January 4, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Security Beefed Up In Mogadishu Two Days After Deadly Al-Shabaab Terror Attack
04 January – Source: Jowhar.com 73 Words
Security has been intensified in Mogadishu after Monday’s Al-Shabaab twin suicide car bomb attacks near the airport. Somali Security forces have started a major security operation in several neighborhoods of the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday with dozens of police officers deployed along the major streets conducting search operations.
Security officials said the operation is aimed at ensuring the security of the city ahead of the upcoming elections of the parliament speakers next week.
Key Headlines
- Security Beefed Up In Mogadishu Two Days After Deadly Al-Shabaab Terror Attack (Jowhar.com)
- Four Killed In Clash Between Al-Shabaab And Gov’t Forces In Jowhar (Goobjoog News)
- Bodies Of Two Caucasian People Washed Ashore In Marka Town (Jowhar.com)
- Al-Shabaab Suspects Nabbed In Somali Capital Over Soldier’s Death (Xinhua)
- ‘The Ruined City Of Mogadishu Had A Hellish Feeling’: Helping Somalia’s Sick (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Five Killed In Clash Between Al-Shabaab And Gov’t Forces In Jowhar
04 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 179 Words
Five people including three Somali National Army (SNA) and two Al-Shabaab fighters were killed after heavy fighting between the Somali army and Al-Shabaab at a checkpoint outside Jowhar town, a witness said Thursday. The fighting began after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the checkpoint in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region of Somalia. A police officer in Jowhar said three of their soldiers were killed and two others wounded during the clash.
Mentioning casualties on Al-Shabaab, the officer said two Al-Shabaab fighters were killed and several others wounded. Omar Maday, an eyewitness in Jowhar, told Goobjoog News Over the phone that the gunfight lasted till midnight. “I heard heavy exchange of gunfire and blasts. We don’t know the exact casualty caused by this fighting but it lasted for hours,” Maday said.
Al-Shabaab fighters are trying to topple the western-backedSomalia’s government and in the past few weeks they have intensified attacks against government officials. Since 2011, Al-Shabaab has lost their foothold in major ground in Somalia, including the capital, but continued their battle to overthrow the western-backed Somali federal government based in Mogadishu.
Bodies Of Two Caucasian People Washed Ashore In Marka Town
04 January – Source: Jowhar.com – 84 Words
Reports from Lower Shabelle region indicate bodies of two foreigners of Caucasian origin were discovered washed ashore in Gendershe eastern Marka town. Pro Al-Shabaab media in the region reported the two, a male and a female were foreign tourists.
Their bodies had bruises believed to have been resulted by the salty waters. Locals told the media the rotting bodies were buried at Gendershe. Gold jewelry was recovered from the body of the dead woman.
The nationality of the two was not immediately clear.
INTERNATIONAL
Al-Shabaab Suspects Nabbed In Somali Capital Over Soldier’s Death
04 January – Source: Xinhua – 89 Words
Somalia security forces on Tuesday arrested two suspected members of Al-Shabaab militant group in an operation in the capital Mogadishu over the killing of a government soldier. Benadir Police Commissioner, Bishar Abshir Gedi, said the suspects were believed to be behind the killing of the soldier in Mogadishu’s Yakhshid district on Monday night.
The soldier’s death came hours after Al-Shabaab militants carried out twin suicide car bomb attacks in Mogadishu on Monday, claiming they killed over 30 people. The exact number of casualties in the attacks is still unknown.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In this extract from his book, The World’s Emergency Room, Dr Michael Vanrooyen recalls the menace and mayhem of his first humanitarian mission in Somalia.”
‘The Ruined City Of Mogadishu Had A Hellish Feeling’: Helping Somalia’s Sick
03 January – Source: The Guardian – 1,065 Words
The moment the back hatch of the C-130 cargo opened at the militarised airport in Mogadishu [in 1992], a wave of intense heat hit me. The hot wind blew fine red dust that covered me before I even reached the tarmac. I knew this place would be unlike any other I had been to before. Unosom, the United Nations Operation in Somalia, controlled the airport, and the property was surrounded by military vehicles, sandbagged posts and razor wire. It was a hive of NGO and UN activity, with shipments of relief goods and aid workers arriving hourly. I hitched a ride with the Save the Children convoy and stayed in their walled compound until I could find my way to our headquarters. The rest of the team, including [my partner] Julie, arrived the next day, and I joined them at the Samaritan’s Purse compound.
During our first night there, we heard yelling and running and machine gunfire just outside of our room. After the first crackles of gunfire, I realised that all the windows to the bedroom were open. I yelled to Julie to roll off the bed and lie flat on the floor. Keeping the lights off, we crawled on our hands and knees out of the room and up the building’s two flights of stairs to avoid being shot through the open windows along the stairway. The gunshots now sounded like they were all around the house.
We scrambled our way onto the flat roof, where we found the other members of our team. A moment later, one of the surgeons appeared carrying an AK-47, and we all reflexively ducked as he swung up the stairs. I wondered which was more dangerous – the shooting down below or the gun-wielding surgeon on the roof. He laid the gun down, and we called the UN compound to report the event. By then, the gunfire seemed to have stopped, but we all waited for what seemed like hours before returning to bed.
I struggle to write about Somalia in ways that are not cliche. As my first humanitarian mission, it was so incredibly different and larger than life. The ruined city of Mogadishu had a hellish feeling, starting with its temperatures, which reached 110 degrees fahrenheit. The buildings were pockmarked with holes from bullets and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Somali militiamen wearing sunglasses and toting the universal AK-47s patrolled the streets in “technicals” – Toyota pick-up trucks that had been modified by welding large-calibre machine guns onto their beds. Even the peaceful-looking waters of the Indian Ocean teemed with sharks.
TOP TWEETS
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: Over 1400 people killed across the country in 2016, Mogadishu recorded highest death toll@Goobjoognews
@HassanIstiila: #BREAKING HirShabelle regional state president and MPs reached Hiiraan’s Beledweyne town.
@wakiilorg: MP & Former Speaker of Parliament Prof. Mohamed Jawari, has declared his interest for speaker of the house once again #Doorashada2016/17
@wakiilorg: Kadija .M. Dirie, former women & human rights Minister has declared her interest for deputy speaker in Somali Assembly #Doorashada2016/17
@HarunMaruf: Car bomb explosion in a parking lot near the UN compound in Mogadishu injures 4 UN local security guards: security source (pics @SONNALIVE)
@HarunMaruf: Al-Shabab identified one of the suicide bombers involved in Monday’s twin explosions as Mohamed Abukar Mohamed Alasow “Ahlu Sufa”. #Somalia
@nbstv: President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud promises to ‘handover power peacefully’ if he loses in the forthcoming election #NBSUpdates
@AbdulBillowAli: #Somalia: #Somaliland authorities fear violence protest in Hargeysa, Burco and Berbera. Additional forces deployed
IMAGE OF THE DAY
AMISOM Deputy SRCC, Honorable Lydia Wanyoto paid a courtesy call on the Interim Speaker of the House of the People of Somalia’s Parliament
PHOTO: AMISOM