December 20, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
AMISOM to expand its operation outside Beledweyn
20 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 131 words
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) says it will expand its military operation in Hiran region.
Col.Osman Dubad Hil, AMISOM commander in Hiran told Bar-kulan that the operations will target areas outside Beledweyne, headquarter of the region.
The commander didn’t specify when the military operation will commence. Col. Hil urged al Shabaab fighters to accept defeat and surrender to the government and AMISOM forces. AMISOM currently controls only Beledweyn town in Hiran region.
In June 2012, Djiboutian soldiers were deployed under AMISOM to take over the security operation. The final platoon of 50 soldiers arrived in Beledweyn on November 28th, bringing the number of troops on the ground to 1,000.
Security in the town has improved significantly since then. Ethiopian forces have captured the town from al Shabaab militants in December last year.
Key Headlines
- Somali troops to drive al Shabaab out of Juba regions: military official (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Somali government condemns detention of Somalis in Nairobi crackdown (Radio Gaalkacyo)
- IDPs in Mogadishu face hardships (Shabelle)
- Ahlu Sunna says fighters will not unite with Somali government forces (Radio Kulmiye)
- Police detonates a planted bomb in Mandera (Hiiraan Online)
- Fear and anxiety as Kenya orders Somali refugees back to the camps (Radio Risaala)
- 23 arrested for Nairobi blasts (Standard)
- Bob Tarrant named as operation commander of EU naval forces in Somalia (The global Herald)
SOMALI MEDIA
AMISOM to expand its operation outside Beledweyn
20 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 131 words
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) says it will expand its military operation in Hiran region. Col.Osman Dubad Hil, AMISOM commander in Hiran told Bar-kulan that the operations will target areas outside Beledweyne, headquarter of the region.
The commander didn’t specify when the military operation will commence. Col. Hil urged al Shabaab fighters to accept defeat and surrender to the government and AMISOM forces. AMISOM currently controls only Beledweyn town in Hiran region.
In June 2012, Djiboutian soldiers were deployed under AMISOM to take over the security operation. The final platoon of 50 soldiers arrived in Beledweyn on November 28th, bringing the number of troops on the ground to 1,000.
Security in the town has improved significantly since then. Ethiopian forces have captured the town from al Shabaab militants in December last year.
IDPs in Mogadishu face hardships
20 Dec- Source: Shabelle- 107 words
The internally displaced people living in Mogadishu are faced with hardship including health related issues as an outbreak of diarrhea drive many patients into the hospitals.
Some IDPs, who spoke to Shabelle, say that their children are suffering from the outbreak of diarrhea and are not receiving any medical assistance.
The IDPs also say they have not received any food assistance recently. They are now calling on the government and the relief organizations to urgently help.
Ahlu Sunna says fighters will not unite with Somali government forces
20 Dec- Source: Radio Kulmiye- 199 words
News coming from central Somalia says Moalim Mohamoud Sheikh Hassan, a prominent Sufi cleric was welcomed in Gur’eel district, in Galgaduud region. The Sheikh was re-elected again as a general chairman of the Ahlu-Sunna in the capital city, Mogadishu.
Moalim Mohamoud Sheikh Hassan was welcomed in the Guri’eel by the district officials including the chairman of the Guri’eel district and authorities of the two assemblies of the Ahlu-Sunnah Wal Jama’a. After arrival, he told the media that his group will cooperate with the government but their troops on the ground won’t be integrated into the government forces.
The general chairman of the Ahlu-Sunnah Wal Jama’a then headed to Dhusamareb Town, the capital of Galgadud province, where he is expected to meet senior authorities of the Al-Sunnah Wal Jama’a allies in the region.
Somali troops to drive al Shabaab out of Juba regions: military official
20 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 106 words
Somalia National Army in Juba regions will soon drive al Shabaab militants out of the remaining parts, say a military official in the region. Lieutenant colonel Fathi Hussein Abdi told Bar-kulan that the army are in their last stage of preparation and will soon begin the assault. He added that the main target will be the towns of Bu’ale, Hagar and Jilib.
The troops were in the recent days conducting security sweeps in Dhobley and Afmadow towns, according to Lieutenant colonel Fathi. Al Shabaab, which has been forced to relinquish control of a number of cities and towns in Somalia this year, controls many areas in Juba regions.
Police detonates a planted bomb in Mandera
20 Dec- Source: Hiiraan Online-177 words
Police on Wednesday detonated a bomb that had been planted on the roadside in Mandera County, North East Kenya. An officer aware of the incident said the officers were alerted by smoke that was bulging from Boarder Point Three area. “After the hint, we arrived at the scene and detected the huge bomb that was about to explode and exploded it,” stated the security agent.
The bomb is said to have been set on a motorcycle battery and a time placed besides it ready for explosion. “It was a huge bomb and had it exploded on a vehicle, so many lives would have been lost,” said the officer whose name is withheld.
