July 15, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Kenya military dismisses UN team’s report

15 Jul – Source: Daily Nation/Star – 377 words

The Kenyan military has described as “poorly researched”, a UN monitors’ report claiming that its personnel in Kismayu facilitated illegal charcoal exports— generating millions of dollars for Islamic militants.

Kenya Defence Forces Spokesman Bogita Ongeri on Sunday said the charcoal business “is not within our jurisdiction” and that the UN researchers should have done a better job getting the facts.

Details of the still confidential document by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea were reported by the Reuters news agency. Mr Ongeri said one of the aims of KDF going for the port city was to cut off funding for al Shabaab, which used the proceeds from charcoal to finance its activities.

Key Headlines

Somali government condemns violence in Puntland (Radio Mogadishu/SNTV/ al Shahid)
Somalia PM urges al Shabaab to respect Ramadan (Daily Nation/Africa Review)
Kenya military dismisses UN team’s report (Daily Nation/Star)
Jowhar operation nets 30 people (Radio Dalsan)
US intelligence official injured in Mogadishu attack: Al Shabaab (Somaliweyn Online/Somali Memo/Somali Midnimo Online)
Explosion targets Government troops in Janale district (Radio Mustaqbal)
Somali piracy drops to lowest level in seven years (Voice of Russia/DPA)
UNHCR chief praises Ethiopia for open borders refugee protection (Walta Information Centre)
11 Somalis drown in boat tragedy (AFP)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali government condemns violence in Puntland

15 Jul – Source: Radio Mogadishu/SNTV/ al Shahid – 127 words

The Somali government has condemned the violence, which took place in some regions of Puntland administration on Sunday, which resulted in death and injury.

Clashes between insurgents opposed to the election of municipal councils and the forces of Puntland administration occurred in Qardo town on Sunday, as angry citizens burned ballot boxes in Galkayo, Puntland. Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon, expressed in a press statement his deeply regretted the violence that took place yesterday in Puntland state.

The prime minister sent a condolence to the families of victims of violence in Puntland, also wishing for healing for the injured people. Puntland authorities postponed the municipal elections, in a statement issued by the Office of the President of Puntland Abdirahman Farole.

Jowhar operation nets 30 people

15 Jul – Source: Radio Dalsan – 124 words

Somali government security forces have detained at least 30 people in Jowhar town, the regional capital of Middle Shabelle region on Sunday. The security forces launched search operation following nightly attacks by al Shabaab fighters in the past weeks.

Security officials said the arrested people will be investigated. None of the detained people were alleged on any crime but security officials said they suspect some of the detained individuals may have links with al Shabaab militias in the region.

Jowhar town is under the control of Somalia government administration with the backing of the AMISOM but the town has experienced recurring nightly attacks by the al Shabaab fighters.

Explosion targets Government troops in Janale district

15 Jul – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 94 words

Reports from Janale district in Lower Shabelle region in Southern of Somalia say that explosion targeted on government troops while collecting tax from the businesses in the area.

A correspondent for Mustaqbal radio reported that a soldier o was killed in the blast. No group yet claimed the responsibility of the blast and the government officials in Janale didn’t comment about the attack.

US intelligence official injured in Mogadishu attack: Al Shabaab

15 Jul – Source: Somaliweyn Online/Somali Memo/Somali Midnimo Online – 130 words

Al Shabaab movement linked to al Qaeda terror announced that they injured US intelligence chief for East Africa in a suicide attack that took place on Friday in the capital, Mogadishu.

Spokesman for al Shabaab militant Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage aka Ali Dhere Said in that the main target of the operation, was Gary Schroen, director of CIA operations in East Africa and who was severely wounded in the attack.

A suicide attack targeted a military convoy belonging African Union troops on Friday in Mogadishu, killing at least 5 civilians and injuring others. On June, the United Nations headquarters in the capital, Mogadishu came under attack, which claimed the lives of at least twenty people, including employees of the United Nations.

Gunmen kill prominent peace and human rights activitist in Galkayo

14 Jul – Source: Qalin News Online – 64 words

Gunmen shot dead an outspoken Somali peace and Human Rights Activist Abdi Farah who was the head of Puntland region’s Peace and Human Rights Network and he was the deputy of Peace and Human Rights Network in Somalia. The killing of the activist is part of ongoing insecurity in Galkayo recently.

