June 29, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report

Somalia’s Shabaab Attacks Army Camp Killing Several

29 June – Capital News – 323 Words

Several Somali soldiers were killed overnight on Sunday when Shabaab fighters attacked a base in the southern Kismaayo region, officials and witnesses said on Monday. The attack is the latest in a string of assaults by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, who last week stormed a base manned by the African Union forces in Somalia (AMISOM), killing dozens. Heavy gunfire was reported late Sunday for several hours, with Al-Shabaab briefly taking over the camp near Kismaayo and beheading some of those captured before looting supplies and leaving, witnesses said. “There was heavy fighting that left several of the soldiers dead,” said security official Abdirashid Moalim, speaking from Kismaayo.

“There were machine guns and rockets, and the fighting ended when the soldiers were overpowered,” said Abdi Bakar, a witness, who said he had seen nine bodies. Al-Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed government which is propped up and protected by the 22,000-strong AMISOM force. On Friday, Al-Shabaab attacked an AMISOM base in Leego village, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu, manned by around 1000 Burundian soldiers. Al-Shabaab later boasted of having killed 80 soldiers, and carried off the bodies of 60 of them, before setting the base on fire. In a statement the group said the assault had been recorded and promised “images of the attack will soon be published.”

Key Headlines

Somalia’s Shabaab Attacks Army Camp Killing Several (Capital News)
Himan And Heeb Ditches Adaado For Ahlusunna’s Own Version Of The Conference (Wacaal Media)
Eastleigh Residents Take To The Streets And Give Government One Week Ultimatum (Hiiraan (Online)
Hyenas Kill Children In the Outskirts Of Lascanod (Radio Ergo)
Somalia Police Launches An Operation Near Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
Somalia Islamist Attacks Test Goal of Al-Shabaab Defeat by 2016 (Bloomberg)
QC Initiative Benefits 500 Somali Families (Menafn.com )
UN Security Council Condemns Attack Against Peace Mission Base In Somalia (Azeri Press Agency)
UN Official Commends Election Of Speaker Of Regional Assembly (UN News Centre)
China Provides Education Equipment To Somalia’s Orphanage Home (Global Post/Xinhua)
Somalia’s Grasslands: A Threatened National Treasure (Hiiraan Online)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Himan And Heeb Ditches Adaado For Ahlusunna’s Own Version Of The Conference

29 June – Source: Wacaal Media – 137 Words

The regional administration of Himan and Heeb has announced that its is parting ways with the Federal government’s Adaado conference adding that they will participate in Ahlusunna’s own version of the conference being held in Dhuusamareeb. Speaking to the press when he announced the administration’s decision, internal minister of the regional administration Mohamed Haji Hussein said that the Adaado conference has been hijacked by groups with special interest and was therefore not all inclusive. He pointed the finger at the Federal government for swaying the process to its favor saying the end result will not incorporate the wishes of the residents of the two regions of Mudug and Galmudug for whom the State is being created. The move by the administration comes as the Adaado conference enters its final stages albeit with fierce opposition from Ahlusunna and Puntland State.

Eastleigh Residents Take To The Streets And Give Government One Week Ultimatum

29 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 211 Words

Residents of Eastleigh estate on Saturday protested against the poor state of roads, sanitation and uncollected garbage. Led by businessmen and activists, the residents said despite the huge revenues in taxes collected by the county government, piles of uncollected garbage remains an eyesore. They gave the county government a one-week ultimatum to clear the garbage, failure to which they will lobby the business community to boycott paying taxes. “Eastliegh contributes 30 per cent of the county government’s revenue. But we are not getting services commensurate to the taxes,” said Ahmed Mohamed, an activist in Eastliegh.

They said it is unfortunate that devolution has not benefited the people of Eastleigh despite the billions collected everyday. Burst sewer lines, water shortage and poor feeder roads, they said have made their lives a “living hell”. Eastleigh North county Assembly Member Osman Adow asked the county government to enforce city by-laws against garbage dumping. “The county government of Nairobi is not been serious in enforcing environmental laws. City bylaws are abused with impunity. It is as if the government is only interested in money,” he said. He said the Assembly Committee on Environment is preparing a report on the situation in the area.

