December 2, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
SNA Claims Killing 10 Militants In Attack Against Al-Shabaab
02 December – Source: Shabelle News – 124 Words
Somali National Army (SNA) forces have killed up to 10 Al-Shabaab fighters and destroyed two of their militant training camps near Diinsoor town in Bay region, a District Commissioner has revealed. Speaking in a phone interview with Radio Shabelle, Diinsoor DC Mohamed Nur Shikshikow said the incident transpired after the Somali forces attacked a key militant base in an area, 30 kilometers away from the town.
“SNA killed up to 10 fighters in the attack and seized weapons, including AK-47 rifles from the Al-Shabaab attackers,” said the administration official. The DC explained that the area was a key base for the militants who have been using it to launch most of their attacks against SNA and African Union allied troops. Diinsoor town was previously under the control of Al-Shabaab. .
Key Headlines
- SNA Claims Killing 10 Militants In Attack Against Al-Shabaab (Shabelle News)
- Pressure Mounts On Puntland Leader To Sign Peace Deal (Shabelle News)
- Federal MP Passes Away in Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Security Agents Say Missing Youth Have Joined Al-Shabaab (The Star)
- Metro Transit Officer Works to Prevent Terrorism in Minn. Somalia (EyeWitness News)
- New VOA Radio Program Reaches Out To Somali Youth (VoA)
- Failed Refugee Stuck In Jail Because Canada Considers It Too Dangerous To Escort Him Back To Somalia (National Post)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Pressure Mounts On Puntland Leader To Sign Peace Deal
02 December – Source: Shabelle News – 152 Words
Pressure is mounting on Puntland leader Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gaas to sign a peace deal to end the fighting in Galkayo with troops of his Galmudug counterpart Abdikarim Hussein Guled. United Nations envoy for Somalia Nicholas Kay, EU ambassador, diplomats and Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke held a meeting with Puntland leader in northern Galkayo on Tuesday.
On Monday, President Abdiwali Mohamed Ali Gas declined to ink the peace deal proposed by Somali Premier and the country’s regional leaders, saying he would not sit down with Galmudug leader on the negotiating table. Mr Gaas insists his administration has enough evidence to demonstrate that the SNA sided with Galmudug state troops in attacking Puntland forces in northern Galkayo on 22, November.Puntland and Galmudug forces battled over the construction of a road, which Puntland is trying to build in northern Galkayo’s Garsoor village that divides the two states.
Federal MP Passes Away in Mogadishu
02 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 82 Words
Somali Federal Parliament (MP), Sadaq Abdikarin Mohamed, has passed away in Mogadishu on Wednesdaymorning after a long-illness. Confirming the death, Hajji Isse Abdulle, the uncle of the late parliamentarian said the MP has for long suffered from undisclosed disease that led to his death.
According to the late MP’s relatives, the politician, who is best known for his struggle for the rights and unity of the Somali people, died peacefully at his home. He will be buried later today in Mogadishu.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Security Agents Say Missing Youth Have Joined Al-Shabaab
02 December – Source: The Star – 1,595 Words
There is concern that thousands of Kenyan youth reportedly missing from learning institutions or their homes might have been recruited into the militant group and travelled to Somalia for training. In early October, a standard eight pupil suspected to have been radicalised and recruited into al Shabaab was arrested by anti-terrorism police in Nairobi.
The 14-year-old was scheduled to sit his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination. He, alongside 19 others, was in a hideout at the posh Kileleshwa estate. They had been recruited by Al-Shabaab agents and kept in an expensive suburb apartment where they were given radical teachings and trained on how to handle guns in preparation for their travel to Somalia within two months. Members of the Al-Shabaab cell rented the house for Sh75,000 per month.
Had the 14-year-old and his colleagues been successfully smuggled to Somalia, security agents say this would have been blamed on ‘extrajudicial killings’ and ‘enforced disappearances’ perpetrated by the police. Although the police managed to rescue the 20 children, some 20 others are reported to have been sneaked out to Somalia earlier. Security agencies now fear that the thousands of youth reportedly missing from learning institutions or their homes might have been recruited into Al-Shabaab and travelled to Somalia for training.
The police are cautioning parents to watch over their children and monitor their activities especially during this festive period, lest they fall prey to the allure of money offered by the Al-Shabaab recruiters who often instruct the recruits not to contact their families. Hundreds of desperate families across the country have reported the disappearance of their children, most of whom have since been confirmed to have travelled to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab militants who are battling for control of the Horn of Africa country.
Intelligence reports have confirmed that Al-Shabaab recruiters are not only targeting youth in Muslim-dominated areas like Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Mombasa, Isiolo and Marsabit, but they are now moving further to Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisumu, Busia, Kakamega and other major towns. Apart from targeting schools, universities and other learning institutions, the recruiters are eyeing vulnerable youth, especially those who are idle and economically disenfranchised. One Isiolo parent, Zainab Hashi, reported how her son disappeared from home on May 1, 2015 for a supposed Islamic retreat, only to receive a phone call from him a week later confirming her worst fear — her son had joined Al-Shabaab. Kenyan security officers arrested him and three other boys as they attempted to cross into Somalia through Liboi.
Metro Transit Officer Works to Prevent Terrorism in Minn., Somalia
02 December – Source: EyeWitness News – 292 Words
A Metro Transit Police officer is the driving force behind it all. More Somalis live in Minnesota than any other state. Metro Transit Police Sergeant Waheid Siraach is among those who have moved to Minnesota. His family left war-torn Somalia when he was 13. Now, he’s trying to stop terrorism in the two countries he loves.
