June 29, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Several Al-Shabaab Fighters Killed In Heavy Fighting In Bakool Region
29 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 144 Words
Two people were killed in a heavy fighting between Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers and Al-Shabaab fighters at SNA military base near Elbuur town in Galgaduud region. Sources close to SNA say that the two Al-Shabaab fighters attempted to attack their base were killed during the battle. “Al-Shabaab attacked the army base near Hudur town in Bakool region. The SNA overpowered and shot dead two of them on the spot,” SNA officer said.
He declined to say if there were any casualties on their sides. However, Al-Shabaab militants claimed victory in the attack in which the insurgents claimed to have taken over the army base. The group said that it captured the SNA base and killed several government soldiers. The Somali National Army backed by the African Union peacekeeping troops have stepped up security operations against Al-Shabaab in the south and central Somalia this year.
Key Headlines
- Several Al-Shabaab Fighters Killed In Heavy Fighting In Bakool Region (Goobjoog News)
- Fishing Vessel Rescues Comorian Sailors Off Jubaland (Garowe Online)
- Elders Gathered In Las Anod town For Reconciliation Talks (Goobjoog News)
- Corruption Accusations Against EU Somalia Envoy “Nonsense” (Garowe Online)
- Missing Boys Found Unresponsive In Willmar’s Foot Lake (West Central Tribune)
- Life Stories Of Heidelberg West’s Somali Community Feature In New Book (Herald Sun Leader)
- From Williamsville South To The Diplomatic Mission Of A Lifetime Schwartz Tackles Challenge Of Somalia(The Buffalo News Agency)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Fishing Vessel Rescues Comorian Sailors Off Jubaland
29 June – Source: Garowe Online – 133 Words
A fishing vessel has rescued five Comorian sailors stranded off the coast of Jubaland, officials have confirmed to VOA Somali Service. Lower Juba regional police commander Col. Hassan Kheyre Ahmed said Monday that the foreign sailors and their boat are being held by Jubaland authorities. The seafarers are reported to be in critical condition after 45 days of stray navigation in the sea. He added that they couldn’t confirm whether the men were in fact from Comoros, but added that further interrogations will be conducted. The destination of the vessel with the five crews on board has not been revealed amid growing public outcry over foreign trawlers proliferating in the country’s vastly unregulated Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Jubaland authorities recently seized an illegal fishing vessel that was later freed following negotiations with owners.
Elders Gathered In Las Anod town For Reconciliation Talks
29 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 133 words
Elders from clans that clashed in Sool region have gathered in Las Anod town in a bid to start a reconciliation conference to solve the rift between the two clans. Over 15 people have been reported killed in a deadly clan-related violence in Northern Somalia in the recent weeks. Reasons that led to the fighting is still unclear but reports say that it is related to land disputes and pasture.
This is not the first time the two clans clashed due to land dispute, while the local elders have been able to mediate between the groups, a lasting ceasefire has never been achieved, reliable sources added. Since the collapse of the Central government in 1991, water, pasture and politics have been at the center of sporadic clashes between Somali tribes across the country.
Corruption Accusations Against EU Somalia Envoy “Nonsense”
29 June – Source: Garowe Online – 149 Words
The European Union will replace its top diplomat in Somalia with a Spanish Woman Ambassador expected to take over after 2016 polls, diplomatic sources in Nairobi tell Garowe Online. It has also learned that the content of Somali article containing claims of construction aid embezzlement had no grounds, with EU sources dismissing report as “pure defamation”. A diplomat who asked not to be named said, it would be difficult for him to give comments on “absolute nonsense”.
Ambassador Michele Cervone d’Urso has been heading a robust EU delegation to Somalia for four years. Cervone whose four-year diplomatic tenure is coming to an end is due to leave formally by September this year as top EU diplomat to conflict-wracked Somalia. Held up as Somalia’s biggest donor, the European Union maintains three field offices that oversee EU-funded projects in the East African country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Missing Boys Found Unresponsive In Willmar’s Foot Lake
29 June – Source: West Central Tribune – 318 Words
Two 10-year-old Somali-American boys were found unresponsive in the waters of Willmar’s Foot Lake at about10 p.m. Tuesday, more than four hours after their families reported them missing. The boys had been last seen on the dock by the northwest entrance to the Kandiyohi County Fairgrounds, according to Willmar Police Chief Jim Felt.
