July 31, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Eleven Die As Local Forces Battled Al-Shabaab
31 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 281 Words
At least 11 people died and five others injured after forces loyal to proclaimed Westland state supported by Ethiopian troops under AMISOM have engaged in gun battles with Al-Shabaab fighters in some parts of Hiiraan region, military official said. The joint forces have carried out attacks on two Al-Shabaab controlled towns, Buqgoosar and Eel-Ali and Eel-Dher in west of Baladweyn town. A military commander of Westland, Adan Omar Abdulle told Goobjoog News that they have recovered three towns from Al-Shabaab fighters and confirmed casualties on both sides.“We recaptured three towns from Al-Shabaab after hours of fighting. Our soldiers killed nine fighters and injured several others” said Adan. He confirmed that two of their soldiers were killed and five others sustained injuries.
Hundreds of residents were reported to have been displaced by the fighting between Al-Shabaab fighters and forces of the proclaimed Westland State. Meanwhile Al-Shabaab did not comment on the claims made by combats in Hiiraan region. Somali government forces backed AMISOM troops have been carrying out attacks on Al-Shabaab controlled areas in many parts of the country. Al-Shabaab which has been controlling large swaths of southern and central Somalia for years is getting weak after great pressure exerted on it from different sides. Al-Shabaab fighters continue to stage frequent attacks, seeking to counter claims that they are close to defeat after losing territory in the face of repeated African Union and Somali government offensives and regular US drone strikes against their leaders.
Key Headlines
- Eleven Die As Local Forces Battled Al-Shabaab (Goobjoog News)
- High-Level Partnership Forum Ends Communiqué Issued (Shabelle News)
- Ambassador: China Will Not Withdraw Embassy From Somalia (Bar-Kulan Radio)
- Somalia President Approves Credentials Of New Kenyan Ambassador (Horseed Media)
- PM Omar: We Will Make Sure We Achieve Set Goals (Goobjoog News)
- Transit Police Chief Harrington Pays Visit To Somalia (MPR News)
- UN Extends AMISOM’s Stay In Somalia To Support The Political Process In The Country (Standard Digital)
- Somalia Partners Want Additional Resources To Deal With Al-Shabaab Threats (Bernama.com)
- Obama In East Africa: U.S. Imperialism Sows Turmoil Throughout Region (Workersword.org)
- OpEd: How Constant Violence Shapes A Nation (Sahal Journal)
- ROLSIG: DDR Section (UNSOM)
NATIONAL MEDIA
High-Level Partnership Forum Ends, Communiqué Issued
31 July – Source: Shabelle News – 2, 287 Words
The second Ministerial High-Level Partnership Forum was held in Mogadishu 29-30 July 2015, co-chaired by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General in Somalia, Nicholas Kay. A lengthy communique was released to the media. It reads:
1. 32 delegations gathered to review progress in political and security areas, as well as agree on priorities for the remaining period of 2015 in the framework of the New Deal Somali Compact (Somali Compact). Representatives from ISWA and Galmudug Interim Administration participated in the Forum. We applaud this broad participation and look forward to the participation of all key stakeholders; the absence of some today was a disappointment.
2. We welcome and support the new Galmudug Interim Administration and salute the positive steps taken (constitutional amendments) to resolve its border dispute with Puntland. We urge all parties to join the reconciliation and peace building efforts. We look forward to the successful establishment of Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle Interim Regional Administration and to determine the status of the capital Mogadishu this year.
3. We commit to support all new and emerging administrations to build their much needed governance institutions.
To read the entire communique, please click here.
Ambassador: China Will Not Withdraw Embassy From Somalia
31 July – Source: Bar-Kulan Radio – 122 Words
China will not withdraw embassy from Somalia, said Chinese ambassador Wei Tianhong after a deadly terror attack hit Chinese embassy last week, according to China’s National TV Network. The ambassador said that he and other staff members will overcome difficulties and stay in Somalia to continue promoting bilateral relations. On the afternoon of July 26, an attacker drove a car rigged with bombs into the gate of the Jazeera Palace Hotel where the suicide bombing took place. The hotel housed the embassy of China among several other embassies. China’s embassy was damaged in the bombing. One member of the embassy’s security staff died from severe injuries and three other staff were described as mildly injured.