Displaced in Kismayo complain lack of food

14 Jul – Source: Radio Ergo – 255 words

Displaced people crowding camps in and around Kismayo say they are living in extremely difficult conditions without food and other basic requirements. Aid agencies are unable to resume work in Kismayo, capital of Lower Juba, because of the prevailing instability in the region. Radio Ergo’s reporter visited a number of the IDP camps to assess the situation and talk to residents. Deprivation and harsh conditions face the thousands living in more than 40 IDP camps in Kismayo.

Abdurrahman Abdullahi Haji, the community leader of Hufweyn camp in Iskufilan section of Kismayo, said their life can’t even be described as ‘living’: “There are cases of people who are almost dying of starvation here; all the men are jobless, the city is at a standstill; nothing seems to be functioning properly – although of course we have at least survived the fighting…but now the people in the camps are on the verge of starving to death!”.

Among the IDPs, women are the main income earners for their families, carrying out odd jobs in the city to earn small wages. One woman, Halima, a mother of eight living in camp Buulo Hufweyn, described her frustrating day. “I woke up before dawn while still fasting, and hauled nine jerry-cans of water for a family I knew. When I completed he task I was told there was no money so I will be paid later. So I came home in the dusk empty-handed, with no food to give my children. I appeal for help before we all die of starvation!”

Somaliland will never allow flouting of constitution- President

14 Jul – Source: Somaliland Informer – 489 words

Somaliland government has emphatically said not to any individual or groups of individuals whatsoever who are bent on or are out to cause breach of peace hence stir up the cherished stability. President Ahmed Mohammed Mohamud Silanyo was categorical that despite the fact that the state practiced tolerance, “it would not allow the flouting of the constitution the land”.

The President gave the sentiments directed towards a group of opposition members while he inaugurated a new FM radio station at Radio Hargeisa over the week. The station is an exclusively Koranic one.

While the President greeted Somalilanders and the Muslim world wishing them a happy Holy Month of Ramadan, he was taken aback that the oppositionists decided to flout the constitution and embark on a collision course during such a month.

Ahlu Sunna condemns Mogadishu attack

14 Jul – Source: Bar-kulan – 150 words

Ahlu Sunna moderate group in central Somalia has strongly condemned yesterday’s attack targeted to a convoy of Amisom peacekeeping forces in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The deadly suicide attack which was claimed by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants led to the death of 5 people and injured many others.

Speaking to Bar-kulan, the Chairman of Ahlu Sunna’s three committees in Somali central regions Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Hassan Gureye said that it’s unfortunate explosions harming innocent civilians to be carried out in capital during the holy month of Ramadan. “It was a senseless attack which was intended to destroy the lives of innocent Somalis,” he added

Gureye on the other hand urged the government and national security agencies to strengthen security. He also appealed to the Mogadishu locals to work with security forces in order to prevent such attacks, as he also asked the al Shabaab rebel group to stop harming innocent civilians.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya military dismisses UN team’s report

15 Jul – Source: Daily Nation/Star – 377 words

Kenya Defence Forces Spokesman Bogita Ongeri on Sunday said the charcoal business “is not within our jurisdiction” and that the UN researchers should have done a better job getting the facts.

Two civilians killed in attack on Ugandan troops in Somalia

14 Jul – Source: Daily Monitor – 255 words

At least two civilians died and 10 others sustained injuries in Mogadishu on Friday when a car loaded with explosives rammed into a convoy of the Ugandan contingent of the African Union forces in Somalia.

The spokesperson of the Ugandan contingent, Maj. Henry Obbo, told the Sunday Monitor that none of the soldiers, who were travelling in armoured vehicles, were killed or wounded.

“There was indeed an attack on our convoy of the Ugandan contingent right near the UNDP facility which was attacked recently. It was a vehicle borne improvised explosive device attack but our forces are safe. They were protected by the armour,” he said.

Pirates shift from Somalia coast

13 Jul – Source: East African – 271 words

Piracy off the West African coast is now worse than off the coast of Somalia according to a new report. Statistics from the Oceans Beyond Piracy organisation show that in 2012 there were 966 attacks on seafarers off the West African coast compared with 851 by Somali pirates.

However, the report says the nature of the piracy attacks in West Africa is very different to that off the Somali coast. The report says pirates could be shifting from Somalia coast.

Seafarers and vessels, which are seized by pirates in East Africa are kept for long periods — sometimes up to three years. High ransoms are demanded and payments take a long period to be negotiated.

