July 5, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
New food crisis looms in Somalia – aid agency
05 Jul- Source: Reuters- 166 words
A deadly combination of conflict, poor rainfall and a predicted late harvest threatens to push hundreds of thousands of Somalis back into hunger, undermining aid efforts put in place during last year’s drought, Save the Children warned on Thursday.
The humanitarian agency said many of the 1.4 million Somalis displaced by conflict and drought will bear the brunt of the new crisis since they rely on good harvests to keep food prices low.
“(Last year’s) crisis has left a huge amount of Somali families unable to cope with the effects of drought one year on,” said Sonia Zambakides, humanitarian director for Save the Children’s Somalia programme.
The charity has asked for more funding and fresh efforts by the international community to tackle the underlying causes of Somalia’s regular food crises.
Key Headlines
- Fighting displaces thousands in Middle Shabelle( IRIN News)
- Heavy fighting erupts in Bakol region 11 killed (Shabelle/Kulmiye/Risaala)
- Somali elders warn top TFG leaders against interfering with constitution (Radio Gaalkacyo)
- Kenya denies forming regional state in Somalia (Shabelle)
- Somali President Inspects Sudanese Currency Printing House (Sudan Vision/SUNA)
- Severe drought hits northeastern Somalia (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Refugees in Kenya call for more effective aid delivery (IRIN News)
- Four Kenyan soldiers killed in al Shabaab assault (Radio Al Furqaan/Somalia Report)
- Somalia: UN and partners note roadmap progress voice concern over missed deadlines (UN News Center)
- Sigh of relief for IDPs in Bula-Howo as water drilling kicks off (Radio Bar-kulan)
- UAE Navy chief seeks GCC alliance on piracy (National)
SOMALI MEDIA
Heavy fighting erupts in Bakol region, 11 killed
05 Jul- Source: Shabelle/Kulmiye/Risaala- 214 words
Heavy fighting erupts in the Somalia’s southern region of Bakol between the Islamist insurgents and government forces backed by Ethiopian troops, claiming the lives of scores of people, residents and officials said.
The latest battle broke out around 7:00 pm local time in different locations near Hudur town, where the fighters of al Shabaab launched ambush attacks on a convoy of the allied forces [Somalia and Ethiopia], traveling from El Berde to Hudur town in Bakol region, killing at least Eleven combatants.
The sound of the artillery fire could be heard across the town, raising concern of the local civilians. Hudur is located 420 kilometers (260 miles) southwest of Mogadishu,Somalia capital.
Speaking to Shabelle radio, Mohamed Abdi-Tall, the governor of Bakol region for Somali government, claimed victory, saying they have killed at least 11 militants following the offensive.
Militant killed in premature explosion in Mogadishu
05 Jul- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu- 149 words
A suspected militant died last night when an explosive device he was allegedly planting near Yaqshid police station [north of Mogadishu] went off, killing him on the spot. Confirming the incident, the area district commissioner Muhyadin Hassan Jurus told Bar-kulan that the incident occurred at around 3:00 am local time this morning.
He said a suspected militant was planting the explosive device just some sixty meters from the area police station, but the device exploded prematurely and killed him on the spot.
Police say the device was a remotely-detonated bomb. The explosion also damaged houses near the scene of the incident. Jurus claimed locals welcomed the incident as it will be a lesson for other militants trying to commit crimes.
Police have reportedly started investigations into the incident. The incident comes just two months after three suspected militants were killed in a similar incident in two separate incidents.
Kenya denies forming regional state in Somalia
05 Jul- Source: Shabelle- 195 words
The deputy speaker of Kenya’s parliament Farah Mo’alin, has defended his country’s political and military intention towards neighboring Somalia.
In an interview with Shabelle radio, the deputy speaker of Kenyan parliament strongly denied reports that Kenya is in the process of setting up a semi-autonomous state for Lower and middle Jubba region of Somalia, where Kenya military are currently operating to help Somali government fight al Shabaab militants.
Somali elders warn top TFG leaders against interfering with constitution
04 Jul – Source: Radio Gaalkacyo – 169 words
Traditional elders attending the draft constitution meeting in Mogadishu have warned top leaders of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) against interfering with the selection of delegates for approval of the draft constitution, privately-owned Radio Gaalkacyo reported on 4 July.
