in the event of an attack. Unfortunately some students and staff panicked and got injured.”
The university has also said it will pay medical costs for those injured and that counselling would be given to those affected. Kenya has already been the target of a number of attacks by Al-Qaeda and the Somali-led Al-Shabaab, including a massacre of university students at Garissa earlier this year, which left 148 dead, and an attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre in 2013 that killed 67.
Kenya-Somalia Border Wall To Shut Out Al-Shabaab Under Construction Amid Debate
30 November – Source: IBTimes – 359 Words
Kenya has started construction of a 435-mile wall along its porous border with Somalia as part of efforts to shut out Islamic militant group al-Shabab. The massive security construction will consist of brick, fences and observation posts, and will stretch from the northeast Kenyan town of Mandera to Kiunga in the southeast, according to Al Jazeera.
Kenya has been a target for Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate, due to the East African country’s military involvement against the Somalia-based terrorist group. The Islamic militants have repeatedly crossed into Kenya to launch deadly attacks. This year, 148 people were killed after Al-Shabaab gunmen stormed a Kenyan college of mostly Christian students some 125 miles from the Somalia border. The group has killed more than 400 people in Kenya over the past two years, and the security wall aims to put an end to these attacks.
“Whatever it is going to cost us and whatever it will take, we are going to make sure that our country is safe,” Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto said in a televised speech in April. The project has generated a heated debate. George Morara, vice chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said building the border wall is an “exercise in futility” and pointed to similar projects in other countries that have failed.
“It is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Where similar walls have been built or exist to keep out the so-called ‘undesirables’, they have not been successful,” Morara told IRIN News in April. “Case in point, Israel’s wall to keep out the Palestinians has not stopped the attacks against Israel. They have only led to more-creative ways of circumventing the barrier.” David Anderson, professor of African History at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, called the security wall “a crazy idea” and said it does not solve the problem of al-Shabab actively recruiting Kenyan youth.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The lifeline for Somalia is in these younger generations only if they are clan-blind and patriotic. Many of them are educated in the developed world as well as in the country. Many have not been intoxicated with the clan venom that older generations have been propagating vociferously.” — Sharmarke Samatar
“Clan-blind” And Educated Younger Generations To Save A Nation in Ruins
30 November – Source: Horseed Media – 562 Words
“Oh! How I hate your generation, dad. You failed Somalia and made it a failed state,” reacts my daughter, who is studying social anthropology in London. It is her antagonistic and profound feeling towards the Somalis who are in their 50s, 60s and older. Why does she feel this way? Why this hatred? Why this bitterness?
Before her first year at the university, where she is studying Sociology/anthropology in London, she visited Somalia quite few times – when she was in her secondary school and also in primary. She fell in love with the people, the wildlife, the environment, and the culture and the food. Seeing her parent’s country of origin, which has an enormous potential being destroyed by clan bigotry, clan hatred and clan intolerance, she cannot suppress or conceal her inner feeling and rational indignation towards those she thinks are responsible for the internecine wars across the whole country.
Every time she comes across a photo of the landscape of Somalia, its pristine coastal line, its meandering rivers with the lush green and luxuriant vegetation, and its golden savannah bushes, she utters a statement of despondency and dejection. She then equates the beauty, the weather and marvels of Somalia with many various regions of the word; quite incomparable to many countries in the world. Her anger and frustration tend to peak because my sole response is to just listen and agree with her and accept her ultimate verdict. “You, the older generations, did destroy my Somalia with your clannish mentalities.”
However, she is very hopeful and relentlessly optimistic. She is adamant that her generation and future generations, in the Diaspora and in Somalia, would definitely revive and reclaim this nation that “your older generations have been perpetuating its national suicide for so long. We shall turn over a new leaf.”
TOP TWEETS
@engyarisow: A colorful send off for the outgoing Contingent Commander of the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) and AMISOM… http://fb.me/6QxIDukfw
@MikaelLindvall Nov 29Nairobi, Kenya Very happy that Jazeera Hotel is again fully operational:http://amisom-au.
@IPI_GO Nov 29 .@kemenkhaus @DavidsonCollege: donated weapons often end up in #AlShabaab’s hands. #Somalia http://bit.ly/1R6xyaP
@UNSomalia 2h2 hours ago#UNSOM welcomes release of journalist Jama #Deparani, arbitrarily arrested and detained since 19 Nov. in #Garowe #puntland. #FreeDeparani
@Cidilibaax Nov 2915 people were killed & more than 70 were wounded,the war between #Puntland & #Galmudug that is unacceptable #Somalia @UNSomalia @US2SOMALIA
@alijira Nov 28Time is running #Vision2016 elections so why are they fighting, starts both sides #Puntland & #Galmudug #Somalia @TheVillaSomalia @UNSOS_ .
@UNSomalia Nov 29#ViolenceAgainstWomen is an impediment to development & empowerment of women & girls #Somalia. Act to Stop it @SayNo_UNiTE @16DaysCampaign
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The new commander of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Ugandan contingent, Brig. Gen. Sam Okidingi, receives the African Union flag.
Photo: AMISOM