July 3, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Seven Injured By Road-side Bomb In Somalia’s Mogadishu
02 July – Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation – 169 Words
Seven people were wounded by a roadside bomb in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Monday, the police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Islamist group al Shabaab carries out frequent bombings in their bid to topple the western-backed government. The bomb had been placed at Mogadishu’s Benadir junction, police officer major Abdullahi Hussein told Reuters. “The bomb … injured seven pedestrians. There were no vehicles passing there by that time,” he said.
The injured were taken to hospital, said Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulances emergency service that transported them. Somalia has been engulfed by violence and lawlessness since the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in early 1990s. Al-Shabaab wants to install its own government based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The group’s campaign of violence typically targets the military and African Union-mandated peacekeeping force AMISOM although the militants are also accused of targeting civilians, something they deny. On Sunday, four civilians died in Mogadishu in mortar attacks that were claimed by Al-Shabaab.
Key Headlines
- Seven Injured By Road-side Bomb In Somalia’s Mogadishu (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
- Hirshabelle Security Meeting Held In Beledweyne Town (Goobjoog News)
- Al-Shabaab Executes Electoral Delegate In Middle Shabelle (Halbeeg News)
- UN Migration Agency Launches Community Action Plan In Dollow Somalia (IOM)
- Al-Shabaab Commander Surrenders After 8 Years Of Insurgency (Xinhua)
- Illegal Sugar: Economic Terrorism (The Star)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Hirshabelle Security Meeting Held In Beledweyne Town
03 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 145 Words
Beledweyne town in Hiiraan region today played host to a large meeting that discussed the security situation in the region. The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Interior in Hirshabelle and was attended by administration officials from Beledweyne and other towns in the Hiiraan region. The meeting focused on the people’s role in the peace process as well as security the safety of the Hirshabelle people.
Hiiraan Governor, Abdullahi Ahmed Maalin Sufow, observed the meeting was crucial for the people of Hirshabelle, saying political stability was not the only way of fighting off the Al-Shabaab threat. He stressed the need to eliminate members of the militia group from the region and across the entire country. Only last month, members of Hirshabelle Parliaments alongside their security personnel were killed along the road between Mogadishu and Jowhar after members of Al-Shabaab opened gunfire on their convoy.
Al-Shabaab Executes Electoral Delegate In Middle Shabelle
03 July – Source: Halbeeg News – 173 Words
Al-Shabaab militant group has shot dead an elder, who took part in 2016 elections as a delegate. The elderly man, identified as Abshir Nur Hussein, was killed in Gamboole District of Middle Shabelle region. He was one of the delegates who participated in the selection of Members of Parliament from Hirshabelle.
Al-Shabaab ordered residents of Gamboole to gather in a public area to witness the execution of Abshir. Family members, who spoke to the media, confirmed the execution of the electoral delegate, who was aged 93. They said he was mainly killed for taking part in the 2016 electoral process.
According to other sources, the elder had been held by Al-Shabaab for three months before eventually being executed. He was captured by the Al-Shabaab militants when he willingly presented himself before an Al-Shabaab controlled court in Gamboole location to report a land dispute between farmers and pastoralists in the area. This was indeed an opportune time for Al-Shabaab, which has been hunting down and killing electoral delegates of the 2016 exercise, to act.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Migration Agency Launches Community Action Plan In Dollow, Somalia
03 July – Source: IOM – 322 Words
IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in coordination with UN Habitat and the Ministry of Interior, launched a Community Action Plan (CAP) in Dollow, Somalia last week (27/06). The action plan aims to provide a platform to involve citizens in the planning of community projects for effective social integration, governance, conflict transformation and capacity building at the local level. Participants include vulnerable people such as internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, women and girls, and host communities.
Additionally, the process will empower different socio-economic groups to actively participate in defining and making informed decisions on development interventions that are especially relevant to them, resulting in the production of a community action plan. The Deputy Governor of the Gedo Region, Osman Nuh Macalimow, noted: “The community action plan outlines the current situation and community vision for peaceful coexistence, social cohesion and sustainable development in Dollow.”
The launch event was attended by UN agencies, IDP representatives, returnees, local and international NGOs including World Vision, COOPI, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Based on the priorities identified in the Dollow Community Action Plan, IOM is in the process of constructing an airport terminal hall and a health centre, as well as the rehabilitation of Dollow orientation centre and several district offices.
Al-Shabaab Commander Surrenders After 8 Years Of Insurgency
03 July – Source: Xinhua – 184 Words
A senior Al-Shabaab commander surrendered to Somali government forces on Monday after eight years of insurgency, an army official said. The Somali National Army (SNA) said Ali Abdullahi, Al-Shabaab commander in charge of Hajji Muse area in Lower Juba region surrendered to the government forces during a joint operation in the town of Bar-Sanguun.