Somalia PM urges al Shabaab to respect Ramadan

13 Jul – Source: Daily Nation/Africa Review – 252 Words

Somalia Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has urged al Shabaab, the radical Islamist group vehemently opposing his government to refrain from acts of terrorism during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

“In this Holy Month of Ramadan, I am calling upon those (youths) who have been mislead to shed the blood of their fellow Somalis, including terminating their lives for an unjust cause,” Mr Shirdon said. He also promised to create opportunities for those abandoning the al Qaeda linked ideals.

“We love to craft chances that may help the youths refraining from anti-peace acts by managing their lives in decent manners.” Despite the call for peace, al Shabaab loyalists have continued to engage in acts of terrorism by bombing pro-government forces and innocent civilians leading to loss of many lives.

The latest bombing occurred on Friday afternoon when a car presumably packed with explosives targeted a convoy of vehicles belonging to peacekeepers serving with African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in the capital Mogadishu, causing deaths of five people.

UNHCR chief praises Ethiopia for open borders, refugee protection

13 Jul – Source: Walta Information Centre – 456 words

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Friday praised Ethiopia for providing shelter to more than 400,000 refugees while supporting the country’s efforts to help neighboring Somalia emerge from war and rebuild.

On the third and final leg of a regional tour that has also taken him to Somalia and Kenya, Guterres lauded Ethiopia for its open border and asylum policy and said it was “a pillar of refugee protection.”

UNHCR works with the Ethiopian Home Ministry’s Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) and other partners to help some 240,000 Somali refugees in eastern Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado and Jijiga areas. Ethiopia also hosts more than 73,000 Eritreans, 62,000 South Sudanese and over 30,000 Sudanese.

The refugee agency and ARRA have developed guidelines to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance inside Somalia, where signs of peace are emerging for the first time in more than two decades. These cross-border efforts aim to provide basic aid and services to people in stable areas.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

11 Somalis drown in boat tragedy

15 Jul – Source: AFP – 166 words

Eleven Somalis drowned and another 34 are missing after a smugglers’ boat headed for Yemen capsized in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week, the UN refugee agency said on Friday. A total of 58 passengers were on board the vessel which set sail on Saturday before capsizing in rough seas on Wednesday.

Survivors told how the three smugglers crewmen forced 22 people overboard when the boat’s engine failed soon after departure, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. “UNHCR is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life,” the agency said in a statement.

An investigation is under way, it added. “We hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.” The bodies of the 11 dead were recovered on beaches around Ceelaayo village, about 30 kilometres west of the Somali port town of Bossaso. Locals found 13 survivors, including two women and a teenage boy and girl, most of whom were treated for skin burns caused by fuel inside the boat.

Somali piracy drops to lowest level in seven years

15 Jul – Source: Voice of Russia/DPA – 139 Words

Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden dropped to their lowest level since 2006, an international watch group said Monday. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which has a monitoring centre in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, said only eight piracy attacks, including two hijackings, were reported in the area in the first six months of 2013.

The IMB put the drop down to naval action and preventative measures taken by commercial vessels, such as hiring private security personnel.

“The navies continue to play a vital role in ensuring this threat is under control,” Pottengal Mukundan, IMB director, said. The two hijacked vessels were recovered before the pirates could take them to Somalia. IMB said that as of June 30, Somali pirates were still holding 57 crew members for ransom on four vessels.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“With impassable roadways and dangerous seas, Jubba Airways and other carriers are expanding flight routes to meet rising demand for travel within Somalia.”

Why Does a Country With Few Roads Have a Growing Airline Industry?

14 Jul- Source: The Atlantic 1155 – Words

Pirates command its coast. Traffic along the country’s few pockmarked roads is often disrupted by militias and criminals. Of more than 22,000 km of roadway, only 2,608 km are paved.

And though Somalia’s war-torn capital city, Mogadishu, has made small security improvements since the terrorist group al Shabaab was forced out about two years ago, anarchy still reigns. One of the organization’s operatives managed to slam a bomb-packed vehicle into a peacekeeping convoy there on Friday, reportedly killing eight civilians. Al Shabaab claimed another life earlier last week, when it detonated an explosive in the city’s marketplace.

But in the country’s skies, high above a landscape torn by civil war, business is running more smoothly. According to the New York Times magazine, the Nairobi-headquartered Jubba Airways, “the unofficial national carrier of Somalia,” is aggressively growing its fleet of leased Soviet Antonov propeller planes and old Boeing jets, and expanding its domestic and international flight routes.