Chief elder, Muhamad Bashir who is among the elders attending the conference has said that top leaders of Somalia must cease from interfering with the work of the elders regarding the selection of the delegates passing the new constitution. Bashir further stated that the elders of Somalia are independent and neutral in addressing the constitution, adding that they will not condone any interference.
Somali elders have been attending conferences in Istanbul, Mogadishu to facilitate and support the Transitional Federal Government, in selection of parliamentarians and ratification of the draft constitution that will pave the way for a federal government, when the mandate of the current TFG expires in August 2012.
Severe drought hits northeastern Somalia
05 Jul- Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 179 words
A severe drought is being reported from several parts of Bari region, northeastern Somalia.The affected areas include Alula and Bargal districts as well as parts of Dili-didin and Gunbah areas.
Bari regional governor Abdisamed Mohamed Galan told Bar-kulan that the area has been badly hit by subsequent droughts that affected both human and livestock.
Galan said severe water shortage and the compelling drought situation have forced many pastoralist families to flee their homes in search of water and pasture. He said no deaths have so far been reported due to the drought situation in the region but the situation is getting worse.
He however said his administration recently delivered humanitarian assistance to the affected families in the region after going for an assessment trip to witness the impact and the magnitude of the drought situation.
On matters regarding security, Galan has claimed that his administration has rooted out militants and pirates that used to destabilise the region.
He maintained that the region is now safe and sound after his administration defeated piracy and militancy in the entire region.
Four Kenyan soldiers killed in al Shabaab assault
04 Jul- Source: Radio Al Furqaan/Radio Andulus/Somalia Report- 63 words
At least four Kenyan soldiers were killed and over eight injured, in fight between al Shabaab fighters and Kenyan troops that took place in Qoqani village of Lower Jubba region on Tuesday night.
Al Shabaab fighters attacked the Kenyan’s military bases and inflicted loses on the Kenyan forces in the village. Locals told pro-al Shabaab Radio Andalus that the fighting continued more than 40 minutes in the area.
‘President Sheikh Sharif not coming to Hargeisa’ – Somaliland Opposition Leader
04 Jul- Source: Somalilandpress- 284 words
Somaliland Opposition Leader Faisal Ali Warabe has rejected claims the leaders have invited Somalia’s interim President to Hargeisa for a state visit.
A week after meeting Somaliland President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed in Dubai for the first formal talks in decades, the leader of UCID Party denied local media reports of a planned visit by the TFG leader.
Faisal was part of a large opposition, parliamentarian, government delegation including President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo that met the TFG leader in UAE last Thursday. The two sides discussed ways to strengthen long-term and multifaceted cooperation.
“These reports are fabricated and baseless. Sheikh Sharif has no business in our affairs nor do we have plans to invite the administration there here,” he said during a press conference he held in Hargeisa.
Sigh of relief for IDPs in Bula-Howo as water drilling kicks off
04 Jul- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 166 words
Internally displaced persons camping on the outskirt of Beled-hawo town, Gedo, have all the reasons to smile as their water problem is being sorted out by a good Samaritan.
Water drilling exercise on Wednesday kicked off at Shirko settlement, some ten kilometres from the border town of Beled-Hawo after a Somali woman of British citizen offered to help tackle water crisis facing locals in the area.
Maalim Farah, one of the locals who is responsible of the drilling told Bar-kulan that they hope the prevailing water shortage in the area will soon be things of the past once the ongoing drilling is complete, adding that thousands of IDPs will benefit from the borehole.
He said water shortage in the region is now at an alarming stage, urging the Somali government, local and international aid agencies to immediately intervene the situation.
The region is one of the regions in southern Somalia that was badly hit by the recently drought and famine crisis recently witnessed in the country.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali President Inspects Sudanese Currency Printing House
05 Jul- Source: Sudan Vision/SUNA- 144 words
The Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has inspected printing of his country’s currency at the Sudanese Company for Currency Printing.
Somali President has been briefed by the Director General of the Sudanese Company for Currency Printing, Engineer Mohamed Hassan Al-Bahi, on the phases of the currency printing and ways to secure it.