Abdifatah Ibrahim, the division 11 army commander of the SNA, said several members of the extremist group which has waged nearly daily attacks against the internationally-backed government were also arrested during the security operation by the allied forces. Ibrahim said Abdullahi admitted to have been a member of the Al-Qaida allied terrorist group for the past eight years. Abdullahi’s security guard also surrendered.
He said the operation was carried out jointly between AMISOM and government forces after receiving credible intelligence reports that led to the surrender of Abdullahi and his security guard. The militant group is yet to comment on the latest move by its senior official whose surrender comes amid increased military operations in southern Somalia, particularly Lower Shabelle region, which remains one of the strongholds of the group.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“The report, Al Shabaab Financial Assessment, by the FDD blames Kenya’s high tariff on imported sugar for the rampant smuggling. The high tariffs are magnate for smugglers, who make a killing. The world market price per tonne of sugar is $349 (Sh35,179) per tonne, while the local ex-factory price is $760 (Sh76,607). This gap is an incentive for smugglers to cash in.”
Illegal Sugar: Economic Terrorism
03 July – Source: The Star – 974 Words
The bulk of the contraband sugar impounded in the country is smuggled through the Somalia border, we can report. According to a June 2017 FDD report, Kenya imports $1.2 billion worth of sugar from Somalia. [FDD is the US-based think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracy.] The report cites an International Business Times report dated June 4, 2014. That, from a country that does not own a single sugar mill.
At current world market prices of $349 (Sh35,179 ) per tonne, that is 3.45 million tonnes of sugar. However, at the current domestic price of Sh76,000 a tonne, we import 1.58 million tonnes of sugar a year from Somalia. Local analysts doubt whether Kenya can absorb all this sugar. The demand is about one million tonnes a year. Analysts however say this could be the total value of all contraband from Somalia, including low-volume but high-value goods such as electronics, apparel and textiles. Sugar could form perhaps 10 to 20 per cent of the contraband, which will come to 50,000-100,000 tonnes. “If all contraband from Somalia was sugar only, then all other importers [would] have closed shop,” a source said. “The millers would also have closed.”
Regardless of the quantity smuggled into the country, the sugar and other contraband goods are not taxed and do not originate from the preferential countries. The sugar for instance originates from Brazil and is transshipped from Dubai into the Port of Kismayo and other ports in al Shabaab-controlled areas in Somalia, a report says.
The contraband, including sugar, is then loaded onto Kenya-registered trucks (or so they appear) and smuggled into Kenya through the Dadaab refugee camp. The report, an analysis of al Shabaab’s sources of finance, says contraband exports, including sugar, are the major source of financing for the terror group.
Reuters, in a June 2015 report, said 35 trucks laden with sugar and rice among other contraband enter the Dadaab refugee camp every week — an average of five trucks daily. An unknown number also enter Wajir every week, said the Reuters report. The trucks are taxed $1,025 (Sh103,319 ) per truck by al Shabaab. Corrupt Kenyan police officers ask for $600 (Sh60,479 ) per truck to allow them to enter Kenya.[Security and defence forces deny involvement.]
TOP TWEETS
@OCHASom: UN is deeply concerned on possible humanitarian impact of the conflict between Puntland and Somaliland in Tukaraq. Listen the VOA interview with Peter DeClercq.@UNdeClercq, @JustinTBrady, @HarunMaruf.
@HarunMaruf: Somaliland to shut down social media for two hours each each day – from Monday to Thursday this week – in an effort to prevent exam papers and answers being shared between high school students.
@GEEL_Somali: #Somalia was THE banana export hub in Africa, employing over 120,000 workers and earning $96 million annually. We’re working with farmers and investors to reclaim that title. #SomaliaRising #BuySomaliBuildSomalia
@amisomsomalia: Head of #AMISOM held talks with the Speaker of #Somalia ‘s Upper House, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi.@AmbFMadeira reiterated #AMISOM’s respect for the leadership and people of #Somalia.
https://bit.ly/2Kvd292
@HarunMaruf: Al-Shabab execute 93-yr-old traditional leader Abshir Nur Hussein for allegedly participating in the process to select Somali MPs. Hussein was in Al-Shabab hands for 3 months; he was executed today in Gambole village, Middle a Shabelle region according to sources from the area.
@AbdihakimAinte: A question I’m increasingly grappling with.. What does 1st July brings/means to current generation of Somalia youth?
@MofaSomalia: President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmaajo” received on Sunday a #Djiboutian delegation headed by the Minister of Defense,Ali Hasan Bahdon, where they discussed bilateral relations and constructive cooperation between the two countries and the two brotherly peoples. #Somalia #Djibouti
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira, poses for a photograph with the Speaker of the Upper House, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi, at his offices in Mogadishu.
Photo: AMISOM