Somalia President Approves Credentials Of New Kenyan Ambassador
30 June – Source: Horseed Media – 173 Words
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud on Thursday accepted the credentials of the new Kenyan ambassador to Somalia Maj General (Rtd) Lucas Kyonze Tumbo, during a ceremony held at the Presidential Palace Villa Somalia in Mogadishu. During the occasion, the President said the diplomatic relations of Somalia and Kenya is based on brotherhood and can work on areas of mutual interest. Kenya ambassador said his country recognizes Somalia as a special friend and will work to make the ties between the two countries stronger. Kenya closed its embassy in Somalia at the fall of Siad Barre regime in 1991 following a protracted civil war. In 2011, the Kenyan military crossed into Somalia to battle Al-Shabaab, which it blamed for kidnapping tourists in the coastal region. In retaliation, the terrorist group has launched a spate of attacks in the East African nation. In 2012, the troops formally joined the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) following the capturing of the strategic port town of Kismayo from the Al-Shabaab militants.
PM Omar: We Will Make Sure We Achieve Set Goals
30 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 232 Words
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharma’arke addressing the second Ministerial High Level Partnership Conference in Mogadishu said that his government would do everything it can to achieve the set goals for the remainder of its mandate. The Prime Minister said despite the short time frame, the government will do its best to ensure that Vision 2016 is completed. These include constitutional review, implementing state formation, and making independent commissions fully operational.
“My cabinet will make sure that we implement the remaining major tasks in the coming months; these includes areas on federalization and liberation of territories from Al-Shabaab-hold. Some states have already been formed with the guidance of my government and we have recovered areas from Al-Shabaab. The ongoing achievements in the security and the stability of the country will later on bring sustainable development to the people of Somalia,” the PM said. He thanked Somalia’s international partners for their generous support and their resolve to stand together with Somalia. “It’s a matter of fact that a huge task is ahead of us and time is not on our side but I am confident that because of the support we received from the public and the international community, it will not be much difficult for us to achieve the goals,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Transit Police Chief Harrington Pays Visit To Somalia
30 July – Source: MPR News – 214 Words.
Metro Transit Police Chief John Harrington is in Somalia for a visit aimed at establishing relations between Somalia and Minnesota law enforcement agencies.Harrington arrived in the capital Mogadishu Thursday for a weeklong visit, Sgt. Waheid Siraach of the Metro Transit Police told MPR News. Siraach, who became the first Somali sergeant in the nation in 2013, has taken a year’s leave of absence to train the Somali police force in how to investigate crimes. Siraach organized Harrington’s visit to Mogadishu, which was sponsored by Bancroft Global Development, a State Department-funded group that advises the African Union forces fighting al-Shabab.
When he arrived in Mogadishu, Harrington met with Somalia’s police chief, Mohamed Sheikh Hassan Hamud, and other government officials. He’ll give a speech Friday to the Somali police. Somalia has been rebuilding its police force after it disintegrated during the civil war more than 20 years ago. The police have succeeded in bringing relative stability back to the country, but struggle to contain the terrorist group Al-Shabaab’s deadly attacks. Harrington is the first law enforcement officer from Minnesota to visit Somalia. It comes at a time when Somali-Minnesotans are beginning to join law enforcement agencies. In April, Kadra Mohamed joined the Metro Transit Police, becoming the first female Somali police officer in the nation.