Al-Bahi revealed that the technologies used in the printing of Somali currency is the most modern in the currency industry domain besides ways of securing it from counterfeiting.He stressed that the company was ready to provide all aids to the Somali State including currency counterfeiting-detection and counting equipment.
UAE Navy chief seeks GCC alliance on piracy
05 Jul- Source: National- 693 words
A joint GCC naval force should be formed to protect ships in waters where Somali pirates lurk, the commander of the UAE navy says. Shipping lanes in the Arabian Sea are currently patrolled by a coalition European Union navy force and the US Fifth Fleet, but Rear Admiral Naval Staff Ibrahim Al Musharrakh says the deep history and knowledge of GCC forces would provide a tactical advantage.
At the same time, one expert cautioned that the resources needed for the job might require the involvement of larger powers.
Nonetheless, Adm Al Musharrakh believes a GCC force could achieve “significant results” by “taking the benefits of historical links, long-lasting economic relations and perfect knowledge of Somali society, especially [of] the clan structure”.
Girl killed after Somali gunmen attack village
05 Jul- Source: Standard- 291 words
Police are pursuing gunmen who raided a village in Mandera and shot dead a schoolgirl. The masked gunmen armed with AK-47 and G3 rifles looted several shops of foodstuff, soft drinks, clothes and money before escaping towards Somali border town of Bulla-Hawa carrying their looted items on donkeys. The schoolgirl, 16, a pupil at Harari-Hosle Primary School in Mandera East District, five kilometres from the volatile Kenya and Somalia border, was shot several times on the chest by the militia inside her father’s hut in the 1am incident.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
New food crisis looms in Somalia – aid agency
05 Jul- Source: Reuters- 166 words
A deadly combination of conflict, poor rainfall and a predicted late harvest threatens to push hundreds of thousands of Somalis back into hunger, undermining aid efforts put in place during last year’s drought, Save the Children warned on Thursday.
The humanitarian agency said many of the 1.4 million Somalis displaced by conflict and drought will bear the brunt of the new crisis since they rely on good harvests to keep food prices low.
“(Last year’s) crisis has left a huge amount of Somali families unable to cope with the effects of drought one year on,” said Sonia Zambakides, humanitarian director for Save the Children’s Somalia programme.
The charity has asked for more funding and fresh efforts by the international community to tackle the underlying causes of Somalia’s regular food crises.
Fighting displaces thousands in Middle Shabelle
05 Jul- Source: IRIN News- 257 words
Hundreds of families from villages in Somalia’s Bal’ad District, in Middle Shabelle Region, have been displaced following recent fighting between African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and al Shabaab insurgents, say officials.
“Our settlements are now the front line between the AMISOM/TFG alliance forces and Al-Shabab and we don’t know where to go,” Hussein Mayow, a father of six, told IRIN.
The displacement followed 25 June clashes in Bal’ad, about 40km northwest of Mogadishu, with the worst affected areas being the villages of Wala-Moy and Hamar-Daye, said an official with the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Youth and Sport, who preferred anonymity.
Somalia: UN and partners note roadmap progress, voice concern over missed deadlines
04 Jul- Source: UN News Center- 898 words
While noting progress, the international group that brings together the United Nations and its diplomatic partners in support of efforts to restore peace and stability in Somalia today expressed concern over the missing of deadlines which form part of the process of ending the country’s current transitional governing arrangements on 20 August this year.
In a communiqué issued in Rome, Italy, today, following its 22nd meeting, the International Contact Group (ICG) on Somalia “reiterated its firm determination” that the transitional arrangements end on the agreed date, and welcomed progress made in reaching agreement on a final draft constitution for the country.
The two-day meeting, which ended on Tuesday, was chaired by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), Augustine Mahiga. Asides from representatives of the international community, those attending included Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Parliament, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and representatives of the Somali regions of other Somali regions and groups.
The road to London 2012: Somali athletes dare to dream of Olympics
04 Jul- Source: Guardian- 875 words
Amal Mohamed Bashiir has risked her life to run. Now, the 18-year-old Somali hopes that determination will pay off with a place at the London Olympics.
In a cafe outside Mogadishu’s airport, she described life as a female athlete when the Islamist rebels of al Shabaab occupied parts of Somalia’s capital.