Governor Evans Kidero through communication director, Walter Mongare said the matter will be addressed. Business premises remained closed for the better part of day as residents took to the streets, accusing the government of neglect. Despite the recent refurbishment of some roads, There are heaps of uncollected rubbish dumped on rail barriers. The angry residents said they blame street children for the garbage menace. In 2010, Eastleigh Business Community sued the then Nairobi City over similar grievances. The court restrained the city council from collecting any levy until the proper garbage collecting is put in place.

Hyenas Kill Children in the Outskirts Of Lascanod

29 June – Source: Radio Ergo – 190 Words

Reports from Adhicadeeye which is 32 KM north west of Laascanod indicate that in the last three months hyenas have killed three children and injured five elderly people after the people in the area starting hunting the hyena for medical purposes. Halimo Abdi Adan, a mother of four and a pastoralist told Radio Ergo that hyena attacked their home at 7 PM when she took her kid to sleep in the house and she had screams and they made attempts to stop the hyena from eating the small girl , unfortunately they ran out of fire power as a gun they have been using did not work. She added that they received reinforcement from Adhicadeeye and they managed to find part of the daughter’s body and she was buried.

Similar incidences have been reported in the town and it environs. Another resident , Abdihahim Hure Jibril said the attacks by the hyenas started after people started hunting the hyena for medicinal purposes. They believe it is cure for blood pressures and other diseases. He added that a kilo of the hyena meat or oil is going for between 50 to 150 dollars.

Somalia Police Launches An Operation Near Mogadishu

28 June – Source: Shabelle News – 136 Words

Somalia-Police soldiers have launched an operation in an agricultural–rich town of Afgoye which lies 30 Km south-west of Mogadishu. They arrested dozens of people on suspicion of Al- Shabaab connections. Police officials told Shabelle Media in Mogadishu via phone that police captured a number of people who are suspected to have links with Al-Shabab in security crackdown in the town. All detainees were taken into police station for further interrogations, a resident told Shabelle Media on the phone. Various attacks have taken place in the town in the last several days. The search operation comes days after gunmen, thought to be Al-Shabaab members killed some of government soldiers in an ambush attack on army checkpoint in the town of Afgoye.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia Islamist Attacks Test Goal of Al-Shabaab Defeat by 2016

29 June – Source: Bloomberg – 573 Words

A wave of attacks by al-Shabaab militants in Somalia, including on an African Union base last week, shows the threat still posed by the al-Qaeda-linked group that the government has vowed to defeat by 2016.Al-Shabaab said it killed at least 30 soldiers in the June 26 raid on Leego base in southern Somalia. The AU confirmed the assault, without giving a death toll. The violence, which came the same day as attacks by other extremists on a French factory, a Tunisian beach and a mosque in Kuwait, underscores the limited success of Somalia’s army and African troops in checking al-Shabaab’s seven-year-old insurgency.While they’ve lost control of key towns, “al-Shabaab has consistently shown its ability to strike in urban areas and regroup in rural bases,” Ahmed Soliman, Horn of Africa analyst at Chatham House, the London-based research group, said by e-mail.

“It will take much longer to defeat the group and require Somalia’s security services to be significantly improved.”Regaining control of Somalia, wracked by more than two decades of civil war, is crucial to the government’s plan of inviting foreign investors to kickstart the economy. Oil and gas output may begin by 2020 after exploration work showed the potential for large offshore deposits, while companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc are in talks about returning, according to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed.

The conflict has drawn in troops from countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Burundi as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom. Also last week, 10 people, including two assailants, were killed in an attempted bombing of vehicles carrying United Arab Emirates diplomats in the capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the June 24 attack — at least the third around the city in about five days — in which the delegation itself escaped unharmed.Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said this month that al-Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the government and establish a strict version of Islamic law, could be militarily defeated by the end of the year. Some of those living south of Mogadishu, home to former militant strongholds, don’t share his optimism.