UN Extends AMISOM’s Stay In Somalia To Support The Political Process In The Country
31 July – Source: Standard Digital – 381 Words
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until March 30, 2016 to support the political process in the country. A communique’ posted on AMISOM Daily Media Monitoring Thursday states that the 15-nations council also re-authorised the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) until May 30, 2016. Under Amisom, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Burundi have deployed military forces in Somalia to fight Al Shabaab and protect the country’s weak transitional government. Ethiopia has also deployed forces in Somalia for the same purpose. Kenya sent its forces into Somalia in 2011.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has resisted Opposition’s calls to withdraw the military from Somalia, saying Al Shabaab, which has stepped up attacks inside Kenya, has not been defeated. The UN resolution came following an attack by Al Shabaab militants on a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia on Sunday. More than 10 people died, including one member of security staff from the Chinese Embassy. The militant group said the attack was to retaliate against the recent operations by AU and Somali forces in the southern Somali regions of Dinsoor and Bardhere and that they targeted the hotel because it houses ‘Western’ embassies coordinating the offensive.
In May, UNSOM’s mandate had been extended by the council to August 7. The mission was established in 2013 to provide the UN ‘good offices’ functions and a range of strategic policy advice in support of the Somali government’s peace and reconciliation process. The resolution also said the council agrees that the conditions in Somalia are not appropriate for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission until the end of 2016 at the earliest and requested the UN Secretary General to keep revised benchmarks for a peacekeeping mission under continuous review.
Somalia, Partners Want Additional Resources To Deal With Al-Shabaab Threats
31 July – Source: Bernama.com – 151 Words
A high-level Partnership Forum on Somalia has stressed the need for additional resources for the war-ravaged country to enable it to effectively deal with Al-Shabaab threats. The team says more resources will ensure delivery of a victory plan for Somalia’s federal government as it forges ahead with its stabilisation efforts. Partners attending the High-Level Partnership Forum in Mogadishu, which ended Thursday, conceded that additional resources were needed in order to effectively equip and train Somalia’s security forces.
The African Union (AU) Special Representative to Somalia, Ambassador Maman Sidikou, says the funding will ensure delivery of a victory plan for the Federal Government as it forges ahead. Ambassador Sidikou described the two-day meeting here as testimony to the progress made in securing the country. The forum was co-hosted by the President of Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, and the Special representative of the United Nation Secretary-General to Somalia, Nicholas Kay.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“In December 2006, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the U.S. encouraged the Ethiopian government to invade Somalia in order to overturn the growing influence of the Islamic Courts Union. After a two-and-a-half-year occupation, the Al-Shabaab guerrilla movement emerged from the ICU and has continued a war of insurgency against the U.S. and European Union-supported regime in Mogadishu.”
Obama In East Africa: U.S. Imperialism Sows Turmoil Throughout Region
30 July – Source: Workersword.org – 1, 079 Words
President Barack Obama’s first visit to Kenya and Ethiopia highlighted Washington’s imperialist intervention in Africa. U.S. policy is aimed at pulling the two countries into a U.S.-led military alliance and increasing U.S.-based firms’ exploitation of Africa’s mineral resources. Obama’s trip followed a visit to Washington by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who held high-level meetings with Obama and officials from the State Department and Pentagon. U.S. intervention during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations has decreased stability in the region and increased dependence on the Pentagon. On July 26, the same day that Obama arrived in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, a car bomb exploded outside the Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing 13 people, at least one of whom was a Chinese national.
The president attended a business development conference in Kenya. He emphasized during his trip the much-touted, phenomenal economic growth on the continent. Kenya is a capitalist country that is heavily dependent upon the marketing of agricultural products, clothing and tourism to the U.S. and West Europe. The East African state has been a longtime U.S. ally since the early days of independence in 1963 under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta, its first president. Increased exploitation of natural gas and other strategic resources in East Africa failed to relieve economic problems. Unemployment and poverty continue to trap millions, while economic relations with the imperialist states offer no significant prospects for the absorption of large segments of the population into the urbanized labor market. Most people still work in the agricultural sectors of the economy in the production of tea, coffee, sisal and other products.