Somali government condemns detention of Somalis in Nairobi crackdown
19 Dec – Source: Radio Gaalkacyo – 120 words
Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya Muhammad Ali Nur has condemned the detention of 200 Somali people in Nairobi’s Eastleigh suburb by Kenyan troops, privately-owned Radio Gaalkacyo reported. Speaking to media in Nairobi, the ambassador said that his government condemns the action and that the Kenyan government has detained innocent people. He explained that the Somali embassy in collaboration with UNHCR are working on the release of the arrested people. The Kenyan government recently called for the repatriation of Somali refugees to Dadaab refugee camp following a series of bomb explosions that killed many and injured others including Kenyan MP Yusuf Hasan.
Fear and anxiety as Kenya orders Somali refugees back to the camps
19 Dec- Source: Radio Risaala- 191 words
Kenyan authorities have recently ordered all Somali refugees currently living in urban areas to move to their designated refugee camps. This move has sparked a lot of fear and anxiety among the ethnic Somalis since most of them own established businesses in various towns across Kenya. Fear has also gripped many residents of Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city which hosts a considerable population of Somalis.
Mohamed Jama Ali is a Somali national who lived and traded in Mombasa for a while. He told Kenya’s Daily Nation, that it will be difficult for him and his family to vacate since he owns businesses and property including houses which he said were not easy to move or dispose off.
Somalis have established themselves as businessmen in the town and they literally run Mombasa’s biggest market which is called “Markiti”.
However, Mr. Jama noted that Kenya’s statement has caused panic among the Somali people, describing the Somali businesses crucial to Kenya’s economy.
Kenya has also ordered the Refugees agencies in its country to stop registering and delivering aide to refugees in urban areas, a move intended to force the Somalis back to the camps.
REGIONAL MEDIA
23 arrested for Nairobi blasts
21 Dec- Source: Standard- 299 words
Police are holding 23 people following Wednesday night’s twin blasts in Pangani area that left three people wounded. The suspects were arrested in swoops that followed after the blasts near Al-Amin mosque in the area and they have not been directly linked to the attacks. Police say the explosions were caused by an improvised device and a grenade that had been planted and thrown at a crowd.
It is not clear if the attackers were targeting the mosque but police say the gang may be part of the larger group that is out to cause despondence in the area. The motive of the incident is yet to be known but is the latest in a series that have occurred in the same area leaving more than a dozen people killed and several wounded. Nairobi Area police boss Moses Ombati said a team of detectives is combing the larger Eastleigh area looking for hints into the attack.
Sending refugees to camps just a stop-gap measure
20 Dec- Source: standard- 326 words
Dadaab Refugee Camp near the Kenya-Somalia border, is probably the only home-away-from-home that 467,000 mainly Somali refugees know.
Kakuma, almost 100km from the border with South Sudan, hosts over 103,000 refugees, almost half of who are Somalis, the rest largely being made up of Sudanese.
And, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees, over 33,600 Somali refugees live in Nairobi alone. These are just but a part of the refugees Kenya hosts from nine nations. But in the past 48 hours, Acting Commissioner for Refugee Affairs Badu Katelo issued a terse statement ordering about 100,000 refugees living in urban areas to return to Dadaab and Kakuma. Consequently, all humanitarian agencies offering services to refugees outside these transition centres have been ordered to stop with immediate effect.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
24 hours in Burco hospital, Part 2: the maternity ward
19 Dec- Source: Doctors Without Borders- 127 words
The town of Burco (also written as ‘Burao’), in Somaliland, has the largest public hospital in the area and serves at least 350,000 people. Last year, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical teams joined Ministry of Health staff at this eight-ward hospital to start providing high-quality, free medical services. Now, Somali staff work alongside MSF staff from as far away as China and Denmark so that patients with medical emergencies receive quality health care.
Maternal mortality rates in Somaliland are among the worst in the world, and the hospital’s maternity ward is by far the busiest department in the hospital. A team of experienced midwives and doctors run this busy unit, which has seen a substantial increase in the number of admissions over the last year.
Several injured by blasts in Somali-dominated area of Nairobi
19 Dec – Source: Reuters- 78 words
Two loud blasts in quick succession injured a number of people near a mosque in the Somali-dominated Eastleigh area of the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Wednesday, local media said. The area has been the scene of numerous attacks suspected to be the work of Somali Islamist groups who object to Kenya’s armed incursion into neighbouring Somalia.
Bob Tarrant named as operation commander of EU naval forces in Somalia
19 Dec- Source: The global Herald- 217 words
Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant has been named as the Operation Commander of EU Naval Forces dealing with Somalia. Operation Atalanta aims to prevent piracy off the coast of Somalia and to protect food shipments to the African nation from the World Food Programme. The EU forces are also assisting the African Union forces operating in Somalia in a mission codenamed AMISOM.