The airline serves Somali business people with interests abroad and an increasing number of Somali expatriates lured back on the premise of declining volatility. “Road insecurity is bad for Somalia, but it’s good for airlines,” Abirahman Aden Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, told the Times. Jubba’s managing director Abdullahi Warsame, who left his native country 25 years ago, flies from his home in Dubai to Mogadishu monthly.

“When it comes to Somalia there is the ‘single narrative’ of famine, of poverty, of civil strife. The Aspen fellowship is helping us develop and communicate our ideas so we can get our message out through online articles, newspapers and magazines. One thing that I really want to do through this fellowship is to use it as a platform to get out a different narrative – one of hope, one of the Diaspora going back and helping people. Just a different part of the story.”

Somalia: Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Peace

12 Jul – Source: All Africa – 742 Words

Somalia’s reputation as a failed state often overshadows the country’s potential, but Aspen Institute 2013 New Voices Fellow Mohamed Ali, a former Somali refugee, represents a new generation of entrepreneurs working to rewrite the country’s story. After fleeing during Somalia’s conflict, Ali chose to devote his life to fighting for immigrant and refugee rights. Realizing that his skills would be best served in his home country, he soon returned.

The high rate of Somali youth unemployment inspired Ali to start his own social enterprise, the Iftiin Foundation. It works with Somali youths to incubate and build the capacity of young innovators and leaders to effect systemic change in Somalia. Ali plans to host a youth leadership summit in Mogadishu later this year to connect young leaders within the region. AllAfrica’s Rohita Javangula interviewed Ali to discuss his hopes about the Iftiin Foundation and his belief in entrepreneurship as a tool for development. Can you describe what the Iftiin Foundation does and how it promotes social entrepreneurship?

The foundation incubates social entrepreneurs, young leaders and their projects to encourage a culture of change and innovation in Somalia. My passion is using entrepreneurship as a tool to alleviate poverty and promote development in Somalia. About 73 percent of the population in the country is under 30 and about 70 percent of them are unemployed, so I really believe entrepreneurship can be a tool against poverty in the region.

“Somaliland has a population of roughly three and a half million people, a democratic government, its own police force, an army and its own currency. There is even a flourishing private enterprise sector. Poverty is a problem, but some have suggested that this is partly down to Somaliland’s unrecognized status. If it were an official nation, it could, for example, apply for international loans. As well as being officially unrecognized, Somaliland is completely unknown to many.”

Somaliland: The East African Country That Isn’t

13 Jul – Source: Environmental Graffitti/Somaliland Press/Somaliland Sun/The Presurfer – 1451 Words

When you think of Somalia, your mind probably conjures up images of a poverty-stricken, war-torn and lawless state – a place populated by pirates and bloodthirsty warlords, as seen in news bulletins. Somalia’s neighbor Ethiopia doesn’t fare all that much better, either, and to describe the region as troubled would be an understatement.

Yet between these two countries is a small and so far officially unrecognized state.

This is Somaliland.

“I think the most surprising thing about Somaliland is that it hasn’t been recognized as a country in its own right by the international community after all this time,” says photographer James Hopkirk, who took these incredible photos of Somaliland. “The situation isn’t entirely rosy out there, but it’s had a democratically elected government, a working police force and military, [and] schools and hospitals for 20 years now, which is a lot more than can be said of Somalia to the south,” he explains.

Top tweets

@DiscoverSomalia #Somalia: Ahmed Jama on leaving the comforts of London to open a restaurant in #Mogadishu. ( 3 part series) Watch-http://t.co/C5JgnDHh5d.

@ntvkenya SOMALI MPs have denounced calls by the Somali government to have the #KDF withdrawn from #Somalia.

@BillaoJournal If we can expect violence during elections in#Puntland & #Somaliland what do we expect for future elections elsewhere in #Somalia?

@AbukarArman Peace manifests itself in every center of political power & every chamber of dialogue. Alas, it seldom is recognized! #Somalia #Syria #Egypt.

@NYonous Paving the way through Entrepreneurship. A Tool for Peace and Sustainability. http://allafrica.com/c/-4tFOc #Somalia #Somaliland via @allafrica.

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Image of the day

Image of the day UN Envoy to Somalia, Nick Kay and President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole of Puntland address press in Garowe, on July 13, 2013. Photo: UN Somalia.