December 22, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
At least 5 Militants Killed In Fighting Between AU Peacekeepers And Al-Shabaab
22 December – Source: Xinhua – 177 Words
At least five militants were killed and several others injured on Monday in a heavy fighting between African Union peacekeepers and Al-Shabaab in Owdhigle in lower Shabelle region southern Somalia, officials said.
Spokesman for lower Shabelle region Mohamed Hussein Shino confirmed the incident to journalists that the Somalia National Army backed by the AMISOM forces wanted to recapture the region from the militants.”Somali national army and AU forces wanted to recapture Owdhegle area back to our control. We lost two soldiers and one soldier was injured. We killed five Al-Shabaab fighters and the fighting will still go ahead until they surrender the area to us,” Shino said.
The spokesman added the operation will continue until the insurgents are eliminated from the whole region.Somali National Army backed by the African Union Peacekeeping forces removed the Al-Qaida linked group of Al-Shabaab from many key towns in the south and central Somalia in the past two years.The group is carrying out hit and run attacks in major towns under government and deadly explosions in the capital Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- South West State Minister Resigns Joins SNA To Fight Al-Shabaab (Shabelle News)
- At least 5 Militants Killed In Fighting Between AU Peacekeepers And Al-Shabaab (Xinhua)
- Kulbiyow’s Security Improved Significantly Officials Says (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Women Raise Voices Against The 4.5 Clan Power Sharing System In Somalia (Villa Puntland)
- Somali President Pushes For Hiiraan Shabelle Inter-regional State Formation (Hiiraan Online)
- United Nations Condemns Recent Attack In Somalia (Emirates News Agency)
- Fear Grips Lamu’s Pandaguo Village As Man Stumbles On Armed Al-Shabaab Militants In Boni Forest(Daily Nation)
- Black Week For Freedom Of Information In Somalia (Reporters Without Borders)
- Trouble On The Homefront Part I: Somali Stories (Wardheer News)
- 4.5 Needs Rectification Not Regression (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
South West State Minister Resigns, Joins SNA To Fight Al-Shabaab
22 December – Source: Shabelle News – 170 Words
The Minister of Tourism and Wildlife of South West State Omar Hassan Aden has resigned and joined the Somali National Army (SNA) fighting to flush Al-Shabaab out the country. “I stepped down from my post of tourism and wildlife in South West State and gave notice of my resignation to President Sharif Hassan via text message,” said Aden while speaking to Radio Shabelle.
Mr Aden has been in the tenure for the past six months as he was serving as the regional minister of tourism and wildlife of Baidoa-based South West State of Somalia. He accused South West State president Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden of being a dictator who hijacked the power of the people. “He does not sit down with the people and discuss the leadership of the state.” Following his resignation, Omar Hassan Aden has turned into an army commander and is now in El Ali area outside Belet Weyne town,where he joined in the fight against Al-Shabaab
Kulbiyow’s Security Improved Significantly, Officials Says
22 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 113 Words
Kulbiyow stepped up security level after conducting a number of security operations to hunt down pugnacious individuals in the areas. Speaking to Goobjoog News, Kulbiyow Chief, Mohamed Mohamud Ismael said that his administration has put more efforts in improving security. “This significantly improved the security environment combined with the safety policies of our administration which is now bearing fruit,” he said. Mr. Ismael added that for the first time in years, hope is palpable for Kulbiyow people and its neighbours. He also said, the security forces have been combating the domestic front of Al-Shabaab and its sympathizers. “We will fight peace undermining factors in all its forms and manifestations, irrespective of who their sponsors are,” the chief said.
Somali Women Raise Voices Against The 4.5 Clan Power Sharing System In Somalia
22 December – Source: Villa Puntland – 125 Words
Women in Somalia have resolved to claim their share of national posts, both elective and non-elective, in order to take part in the country’s reconstruction efforts. Speaking at a women’s forum she held in Garowe today, the Chair of associations in the regions of Puntland, Khadro Jama Warsame, gave updates on the activities of women who participated in the recently concluded national consultative forum in Mogadishu.
Khadro said women in the country have raised their voice against the current election system of 4.5 which she said discriminated against women and other minority groups. Spokesperson of the Puntland Women Association read out the resolutions by women who attended the national forum. Today’s forum was attended by women representatives from Nugaal region.