Rear Admiral (designate) Bob Tarrant was born in 1961 and joined the Royal Navy in 1979. He has worked above and below the surface of the sea, commanding the nuclear powered submarine HMS Talent from 1997-99 and the Ice Patrol Ship HMS Endurance 2007-08. He served in the Falklands Conflict in 1982 on board the destroyer HMS Antrim, spent two seasons in the Antarctic and conducted periods of defence diplomacy off West Africa.
After a tour as the Commodore Naval Staff, supporting the First Sea Lord in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review developing the strategy for the future of the Royal Navy, he attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The media’s scrutiny of the growing tensions between local and foreign leaders in al Shabaab clearly ruffled the feathers of the group’s leadership and caused many foreigners to flee Somalia for other Jihadi playgrounds, such as southern Yemen. Al Shabaab’s statement was intended to clarify the situation in order to retain the support of foreign fighters, but it likely will do the opposite. Hammami’s fate will be highly scrutinized both by counter-terrorism observers and Jihadis alike.”
American Disowned by al Shabaab Implies Group Responsible for Foreign Fighter Deaths
19 Dec- Source: Somelianewsroom-573 Words
Al Shabaab’s most prominent American fighter Abu Mansur al-Amriki, aka Omar Hammami, has been in a tenuous state in the group since releasing a March 2012 video stating his life was in danger due to differences with leaders.
He also has issued several public criticisms of the group. Most recently, Hammami’s twitter account released a biting response to al-Shabaab’s public rebuke of the embattled American.
In a string of tweets, Hammami blamed al Shabaab’s leadership for the exodus of foreign fighters and even implicated it in the death of several prominent foreigners working with the group in the recent past:
Just days earlier, al Shabaab released a communiqué to address the state of Hammami.
“Somalis needs institutions, investments, and service. Ultimately people will vote, and parties like the Hiil Qaran will be on the forefront to elect the next president of Somalia, regardless of where he or she was born. Being northern or southern should not be a litmus test for the presidency, or Somalia will be fragmented and weakened forever. This is not an outcome we can live with.”
Reflecting on Professor Ahmed Samatar’s Experience as Somali Presidential Candidate and Member of the Federal Parliament
20 Dec- Source: Raxanreeb-1773 Words
Who wouldn’t, in their right frame of mind, leave a parliament that, so far, seems to do very little, especially in addressing the challenges of the country? Of course, I concede that the parliament will need little bit more time before a verdict can be made on its effectiveness, and parliamentarians will need the benefit of the doubt, as well as our support.This is a follow up piece to the article I wrote on May 14, 2012 – about the Hiil Qaran Party’s impact during this political cycle, and the prospects of Ahmed Samatar becoming Somalia’s next president by being selected to the current parliament in September of this year.
In that article I presented my take on the political reality on the ground in the southern regions of Somalia, and the prospects of a northern candidate being elected President. I saw this as very difficult without the country being unified again, and essentially, Somaliland not being in the fold. Also it was about the political and social effectiveness of a new party such as Hiil Qaran to make any significant difference anytime soon in southern part of the country. This was not based on any notion that the Hiil Qaran party is exclusively or inherently bad or different than other parties that were formed leading into the presidential race. For me, it was more about the corrupt and bankrupt nature of Somalia’s political power sharing machination that is centered on a 4.5 clan system that creates a country fragmented along regions and by clan supremacy based on nothing.
To be sure I had (and to some extent still have) issues with Ahmed Samatar. For one, I thought his analysis about Somali-Minnesotans to be harsh, especially without knowing about the totality of the community. That being said, I do share some of his concerns about the future of our community here in Minnesota. We all need to step up and help one another make a new life here in Minnesota. I also feel Ahmed Samatar comes across at times as arrogant and impatient, and he never held a political office anywhere before he ran for the presidency. Nobody is perfect, including me. Only Allah knows how many flaws that I have. Therefore, I am in his camp and here is why:
Top tweets
@EUTMSomalia A new hard training day is on-going for our motivated #Somali recruits. #BTC #EUTM @eu_eeas@SomaliaEU pic.twitter.com/QPjzWpTQ
@tresthomas_HOA Anyone who looks at violence in #Eastleighand thinks al-Shabaab & its sympathizers are just sitting idly by worries me. #Kenya #Somalia
@RefugeesCE Photo of the week: Job in a pizza restaurant offers Somali refugee a lifeline to self-reliancehttp://bit.ly/SLDR88 #Somalia
@amisomsomalia As 2012 draws to a close, take a look at some of #Somalia‘s key moments! http://vimeo.com/55921627 #AMISOM @UNPOSomalia @NgogaFred
@QaliFar How to protect children #Somali stylepic.twitter.com/cNzy2yNK
Image of the day
Officers from Somali police force mount colourful parade to mark the 69th anniversary of the force in Mogadishu, on December 20, 2012. Photo: Radio Mogadishu