QC Initiative Benefits 500 Somali Families

29 June – Source: Menafn.com – 423 Words

The Qatar Charity Office in Somalia distributed sponsorship allowances of the first quarter of 2015 to 500 families from about 10,000 people sponsored by QC. The distribution coincided with the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan to alleviate the life’s burdens of many of the needy including orphans, indigent families, people with disabilities, students, teachers, preachers, and Imams of mosques who are all sponsored by QC. Among those present at the event was Qatari Charg d’Affaires Hassan bin Hamza, who was keen to distribute some allowances to needy families. He expressed delight over QC initiative, stressing that such initiatives are commendable and deserve our support.

QC’s programme in Somalia coincides with a time where indigent families expect assistance from those willing to satisfy their urgent needs to face poverty thousands of families suffer. Such initiatives can alleviate the life’s burdens of many of the needy and help them handle their needs during this blessed month, and are likely to cheer thousands of Muslims up in Somalia. Mohamed Hussain, Director, QC Office, said; “QC spares no efforts to perform good deeds in all fields and seasons and attaches importance to the needy during such times and occasions. The initiative highlights QC’s interest to satisfy Muslims’ needs and humanitarian aspects in many countries.” He urged the sponsored and those present to seize and invest in such times.

QC’s this year’s campaign is entitled ‘Ramadan Al Basma’ (Ramadan of Smiles) with an estimated cost of QR58.2m for projects to be implement during the holy month in and outside Qatar. The initiative exceeds the costs of last year’s campaign by QR14.6m and is expected to benefit over two million people. Projects outside Qatar during the holy month include programmes at an estimated cost of QR38.2m targeting around 1.5 million people in 40 countries. They include projects allocated for the displaced in Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries in addition to projects to meet the humanitarian needs of many people worldwide. QC always seeks to help the needy and about 80,000 male and female orphans it sponsors worldwide. In Somalia, the number is around 9,000.

UN Security Council Condemns Attack Against Peace Mission Base In Somalia

28 June- Source: Azeri Press Agency – 231 Words

UN Security Council strongly condemned an attack by Al Shabaab militants against the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base camp in Leego, which has caused the death and injury of many Burundian troops, according to a press statement issued Saturday,APA reports quoting Xinhua. Dozens of soldiers have been killed after Al Shabaab overran an African Union base in Somalia. Witnesses said there were as many as 50 bodies, some of which had been decapitated, but this could not be confirmed, according to media reports. “The members of the Security Council expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, to the people and government of Burundi, to AMISOM, as well as to the people and government of the Federal Republic of Somalia,” said the statement.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivation, wherever and whenever and by whomsoever committed, said the statement. The council “underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law, and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Somali authorities in this regard,” said the statement.

UN Official Commends Election Of Speaker Of Regional Assembly

28 June – Source: UN News Centre – 318 Words

The United Nations envoy for Somalia commended today the completion of the establishment of the assembly of Galmudug, a region located in the center of the country.“The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia Nicholas Kay welcomed the election of the Speaker of the Galmudug…by members of the assembly in Adaado, on 27 June,” said a statement issued this morning by the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNSOM), which Mr. Kay heads. Mr. Kay congratulated the newly elected speaker, Ali Ga’al Asir, and expressed satisfaction with the completion of this “important stage of the Central Regions’ state formation process.”

He also commended Abdirahman Mohamed Husen, Minister of Interior and Federal Affairs, the Technical Committee, and the regional assembly members “for conducting a successful, transparent process of electing the Speaker and Deputy Speakers,” he said. Stressing that the regional assembly now has the “critical task” of electing the President of the Galmudug Regional Administration, the Special Representative urged it to conduct this “important” process in a “similarly” transparent and credible manner, and to bring the state formation process to a “successful conclusion.” UNSOM, the Special Representative assured, will continue to extend its “full support” to the state formation process, which will be brought to a conclusion with the election of a President, scheduled on 4 July.

China Provides Education Equipment To Somalia’s Orphanage Home

28 June – Source : Global Post /Xinhua – 198 Words

The Chinese Embassy in Somalia on Sunday provided education facilities and furniture to Badbado Orphanage Center in Mogadishu.”When notified that a bad situation in the Center, I was shocked and then we decided to offer them assistance, and I am very happy to do that,” said Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Wei Hongtian at the hand-over ceremony. The ambassador confirmed that the Chinese embassy will continue its financial support to assist Somali children all the time.”Children are tomorrow’s generation and should help them, we hope that such assistance would reduce their suffering,” the ambassador added.