During the 1990s, Kenya was unable to pay back its high-priced loans to the international financial institutions, which forced it to institute “reforms” that made the country more lucrative for investment from transnational corporations and banks. Following the passage by Congress of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act under the Clinton administration, Kenyan workers began to produce clothing for export to the U.S. and Europe. Mineral exploitation in Kenya is limited at present. Offshore, there has been exploration for oil resources near the border between Kenya and Somalia. These new areas of potential investment by transnational petroleum firms may be clearly related to the Kenya Defense Forces’ (KDF) intervention in Somalia, which was carried out in late 2011 at the aegis of Washington through the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). While in Kenya, Obama opened the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi and pledged over $1 billion in investments from the U.S. government, along with U.S.-based banks, foundations and donors. Some 50 percent of the investments will go to women and young people, who face obstacles when trying to start businesses, says Obama. They will have to satisfy the demands of the investors.
“One thing we ought to know is that the Somali natives love safety for their families and their property more than someone in Ontario or Oslo does. They live their lives in constant escape from violence. When they send their kids to dugsi, when they go to suuqa, when they get visitors from abroad. They always have that fear in the back of their minds.”
OpEd: How Constant Violence Shapes A Nation
29 July – Source: Sahal Journal – 617 Words
Al-Shabaab’s attack on Jazeera Palace Hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday killed at least 12 people, most of them pedestrians or motorists. It wounded many more. Before we rush to judge or ask why the Somali government is so ineffective, it’s imperative to understand the cultural psychology that shape people’s responses. When instability and conflict and mayhem has gone on for as long as it has in Somalia, not only is everyone suffering from some sort of mental illness, mostly chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, but there are certain habits that people develop as a result of the events.
When every glimpse of hope is quickly stolen by violence or corruption, people start to learn that they have no power over the events in their lives. They feel that whatever they do is sabotaged by some sort of curse. They become too afraid to feel happy, hopeful, or victorious, because the pain of disappointment is too great to bear. So they develop a defensive mechanism that makes them numb to it all, and seemingly apathetic to the events. It’s called learned helplessness and is a victim mentality. People become passive and let things happen as they feel that they have no control whatsoever. They are in denial.
This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When people expect a certain outcome, they create that outcome. When people expect instability to go on, it will go on because no one is doing anything to fight it, as they are already convinced that it’s inevitable. That’s one factor that fuel these events. Another factor is the socio-economic background of the youth. I believe that the perpetrators of these suicide attacks are in the age bracket of 16 to 35, but I could be wrong. These are disenfranchised young men with bleak outlook on life and these are the traits that make people susceptible to join cults; because that’s what al-Shabaab is, a cult. They don’t feel connected or a sense of belonging, and this cult promises them a purpose, belonging, and legacy.
ROLSIG: DDR Section
27 July – Source: UNSOM – Video – 4 Minutes
The Rule of Law & Security Institutions Group (ROLSIG) is a new structure within UN Missions, in that it brings together UN elements (Mission staff & UNDP) in order to deliver a ‘One UN’ approach in support of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the Somali people.
Top tweets
@TheVillaSomalia Prez Hassan Sheikh Mohamud closes #HLPF2015 meeting in Mogadishu.
@BBCAfrica #Somalia will miss a 2016 deadline to elect a president & parliament through a popular vote, UN special envoy says http://bbc.in/1JRUuDo
@farahblue #Somalia can hold a democratic elections once #UN staff & other foreign diplomats are able to drive in the capital city without security.
@UNSomalia IN PICTURES: High-Level Partnership Forum #HLPF2015 opens in #Somalia
http://bit.ly/1IL5ism
@TheVillaSomalia Prez receives credentials from the new Kenyan amb.Maj Gen (rtd) Lucas Kyonze Tumbo
@AbdirachidFidow Building walls is neither a solution nor feasible; what #Kenya govt needs to do is disentangle itself from domestic affairs of #Somalia.
Image of the day
A Somali woman shows off her Karate skills in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Photo: Mogadishu Images