June 12, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia’s Special Forces Destroy Al-Shabaab Base
12 June – Source : Xinhua – 382 Words
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmajo, said Sunday he authorized Special Forces who destroyed Al-Shabaab’s main military training base in Middle Jubba in southern Somalia. Farmajo described the raid which took place on Sunday near Sakow as “successful strike” and destroyed a key Al-Shabaab command and supply hub.”I authorized our special forces with the support of our international partners to conduct a strike against an Al-Shabaab training camp near Sakow, Middle Juba region. This will ultimately disrupt the enemy’s ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia,” he said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
The Somali leader said when he took office that security will be top priority for his administration, noting that the Sunday strike will enhance security and reduce the threats of Al-Shabaab.”We have long suffered at the hands of Al-Shabaab which is supported by global terror networks. We and our international partners will take every possible precaution to protect our civilian population from harm during these operations while targeting terrorists,” he said.
He said the militants have been responsible for the deaths of Somalis, adding that he has personally met the families and the victims of several Al-Shabaab attacks.”For those who have suffered under Al-Shabaab, and for the rest of Somalia, I want you to know that we are committed to defeating Al-Shabaab and uniting our people,” Farmajo stressed.Local residents had earlier said military jets carried out an overnight airstrike in Southern Somalia, targeting the militants’ bases.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s Special Forces Destroy Al-Shabaab Base (China.org.cn)
- Sweeping Security Operations In Progress In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Saudi Foreign Minister Set To Arrive In Mogadishu Today (Jowhar.com)
- India: Somali Parents Wants Their Children Released (Goobjoog News)
- Senior Diplomat: Somalia Will Not Sever Ties With Qatar (Anadolu Agency)
- Kenya Foils Terror Attack Planned By Somali Militants (Reuters)
- My Blueprint For A Modernised Financial System In Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Sweeping Security Operations In Progress In Mogadishu
12 June – Source : Goobjoog News – 160 Words
Federal government forces especially those assigned for the stability of the city are carrying out wide range security operations in Mogadishu. The search operations are heavily seen around the four ways of KM4, Soobe, Banadir and other areas in the city. Drivers of small cars are solely targeted where the drivers are asked identification papers, checking those on board and sometime looking under the belly of the vehicles. Big trucks and public transport vehicles are given the first priority to pass without search.
Today’s security operations follow the ones that have been carried out before in the last few days by security forces. It was only two days ago when the head of NISA stated to strength the operation to a full scale level. Mogadishu has changed for the better in terms of security after the federal government created the special security forces for the stability of the city who initiated disarmament and other security operations to ensure maximum safety.
Saudi Foreign Minister Set To Arrive In Mogadishu Today
12 June – Source: Jowhar.com – 192 Words
Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is today expected to arrive in Mogadishu to convince the Somali government sever ties with Qatar. Adel al-Jubair has been recently touring some Islamic countries to get support for his government’s effort to isolate Qatar. Saudi Arabia has been attempting to pressure the Somali government to reverse its neutral position on the Gulf Crisis. Reports say that his visit will be the Kingdom’s final effort to convince the Somali federal government change its neutrality policy and side with his country.
Last week, Saudi Arabia dispatched Ahmed Al-Khatib, Advisor to King Salman to Mogadishu but a meeting he held with the Somali leaders ended without success. On Sunday, a Qatari delegation led by its State Minister for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi arrived in Mogadishu, to hold talks with Somali government leaders and express appreciation for the Somali government’s stand on the Gulf Crisis. Al Muraikh met with both President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre in a closed closed meeting. Somalia has recently released a statement calling for countries involved in the crisis to settle the differences through dialogue.
India: Somali Parents Wants Their Children Released
12 June – Source : Goobjoog News – 221 Words
Somali parents highlighted their request towards their children who are detained in India to be released quickly saying they face hardships in Indian jails. Speaking to Goobjoog News, some of the parents said they forwarded numerous requests to the federal government though their pleas were given cold shoulders yet their off springs face despicable hardships in the prisons. Halima Kulane Omar who is parent to one of the Somali detainees in India said the Somali ambassador to India is hugely part of the problems facing their children by compelling them to confess crimes that have not committed.
“Our children faced hardships and sufferings in India compounded with body torture. The Somali ambassador in that country forces the youths to plead guilty to offenses they never done” Halima said. Meanwhile Halima narrated how the parents of the jailed youths have gone to the ministry of Foreign Affairs on several occasions only to be denied access to the building. Recently the Federal Government announced through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the ratification of a bilateral agreement with the Indian government on the exchange of prisoners between the countries. Large numbers of Somali prisoners are jailed in India which are believed to be reaching 118 persons who are mostly accused of sea piracy around the Gulf of Aden and Indian ocean waters near Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Senior Diplomat: Somalia Will Not Sever Ties With Qatar
12 June – Source : Anadolu Agency – 375 Words
Somalia will not sever ties with Qatar as the Gulf state becomes increasingly isolated from its neighbors, a senior Somali diplomat has told Anadolu Agency. “Somalia has taken a neutral position,” Abdi Halane Hirsi, spokesman and cultural attache at the Somali embassy in Pretoria, said. “We shall not end ties with either Saudi Arabia or Qatar. Our Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling for dialogue to resolve this issue.”