“I call here my homeland and I call Somalia my motherland,” he said. Sgt. Siraach joined other local officers at a luncheon to welcome Somali Federal Police Commissioner Major General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan: “We are interlinked with Minnesota especially because no Somalis doesn’t have family in Minnesota,” Hassan said. The seeds for Hassan’s visit to Minnesota were planted a year ago when Sgt. Siraach asked Metro Transit Chief John Harrington for a leave of absence to travel to Somalia to train police officers.
“A big part of what Waheid had sold me on was the idea he was going back home to increase the public safety there. That he was going to go back to be a major asset and really help out the Somali police force.” Chief Harrington went to Somalia in August to see what Waheid had accomplished. “I found brave men and women who were doing really tough work, working in their community, really fearlessly and making an enormous difference in the lives of the people there.”
“Even though we’re separated by thousands of miles we have certain things in common,” Sgt. Siraach said. He said he hopes the relationship will help Somali officers stop terrorists there and help Minnesota officers stop terrorists from recruiting young people here: “And those guys are actually doing more harm, to the people that are in Somalia. They’re leaving here but they’re blowing up people over there.”
New VOA Radio Program Reaches Out To Somali Youth
02 December – Source: Voice of America – 274 Words
Voice of America is giving young Somali listeners a new platform for exploring social issues and getting the latest news along with music and technology features. The 30-minute daily radio program Dhalinyarada Maanta [“Today’s Youth”] debuted with hosts Falastin A. Iman and Ismail H. Mohamed discussing the Paris climate conference and Somali’s Prime Minister working to end factional fighting.
When a listener asked for advice about applying to university, the show brought on air a Mogadishu professor to explain how to choose an area of study: “VOA’s Somali Service continues to make an impact,” says VOA Africa Division Director Negussie Mengesha. “With this interactive program we are set to reach millions of Somali youth discussing their concerns in life and showing hope and opportunity instead of despair and extremism.”
The show provides a forum for issues on social media – such as marriage and migration – as well as a talent segment during which listeners recite original poetry and sing traditional songs, all building on the strong oral foundations of Somali life at a time when nearly two-thirds of Africans are under the age of 30.
“VOA is one of the Somali-speaking international stations which Somalis listen to a lot,” Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on a visit to VOA offices in Washington. “A testament to its importance as a source of information for Somalis is the fact the Somali government allowed the national radio station to rebroadcast VOA programs. It is a proof that listeners see VOA as a trusted source of reliable information.” VOA reaches Somalia and neighboring countries on AM, FM, shortwave radio, television, the Internet, and through mobile devices.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Somalis who are returned are typically flown from Toronto to Turkey, then to Kenya and, from there, on to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. African Express Airways, a short-haul airline based in Nairobi, is the only airline willing to fly a failed refugee claimant back to Somalia unescorted, but it requires a signed consent form from the person agreeing to co-operate in the removal, court heard”.
Failed Refugee Stuck In Jail Because Canada Considers It Too Dangerous To Escort Him Back To Somalia
01 December – Source: National Post – 953 Words
If Abdirahmaan Warssama signs a piece of paper, he can get out of the high-security prison where he has spent the last five years. But he won’t sign it. Signing a note assuring an airline he will not cause a ruckus on board means the 51-year-old will be deported to his homeland, Somalia, a place deemed too dangerous for Canadian pilots to fly him and too risky for Canadian border agents to escort him. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent keeping him behind bars, even though he is not deemed a danger to the public.
How does Canada solve a problem like Warssama? That’s the dilemma Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) face in the unusual case. Warsamma’s lawyer, however, challenges the notion his client is in an Ontario prison for any legitimate reason and last week the Federal Court of Canada added a stern reprimand of its own: “They were basically trying to get him to perjure himself — to say he wishes to go back when he really doesn’t,” said Warssama’s Toronto lawyer, Subodh Bharati.
“He’s been kept in detention for over five years because he wouldn’t sign. Given that we already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in detaining Mr. Warssama, why not charter a plane?’ In his homeland, Warssama faced a nightmare of violence and torture, said Bharati. After Warssama’s father was killed, he and his brother were kidnapped and tortured. The boys were placed in bags and dunked in the ocean in a form of waterboarding. His mother pulled together enough money to pay a bribe and free him and move him to India and from there to Canada in 1989, he said. His refugee claim was dealt with soon after his arrival — within two weeks — and was denied. It was only after his claim was tossed that he sought medical attention and treatment from the Centre for Victims of Torture. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
It was compelling enough for the government to intervene, allowing him to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds; but Warssama moved around and didn’t obtain permanent residency status or citizenship. He also got into trouble: he received at least two criminal convictions of a seemingly minor nature around 2005, although the specific charges are not outlined in a recent judgment. As a non-citizen convicted of crimes, he was found inadmissible to Canada and ordered deported in 2009. He was arrested over his immigration status a year later and has been in a Lindsay, Ontario, prison since.
TOP TWEETS
@Aynte:The #Somalia squad at The Global African Investment Summit @african_invest in #London w/ @MinisterMOFA
@MogadishuNews:#BREAKING Somali MP Sadak Abdikarim Mohamed dies today in the capital city of #Mogadishu after months he’s suffering a illness. #Somalia
@MinisterHashi :A peace agreement is expected to be signed in #Galkaio today between #Puntland and #Galmudug. There is no alternative to peace. #Somalia
@SomaliaNewsroom:Lessons for #Somalia?Devolution in #Kenya appears to have devolved corruption to counties, which must be stopped https://uk.news.yahoo.com/
@HamidullahBabu:Can a 700km wall along the #Kenya – #Somalia border stop #AlShabab attacks?
@ahmedwardigley:#Ugandan army captures #Somalia town from #AlShabaab militants – politics -StarAfrica.com http://en.starafrica.com/news/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
UNSOM Human Rights and Protection Group at the conclusion of a recent three-day training workshop on the monitoring, investigation and documentation of human rights violations.
Photo: UNSOM.