June 26, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
President Calls For Unity As Somalia Celebrates Independence For Its Northern Territories
26 June – Source : Dhacdo.com – 140 Words
The President of the Republic of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has called on the Somaliland public to work together on how to regain the lost nationhood and unity. The President who last night participated in a major national celebration of 26 June when the northern Somali regions got independence from the British passionately appealed to the public in Somaliland. “In celebrating 26 June I ask our brethren in the northern regions it is the responsibility of all us to work towards regaining the nationhood and the unity of our country,” President Farmaajo said. He added that the Somalia has to move forward from its recent history which has been plagued by painful memory in which Somalia still finds itself embroiled in.The President said he was happy that the 57th anniversary come when he is the President of Somalia.
Key Headlines
- President Calls For Unity As Somalia Celebrates Independence For Its Northern Territories (Dhacdo.com)
- Puntland Indirectly Alleges Somaliland Of Backing Al-Shabaab Militants (Horseed Media)
- Al-Shabaab Fighters Launch Manhunt for Mukhtar Robow After U.S Removed $5 Bounty on His Head (Somali Update)
- Somalia’s Draft Telecoms Law Secures Cabinet Approval (Telegeography)
- US Intensifies Efforts In Somalia To Counter Al-Shabaab Resurgence (New Delhi Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Indirectly Alleges Somaliland Of Backing Al-Shabaab Militants
26 June – Source : Horseed Media – 216 Words
Somalia’s autonomous state of Puntland has indirectly accused the neighboring breakaway region of Somaliland of backing Al-Shabaab militants hiding in the Galgala mountain ranges. Speaking after Eid al-Fitr prayers in the state’s capital of Garowe to locals on Sunday, President Abdiweli Gaas hit out at the self-declared republic of using the insurgents to wage instability in Puntland. “Puntland wants to live peacefully with all its neighbors, but unfortunately one of our neighbors are spending their time on supporting Al-Shabaab,’’ he said. ‘’But it will backfire on them.’’ Puntland President said.
He called on Somalis to unite and fight against “the enemies of peace’’.Although President Gaas did not directly refer his statement to Somaliland, Puntland has long accused the breakaway region of financing, arming and providing safe havens for Al-Shabaab militants in Galgala mountain ranges, where its forces have been fighting with the insurgents since 2010. Somaliland denies such involvement with Al-Shabaab.
The latest accusation comes weeks after a bloody pre-dawn attack launched by the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group on one of the Puntland forces bases near the Galgala mountains, left over 40 soldiers dead. The militants also killed over 20 civilians in a nearby Village. Galgala mountains, straddling the porous border between the autonomous state of Puntland and self-declared independent Somaliland, is honeycombed with caves and difficult to access.
Al-Shabaab Fighters Launch Manhunt for Mukhtar Robow After U.S Removed $5 Bounty on His Head
26 June – Source : Somali Update – 187 Words
Al-Qaeda linked militant group, Al-Shabaab has started a manhunt for the estranged Mukhtar Robow (alias Abu Mansur) following the announcement that the US had dropped a reward for information leading to his arrest. Al-Shabaab reportedly sent hundreds of armed militants to search for Abu Mansur in the Bay and Bakool regions where he and his militiamen are perceived to be in hiding.
Abu Mansur who served as the former deputy leader of Al-Shabaab and the group’s spokesman has been in hiding since 2013 after a fall out with the former Al-Shabaab commander, Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed by U.S drone strike in September 2014. Abu Mansur was on U.S list of the terrorist groups that put five million dollars bounty on his head in June 2012. The U.S Government did not provide additional details, but local sources familiar with the matter said Abu Mansur has been engaging in talks with Somali Government officials and has expressed his willingness to refrain from terrorist activities. The source added the leader requested assistance to surrender to Somali Government to save his life from the militant group.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia’s Draft Telecoms Law Secures Cabinet Approval
26 June – Source: Telegeography – 141 Words
The Somali Cabinet has unanimously passed the draft National Communications Act, which aims to establish the legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for the country’s thriving telecoms sector. Local news source Mareeg Media reports that the draft legislation was submitted by the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Technology, which in recent months has held consultations on the proposed Act with various stakeholders, including regional states, telecoms operators and ISPs.