Hirsi denied media reports suggesting Saudi Arabia had withheld $50 million in aid it earlier pledged to the Horn of Africa country until it cuts ties with Qatar. “I think those are baseless media reports because Somalia already knows its position on this issue,” he said on Sunday. However, a senior official in Mogadishu claimed the Saudi authorities had attempted to pressure Somalia to cut ties to Qatar since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed links on June 5, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the allegation and has been supported by Turkey after its Arab neighbors cut transport links with Doha and ordered Qatari nationals to leave.
The Somali official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said six Somali Cabinet ministers who recently visited Saudi Arabia were pressured to end ties with Qatar or miss out on development aid. “I think Somalia will not take any sides against the Qatari government because Somalia’s interest is Islamic world unity,” the official said. Somalia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement last week calling for “all brotherly countries involved to settle the differences through dialogue and within the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.”
Kenya Foils Terror Attack Planned By Somali Militants
12 June – Source : Reuters -187 Words
Kenya has seized six men suspected of planning an attack sponsored by the al Shabaab militant group from neighboring Somalia, the head of Kenyan police said late on Sunday.In recent weeks, the East African nation has lost 20 officers in various attacks, mostly on deserted roads in the vast northern region bordering Somalia, in which the militants used Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).Joseph Boinet, the inspector general of the police, said in a statement that two of the suspects were Kenyans and the others were Somali nationals.
Police also seized assembled explosives, four suicide vests and bomb-making materials such as TNT.”The six had been dispatched from Burhanche in Somalia by their commanders to launch attacks in Kenya,” Boinet said. Kenyan security forces worked with their counterparts in Somalia to foil the attack and to capture the suspects. The captured men were being interrogated to establish the extent of the entire network, Boinnet said.Kenya has faced a constant security challenge from across the border ever since it sent its troops into Somalia in late 2011, to help defeat the al Shabaab militants and restore order.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“As the country struggles to overcome various barriers to development, it will be necessary to assemble and operationalize monetary institutions to promote private sector growth, foster job creation and support industrial investment. Further structuring of the financial system will also be required for the purpose of adopting a new tax and revenue collection system on a national scale in the near future.”
My Blueprint For A Modernised Financial System In Somalia
11 June – Source : Hiiraan Online – 1054 Words
With the conclusion of the recent Somalia presidential and parliamentary elections, many Somalis see 2017 as the year of political progress. There seems to be wide-spread expectations that the new government will take a greater step in addressing political and social challenges bedevilling Somali citizens. Expectations aside, the new regime should seize this genuine opportunity to work towards shared national agenda and put forward its short-term and long-term plans to rebuild government and public institutions for citizen service delivery.
Importantly, to achieve such a monumental task, the new government has to start addressing monetary short falls through working with its international aid partners or alternatively borrowing from international capital markets. For these critical functions, a strong central bank is required for streamlining major financial operations, mobilizing international financial assistance and supporting economic policy decision making.
On the other hand, the recent political realignment in Somalia that has taken the form of a federation requires a close collaboration and fiscal planning between the governments of the states and federal power. With a gradual transition from financial centralization and to decentralization to achieve developmental targets, a strong banking and administrative system (which includes state banks and a central bank) is required to promote stabilization and implementation of economic action plans.
As the country struggles to overcome various barriers to development, it will be necessary to assemble and operationalize monetary institutions to promote private sector growth, foster job creation and support industrial investment. Further structuring of the financial system will also be required for the purpose of adopting a new tax and revenue collection system on a national scale in the near future.
As part of the reformulation of a national monetary policy framework, the country’s national banking charter should accommodate both national banks and state level banks to act as authorised deposit-taking institutions and provide financial intermediation services. The reorganization of the financial system will prepare grounds for not only relaunching the national currency but also moving to the next ‘amorphous phase’ of sustaining a healthy Somalia currency.
The central bank should be entrusted to prepare a plan and a budget for a comprehensive currency reform and draw up a realistic time plan to phase out old bank notes. Once accepted the bank should only be the authorised institution to issue a new national currency and fix its denominations and ensure sufficient currency circulation for commercial purposes. With time and as opposed to spontaneous switching, the central bank should establish a convertibility law and gradually replace the existing notes.
TOP TWEETS
@APO_source: #Somalia Special Forces Strike Destroys Alshabab Training Base in Middle #Juba @TheVillaSomalia http://www.APO.af/LM8m5l
@CarlaBabbVOA: Pentagon official tells VOA strike against #alShabaab in #Somalia was carried out by a drone in Middle Juba region@radiogarowe: Source: A delegation from #SaudiArabia led by FM @AdelAljubeir expected 2 arrive in #Mogadishu today & meet with @M_Farmaajo over GulfCrises
@HarunMaruf: Somali officials confirm that KSA dispatched Ahmed al-Khatib, Adviser to King Salman to Mogadishu to convince Somalia to change w/o success.
@CAREGlobal: “We walked 1.5 hours to get water. 3 of my children died from diarrhea. I have nothing to give my children and no home.” Layla, #Somalia
@HarunMaruf: Two electoral delegates who voted in the election of Somali parliament have been assassinated in Mogadishu in separate shootings on Sunday.
@HarunMaruf: In just over 2 weeks, 12 electoral delegates were killed in Mogadishu in targeted shootings incl 2 today according independent sources.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali Finance Minister Dr. Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh opens finance stakeholders meeting in Mogadishu to discuss Improving and strengthening government revenue collection systems as well as foster better working conditions with the business community
Photo : Radio Muqdisho