Somali President Pushes For Hiiraan, Shabelle Inter-regional State Formation
21 December – Source: Hiiraan Online – 244 Words
Somali president has flown to Beletweyne town on Monday to meet with elders and politicians in Hiiraan region in an attempt to secure their endorsement for the proposed regions’ integration initiative. The region’s elders have earlier set tough terms for the formation of an inter-regional state with its neighbouring Middle Shabelle region, demanding that their region be picked as the proposed state’s capital and conference’s venue, a proposal dismissed by Middle Shabelle region.
Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who will spend Monday night in Belet Weyne town is also pushing for reconciliations among the region’s clans following deadly clashes that killed at least 15 people last week. Elders in Belet Weyne town have also opposed an earlier suggestion by the president which proposed holding the two regions’ integration conference in Jowhar, the regional capital of Middle Shabelle region, vowing they would make no concession towards their stand.
During his meeting with elders, the president has urged flexibility in the talks that were stalled twice since early this year to fast-track the inter-regional state formation process. Somali officials say lack of concessions by the two sides adds strains to the challenges facing government as it tries to spread its new federalism system initiative across the country. Power sharing arrangement, the venue for proposed state’s capital and formation conference are among the key challenges that political observers say would further chip away at the government’s efforts to bring the two sides on the table to neutralize their political tensions.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
United Nations Condemns Recent Attack In Somalia
22 December – Source: Emirates News Agency – 81 Words
The top UN official in Somalia, Nicholas Kay, has strongly condemned the recent car bomb attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, which killed and wounded many people. In a statement issued on Monday, Kay condemned the attack, for which Al Shabaab militants claimed responsibility, asserting that “the indiscriminate use of such methods against the Somali people is a brutal and heinous crime, and the United Nations reiterates its firm commitment to support Somalia and the region to ensure security and stability.
Fear Grips Lamu’s Pandaguo Village As Man Stumbles On Armed Al-Shabaab Militants In Boni Forest
22 December – Source: Daily Nation – 483 Words
Residents of Pandaguo Village in Lamu are living in fear after a 22-year-old man Monday reported to have come into contact with suspected Al-Shabaab militants when he went to harvest honey in Boni Forest. Mr Musa Genje said he found himself in the hands of six heavily armed men who harassed him and even threatened to kidnap him but later released him.
“I had left my home in Pandanguo Village to go into the forest to harvest honey. About two kilometres from the village, I spotted 6 men who were heavily armed. “They were wearing old military uniforms and their heads were masked. They ordered me to lie down. After a few minutes they commanded me to stand and go back where I was coming from without looking back,” said Mr Genje told theNation by phone.
“The men also gave me a strong message to deliver to the Kenya Defence Forces that the militants exist and that the KDF should be ready to face them,” he added. Following the incident, tension was high among residents of Pandanguo and Jima villages. The villages are occupied by over a 1000 locals from the marginalised Boni communities.
The Beauty Of Somalia & Somali People
21 December – Source: downvids.net – Video: 1:05 Minutes
Black Week For Freedom Of Information In Somalia
22 December – Source: Reporters Without Borders – 277 Words
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the latest violations of freedom of information by Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), which in the past week has arrested three journalists and deleted the recordings made by reporters at a news conference. The latest victim was Ahmed Omar Ahmed of Radio Shabelle who was detained yesterday when about to attend a ceremony at the Mogadishu police academy and was taken to Hamar Jajab police station, where he was not told the reason for his arrest.
It came just three days after NISA officers arrested Abdukar Mohamed Ali of Star FM and freelance journalist Abdirisak Omar Ahmed in a Mogadishu café on 17 December. Ali was released the next day but Ahmed is still being held, without having been brought before a judge. Journalists attending a news conference last week about the 2016 presidential election suddenly had all of their equipment seized on the orders of Gen. Adurahman Mohamed Tuuryare, the head of the NISA. All video and audio recordings were deleted before the equipment was returned.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“This is part 1 of a five-part series about Somali families in the diaspora. While many Somali men are consumed with endless political chatter, their homes are wracked by dysfunction and neglect. The names and locations of these individuals have been changed for privacy reasons.”