“When al Shabaab were in Mogadishu, I received many threats, phone calls from people saying they would kill me. I used to train inside a basketball hall and I used a different name,” she said, wearing a long black veil with a lace band around her forehead. “But now I feel so happy because the security situation is changing. Things are easier,” the 18-year-old added, speaking through an interpreter.
The al Shabaab fighters, who impose a harsh form of sharia in areas they control, pulled out of Somalia’s capital last August, after months of fighting African Union troops building by building. But the group still carries out suicide bombings and assassinations in the city, and there is also danger from freelance militias and guns for hire.
Refugees in Kenya call for more effective aid delivery
04 Jul- Source: IRIN News- 698 words
Hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees in Kenya’s northeastern Dadaab refugee camp depend on aid to meet all their basic needs; while they are grateful for the help and the relative security the settlement provides, many feel the aid could be managed in more effective ways.
Food distribution is one of the areas in need of improvement, say refugees. Each family should receive a food ration – including corn-soy blend, beans and cooking oil – twice a month amounting to about 2,100 calories per person per day. However, many refugees IRIN spoke to say the food is insufficient and delivery ineffective.
“The biggest challenge comes from the food distribution. Refugees do not get the right amount of food… That is why almost all the refugees… complain about food shortage,” said Aden Cagalab, a refugee leader. “The food cuts off before the next cycle of food distribution and people stay hungry for about five days or borrow from their neighbours.”
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The UAE has two reasons to help solve the chaos in Somalia. The first is the major political problem of having a failed state exporting violence and destablising the region. The UAE is also a major maritime trading nation with significant interest in restoring law and order in the high seas, as spelt out by Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World. He pointed out that the Arabian Gulf is being held to ransom by a small group of pirates, who have cost international trade a total of $6.9 billion (Dh25.32 billion).”
Political progress brings small window of hope in Somalia
05 July- Source: Gulf News-682 Words
There is a small window of hope in Somalia as the African Union forces in Amisom, combined with troops from Ethiopia and Kenya, have succeeded in driving back Al Shabab militia from the capital Mogadishu and large areas of south and central Somalia. This comes at a time when a complicated process of rebuilding political direction gathers momentum.
Many of the leading participants in the process were in Dubai last week for the 2nd Counter Piracy Conference. The UAE contributed to the gathering momentum by facilitating the first meeting for over 20 years between Somalia and Somaliland, when President Shaikh Sharif Shaikh Ahmad of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and Somaliland President Ahmad Mohammad Silyano formally endorsed a process of mutual talks in the presence of Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
“We may not need an obsolete autocracy or divisive theocratic system of ruling; to my view, Somalis need today social democracy with strong centralized institutions and independent judiciary system; because we are a tiny nation and our social life is structured on nomadic ethnicity which can be easily influenced and dismantled into smaller entities.”
The Commemoration of the National Day
04 July- Source: Hiiraan Online-701 Words
With passion and pride, this week, Somalis wherever they live are celebrating to mark the 52th anniversary of their sovereignty. More than half a century; Somali people still struggle to retrieve their lost dignity in the international community. Unlike the past twenty years; this time, ostensibly in different mode fraught of hope, love and nostalgia.
Watching to solar-powered lampposts illuminated on, once rubble and waste littered streets in the capital, having a look at brilliant faces of Somali kids and their friendly parents relaxing at the glamorous sand-beaches in Mogadishu.
Top tweets
@BBCAfrica Save the Children has warned that poor rains and continuing conflict in #Somalia are threatening the recovery from last year’s famine
@alykhansatchu al-Shabab’s steady loss of territory inside#Somalia contrasts with its operations outside it Matters#Geopolitical http://www.rich.co.ke/rctools/
@EUNAVFOR The UAE is helping Somalia to prosecute suspected pirates captured by counter piracy forces.http://bit.ly/LvMtb4 #EUNAVFOR #Piracy #Somalia
@HodanLioness The transitional government of #Somalia is printing new currency in #Sudan which will be used after the Aug elections. http://pic.twitter.com/
@azadessa Two decades on, #Dadaab is home to many resourceful refugees who feel unable to return to #Somaliahttp://bit.ly/P7Ykk1 @guardian
Image of the day
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed inspects his country’s currency printing at Sudanese Currency Printing House. Photo: Radio Mogadishu