The director of the center Yusuf Yasin told Xinhua that the Chinese embassy responded to the request for assistance, saying this shows how Beijing wants to help the Somali people.”I have to praise the role of the Chinese embassy to help the Somalis, as well as I thank the Chinese ambassador in Mogadishu, which played a vital role to assist Somalia in several areas,” Yusuf said.He said the Chinese embassy is the first embassy in the country which provided support to them. The aid consists of chairs, tables, school backpacks, blankets and so on. The center now houses 121 orphans.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

Visiting Somalia last summer and giving a closer look to the rural population, I realized that people are working very hard and eager to develop their life, but they do not have enough knowledge to cope with the existing problem facing their livelihood. The way the raise their livestock is similar as it was 100 years ago, as they rely on seasonal rain, which sometimes doesn’t come on time, hence anxiety and uncertainty of the future are the main concern.

Somalia’s Grasslands: A Threatened National Treasure

28 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1150 Words

Grasslands are environments in which grasses and grass like plants dominate the vegetation. Grasslands once covered up to 25 to 40 percent of the earth’s land surface, but many of these grasslands have been plowed for crop production. Losing a piece of a grass land has a significant meaning to pastoral communities, and it is that they are witnessing the first signs of drought. Grasses has a great capacity of retaining water which otherwise would have become part of runoff. Geographically Somalia belong s to savannah grassland (or semi arid grassland) and historically our livelihood depended on livestock, in fact no other nation on the planet has such an acute dependency on livestock than Somalia. Unless we exploit that sector of the economy the shape of our nation will not be perfect.

When the rain comes, will your soil be ready? Management of grasslands is paramount to the health of our soil and water resources. Recently, conservationists with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in South Dakota have been studying the effects that management has on soil properties, such as infiltration, and the results are dramatic. Studies like these show that infiltration is significantly impacted by the management practices being implemented on the land. The main problem which threatened our grasslands and continuing to happen is that people are not adapted to use the so called “Planned Grazing”. This will encourage Optimisation of nutrient cycling and soil quality for sustainable grasslands. Grasses are useful to animals. Grazing mammals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats, eat grass leaves. Many birds and rodents feed on grass seeds—and so do people. Wheat, rice, corn (maize), barley, oats, millet, and sorghum are all grasses. So are sugarcane and bamboo. Grasslands cover nearly fifty percent of the land surface of the continent of Africa. And almost half of the population are dependent directly or indirectly on livestock for their livelihood.

TOP TWEETS

@AU_PSD Head of @amisomsomalia SRCC@MamanSidikou1 briefs AMISOM MOCC on political & security situation in #Somalia

@christopherkay #AlShabaab defeat by 2016 unlikely after a wave of attacks in #Somalia – http://bloom.bg/1KjFMZs

@HarunMaruf Harun Maruf retweeted Harun Maruf BREAKING: AU troops “vacate” Toora-Toorow; Al-#Shabab militias moved in – reports. Town was seized just wks ago.

@HIPSINSTITUTE Heritage Institute retweeted APD Somaliland As #Somalia aims to enter era of elections & party politics, it should / could learn from #Somaliland‘s experience

@KnowSomalia Minnesota painter’s art captures prewar#Somalia http://strib.mn/1FSbOcn #HorumarkaanGaarney (Via@StarTribune)

‏@Hamza_Africa These are the leaders the West is counting on to bring democracy to #Somalia. #Ethiopia #Burundi #Kenya #uganda

@UNSomalia PRESS STATEMENT: #UN Envoy to #SomaliaNicholas Kay @Somalia111 commends establishment of Galmudug regional assembly. http://bit.ly/1QWMKJj

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IMAGE OF THE DAY

The AMISOM Chief of Staff (CoS) Ambassador Epiphanie Kabushemeye on Saturday visited AMISOM soldiers admitted at the AMISOM Level 2 Hospital in Mogadishu. The hospital is treating soldiers who sustained injuries during Friday dawn’s attack of the AMISOM camp in Leego, in the Lower Shabelle region.

Photo: AMISOM