Trouble On The Homefront, Part I: Somali Stories
22 December – Source: Wardheer News – 1,092 Words
It started with a simple phone call in the wee hours of the morning. “Your daughter is in the hospital, Liban,” said the caller. My ex-wife was calling to inform me that our daughter, 22, had had a nervous breakdown. Shocked and dazed, I immediately bought a ticket to Atlanta. My daughter was an “A” student: diligent, studious, and self-sufficient. She had a job, an apartment, and a car. Apparently, she has stopped taking her medication. She also stopped eating, showering, attending classes and visiting family members.
I visited her in the hospital, and she barely recognized me because she was so heavily medicated. Several days later, she felt better and was finally released to her mom’s care. In this difficult time, I stayed in my ex’s house, which she shared with her mother and a son from a previous marriage. Suddenly, I became a caring father to a daughter I had abandoned when she was barely nine years old. Sadly, many men have a tendency to discard their children once they are divorced.
As weeks passed, I realized my stay with my ex was a colossal mistake. We grew closer. She was attractive, fun, exuberant, and enthused. She also seemed happy to see me, even though I was married with children in Michigan. In a short time, we managed to put our acrimonious divorce on the back burner. My former mother-in-law was elated that we all were on good terms. Of course, no mother wants her daughter to remain single. I found myself slowly but surely being drawn toward my ex and conveniently became oblivious to what led to our divorce in the first place: Lack of trust, possessiveness, and constant fights.
“We have to make sure that the process is one collectively owned by the people and not by a few regional leaders. Most importantly, it has to be one that is practically fair regardless of the rhetoric. Changing 4.5 to a more reasonable 5 will be one step forward and it will rectify its effects. Other options that are put forward so far will swiftly take us two steps backward and their consequences will amount to a disastrous regression.”
4.5 Needs Rectification Not Regression
22 December – Source: Hiiraan Online- 1075 Words
Somalia, potentially very prosperous nation with a very resourceful and resilient people, was politically and economically failed state in the last quarter of a century. Even before then it was not able to develop a great deal due to injustices based on clan domination. After several attempts of reconciliation conferences in Djibouti and Kenya, which produced successive Interim Federal Governments, the Federal Government of Somalia was finally established inside the capital Mogadishu.
That was one great step forward. After almost four difficult years, the mandate of the government will end mid 2016 and Somalia is at a difficult time, the question is will it take another step forward or risk falling back into more misery. The process and the final result of 2016 elections will decide whether Somalia will move forward or lose some or all the progress it achieved thus far. The process has started and from the beginning there were two opposing camps.
A group led by the leaders of Puntland and Jubbaland who propose the parliament seats should be allocated based on regions and an opposing group led by Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden the leader of Southwest State of Somalia who prefers the current 4.5 clan power sharing formula. Evaluation of these two camps and whether there are other alternatives is what I will try explain in this short piece.
TOP TWEETS
@RadioErgo: #Somalia: Circumcised mothers wish to spare daughters the pain of #FGM http://bit.ly/1J2LcKE @UNFPA_SOMALIA
@Daudoo : #AlShabaab releases photos of its former intelligence chief, AbdNaser Tahlil, killed by #US drone last Dec. #Somalia
@ARCBriefing : Slow #political progress sees increased uncertainty in #Somalia as Aug #2016elections now seem unobtainable http://bit.ly/1FNEWQO
@Tuuryare_Africa: #UPDATE: Head of #AlShabaab operations in #Somalia, Abuu Uteyba has been killed in air-strikes near#Kunturwaarey town: Officials #Somalia
@mariaaweismayow : Love n peace conquers all. That’s today’s message from Lido Beach #Mogadishu #Somalia
@engyarisow : Girls basketball teams of Wadajir & Hamarweyne districts played beautiful match in #Mogadishu,#Somalia. Have you… http://fb.me/7AT6coiEf
@Dahirkulane: .#Somalia Pres Hassan in #Belet Weynestrategizing w/ residents in the formation of #Hiiraan & Middle-Shabelle State
IMAGE OF THE DAY
72nd Anniversary of the Somali Police Force (SPF), held at the General Kahiye Police Academy
Photo: UNSOM