‘The most important and urgent issue the industry needs is an effective regulatory framework. Once passed by the Parliament, the Act will open a lot of opportunities for the sector and help us protect our investors both locally and internationally,’ commented Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Technology, Abdi Ashur Hassan. The draft National Communications Act is scheduled to be among the first bills to be submitted to Parliament when it reopens in July.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“However, although there has been a notable escalation in US commitment to Somalia since Trump’s inauguration, in practice this simply represents an extension of a trend already evident in the last year of Obama’s presidency, when the White House authorised the military to increase operations in Somalia without always going through the high-level vetting process detailed in the Presidential Policy Guidance,”
US Intensifies Efforts In Somalia To Counter Al-Shabaab Resurgence
26 June – Source : New Delhi Times – 1631 Words
United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced on 5 May that a US Navy SEAL had been killed and two others wounded, including a US-Somali translator, during a counter-terrorism operation targeting Al-Qaeda’s East African affiliate Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region the day before.“The objective was a compound and a group of people… associated with attacks against US, Somalia, and AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] forces,” Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.
Although he provided no further details about the aim of the operation – which took place in Darusalam village, located between the small Al-Shabaab-occupied towns of Barii and Mubarak, approximately 60km west of the capital Mogadishu – a senior Somali official in Lower Shabelle said on 5 May that the raid had targeted a building housing Radio Andalus, Al-Shabaab’s official radio station, and that eight Al-Shabaab militants had been killed and radio equipment seized during the operation. US officials told on 9 May that the operation was eventually aborted when the militants opened fire on them, adding that three Al-Shabaab militants had been killed, including Moalin Osman Abdi Badil, whom Davis described as an Al-Shabaab leader responsible for gathering information on troop movements in order to support attacks.
Separately, an unnamed Mogadishu-based security source told Reuters on 5 May that the raid had targeted a high-ranking Al-Shabaab commander. Although this remains unconfirmed, a second security source cited by the news agency noted that Darusalam is the suspected hiding place of Al-Shabaab deputy leader Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame (alias Mahad Karate), who is the subject of a USD5-million bounty as part of the US Rewards for Justice programme. According to his US Department of State designation, Karate has “played a key role in the Amniyat”, Al-Shabaab’s intelligence wing, and was involved in planning the 2 April 2015 attack on Garissa University College in Kenya, in which 147 people were killed.
TOP TWEETS
@Libanahmad1:: Somalia: Al-shabaab presses Mogadishu telecom companies to broadcast news from its radio through networks
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: Puntland Indirectly Alleges Somaliland backing #alShabaab militants
@MinisterMOFA: #Mogadishu sky with beautiful fireworks tonight to celebrate Independence Day. #Somalia
@prince_awil: The Only fiber optic cable [Dalkom] is cut & #Mogadishu is experiencing slow internet. Time for other providers to come in & disrupt #Somalia
@IlyasAbukar: #Mogadishu internet reminds me early days of internet cafe.
@OmarAkhiyar: Puntland has indirectly accused the neighboring breakaway region of Somaliland of backing al-Shabaab militants hiding in the Galgala.#somalia
@ICRC_Africa: During times of drought in #Somalia, kids under the age of 5, like Ibrahim, are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition.
@MSF_seAsia: #MSF restarts medical activities in #Somalia after withdrawing our teams from the country for nearly 4 years https://goo.gl/P9fnmN
@HarunMaruf: BREAKING: Major internet outage reported in most of Somalia after undersea fibre optic cables were cut by a large ship: sources say
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Fireworks at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the day Somalia’s northern regions got their independence from Britain.
Photo: @IlyasAbukar