June 17, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
SNA, Ethiopian Troops Carry Out Operation In Hiiraan
17 June – Source: Shabelle News – 136
Ethiopian troops under the framework of AMISOM and Somali National Army are reportedly carrying out a military operation in different locations in Hiiraan. The move is described as military drill for that the allied troops to launch a fresh offensive against Al-Shabaab militants in remaining pockets of the central region.
The operation follows recent successful operations that have seen the militants pushed out of most of the villages located west of Beledweyne city, the headquarters of Hiiraan region. The ongoing military operation will ensure that all the remaining areas in Hiiraan will be liberated from Al-Shabaab and peace restored, according to Yarow Abiikar, who is in charge of El-Ali vicinity.
Key Headlines
- SNA Ethiopian Troops Carry Out Operation In Hiiraan (Shabelle News)
- Rains Badly Damaged Roads In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Clan Clashes Killed 2 People In Las Anod Elders Intervene (Goobjoog News)
- Japan Extends By One year MSDF Anti-piracy Mission Off Somalia (Xinhua)
- Paul Ryan Lies To O’Reilly: Says He Passed Bill To Pause Somali Refugee Program (Breitbart)
- Somaliland: Kill All But The Crows (Al Jazeera)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Rains Badly Damaged Roads In Mogadishu
17 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 229 Words
The state of the roads following Thursday’s heavy rains in Mogadishu is dire. Roads that had been previously patched up now have massive water-filled potholes that are a nuisance and sometimes dangerous to motorists. Some of the roads that are in poor condition include the entire 30th Road and Industrial Road.
Road users have taken to social media to voice their frustrations predictably all directed at the government. To many, the poor state of the roads is down to poor maintenance practices by the county. However, many citizens do not know that responsibilities for roads in the county are shared between the Government and the public.
The quality of work done to repair the roads in Mogadishu has been questioned by many as some of the roads were fixed less than a year ago. A resident, who works in transport lays all the blame on the authorities who are alleged to let contractors carry out shoddy repairs every time. He singles out Lumumba Road as the worst case. “Contractors that have done these shoddy repairs are in business every year yet no one stops them for the poor job they do.” he said.
Clan Clashes Killed 2 People In Las Anod, Elders Intervene
17 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 260 Words
At least 2 people were killed and 2 others were wounded in a fighting between clan militias in a disputed northern Somali town on Thursday, officials said. The clan militias fighting for the control of grazing land in the outskirt of Las Anod town in Sool region have clashed at a village called Yeyle which lies 120 Km northwest of Las Anod town. Ahmed Mohamed Adan who is Yeyle chief said the fighting claimed lives of two people and wounded two others.
According to the chief, the fighting lulled following the intervention of traditional elders. Somalia has seen many deadly clan conflicts since warlords overthrew the central government led by the late Somali president Siad Barre. Las Anod is strategically positioned along trade routes in northwestern Somalia as the city almost surrounded by hills and has considerable water resources.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Japan Extends By One year MSDF Anti-piracy Mission Off Somalia
17 June – Source: Xinhua – 163 Words
The Japanese government decided on Friday to extend the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s (MSDF) anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia by another year. Currently and through July 23, Japan has deployed two destroyers and patrol aircraft to the Gulf of Aden off Somalia’s eastern coast to protect commercial vessels. Around 600 MSDF personnel are also involved in the mission. The deployment began in 2009 and marks the 7th such mission.
The instances of piracy in the region, however, have been virtually zero recently, but Japan believes that if the presence of international forces in the region is lowered significantly, then piracy could spike again to levels seen in the past where around 200 cases occurred annually.
Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a press briefing on Friday that the MSDF’s deployment is still necessary to safeguard vessels in the region and that his ministry will continue to work with other stakeholders to ensure the ongoing safety in the sea lane and the region.
Paul Ryan Lies To O’Reilly: Says He Passed Bill To Pause Somali Refugee Program
17 June – Source: Breitbart – 976 Words
In a Wednesday interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly, House Speaker Paul Ryan made a demonstrably false declaration about his efforts to pause the Somali refugee program. During the interview, O’Reilly criticized Ryan for failing to message on immigration controls and asked Ryan specifically about the Somali refugee crisis in Minnesota.
O’Reilly: “We have a Somali problem up in Minneapolis-St. Paul. [We] have a problem there and those are refugees from Somalia. And if, God forbid, some refugee comes in and blows people up, it’s going to be grisly.” Ryan replied by explaining that he passed a bill to pause the refugee program. Ryan said: “Right. Right. That’s why– just so you know that’s why we passed a bill pausing this refugee program, because we don’t think the refugee program works. That’s why we don’t want it to continue right now.”
However, Ryan did no such thing. The bill Ryan championed did not in any way pause the Somali refugee program– it applied solely to refugees from Syria and Iraq. The House bill would “not have affected the Somali refugee program at all,” said NumbersUSA Director of Government Relations Rosemary Jenks.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
Somaliland: Kill All But The Crows
17 June – Source: Al jazeera – 284 Words – Video: 26:00 Minutes
To much of the world, Somalia has a fearsome reputation. It is seen as one of the most dangerous places on the planet – a failed state that is widely believed to be home to warlords, pirates and terrorists. But in the north of the country, at least, the reality is different.
Somaliland is an autonomous enclave with its own flourishing capital city, Hargeisa. Though a long way off from receiving international recognition as an independent state, it is a haven of peace and stability when compared with the rest of Somalia.
But Somaliland has its dark side. Within living memory its citizens fell victim to the most savage of state-sponsored atrocities. General Siad Barre – the ruthless dictator who ruled Somalia from 1969 to 1991 – went to war with the clans who inhabited the area. Believing them to be supporting a rebellion against his regime, he took revenge by sending in his army with a mandate to “kill all but the crows”.
The city of Hargeisa was virtually destroyed during intense and pitiless bombardment. Many thousands of people were killed or driven into exile. Barre’s soldiers, meanwhile, tortured and murdered as many as 50,000 others – most of them civilians – and buried their bodies in mass graves. Now, as those who still live in this region try to secure their future, some feel those past agonies should be re-examined and those responsible held to account.
In this exclusive two-part investigation, People and Power meets a community coming to terms with the horrors of the past and joins forces with a group of forensic investigators and human rights activists attempting to bring an alleged war criminal, Yusuf Abdi Ali, also known as Colonel Tukeh, to account.
TOP TWEETS
@DrumChronicles: MSF refuse funding from #EU over possible migrant deal with #Eritrea #Somalia #Sudan & Afghanistan 4 of top 10 refugee producing counties
@Somaliupdate : From #Somalia to #USA : We Must Choose to Not Live in #Terrorhttp://somaliupdate.
@Abdi_AlSheikh : Number of child soldiers in Somalia may top 5000, UN reports – Journal of Turkish Weeklyhttp://dlvr.it/LZwV03 #Somalia
@OCHASom : 17 June is World Day to combat decertification.#Protect Earth_Restore land_Engage people #wdcd2016.#Somalia
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: One dead, Two injured in Clan fighting near Jowhar, the headquarters of Middle Shabelle
@SaidMDahir: #Kenya shuts down border with #Somalia over#Alshabab attack fears
@WarNews24: Condition is not so good after the flooding in#Somalia
@DalmarHassanQ : Cheap Electricity is the true tipping point for real growth of the economy with out it most initiatives are pushing paper #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
We shine light on the significant progress made by the Federal Government of Somalia, allowing the Somali Child to reach their full potential.
Photo: AMISOM