The boys were identified in a Police Department Facebook post Tuesday as Idris Hussein and Ahmed Hashi. The boys were students at Kennedy Elementary School in Willmar, according to Principal Kristin Dresler, who came to the hospital late Tuesday. More than 60 members of Willmar’s Somali community also gathered in the Rice Memorial Hospital Emergency Department parking lot.
Willmar police officers and members of other agencies began searching for the boys in the neighborhood and in the water after they were reported missing late Tuesday afternoon. A pair of shoes had been found in the water by the dock. Felt said he was told the water was about 5 feet deep off the end of the dock.
Life Stories Of Heidelberg West’s Somali Community Feature In New Book
29 June – Source: Herald Sun Leader – 279 Words
YEARS behind bars in solitary confinement as a political prisoner is one of the inspiring stories of hope, survival and resilience told in a very special Heidelberg West book. Paths to Peace features the untold journeys of 14 Somali Heidelberg West residents who fled to Australia to escape civil war and oppression. Author Anne Doyle compiled the stories and Iman Barabadi designed the cover and took the photos, as part of a project with Olympic Adult Education in Heidelberg West.
“It is an attempt to faithfully portray the lived experiences, as shared with me of several people who have lived lives touched by tragedy, trauma and at times, heroism,” Doyle said. Somalia is still battling civil conflict, terrorist organisations and starvation. Doyle said their stories stemmed from across Somalia.
“Some lived in the city, some in rural and some in the north, lots lived in Mogadishu and many ended up in refugee camps,” Doyle said. She said one of the most poignant stories was about Abdi, now in his 70s, who was a political prisoner who spent seven years in solitary confinement for writing poetry and inciting people to riot.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“I think in the two years I expect to have this job, we will see a big transition in our relationship with Somalia, and also in our ability as an embassy to get things done. We’re working actively within the State Department to think about what kind of a facility we might build or have built for us,” Ambassador Schwartz said.
From Williamsville South To The Diplomatic Mission Of A Lifetime, Schwartz Tackles Challenge Of Somalia
29 June – Source: The Buffalo News – 1,359 Words
The first U.S. ambassador to Somalia since the “Black Hawk Down” incident got his start in world affairs by staring at a map of Africa in a classroom at Williamsville South High School. “In ninth grade, I had a class in Afro-Asian cultures, taught by Karen Willyoung,” recalled Stephen M. Schwartz, a career diplomat who took the oath of office Monday as the first U.S. ambassador since 1991 to serve in Somalia, one of Africa’s most volatile countries. “There was something about it that really inspired me, and I was quite interested in learning about all these parts of the world.”
So he did it, in person, first in the Peace Corps and then in a 24-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service that has largely found Schwartz toggling between Washington and various African countries. And next month, Schwartz, 58, leaves for the challenge of his career: representing U.S. interests in a country that spent the better part of two decades without a government, a country best known in America for a book and movie that told the story of the deaths of 18 American service members there in 1993, a country where the terrorist group Al-Shabaab killed 15 people in an attack in the capital only last weekend.
It’s a challenge that Steve Schwartz is most certainly up for, said two very disparate sources: Deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, and Karen Willyoung. Blinken heaped praise on Schwartz during Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, saying he was chosen for the post in Somalia after excelling at every position he has held at the State Department and its embassies around the world. “Steve makes people feel listened to, looked at and lifted up,” Blinken said. In the meantime, Willyoung – now 73, retired and living in Clarence – recalled Schwartz as “a very good student” who dutifully memorized that map of Africa and who showed an unusual curiosity about the world beyond Buffalo.
TOP TWEETS
@SRSGKeating : Good news 4 #Somalia. Sweden elected to Security Council, will provide strong support 4 peace & women’s empowerment
@fqdayib : My interview on #Dadaab with @dw_global. Closure is a violation of international law. #WithRefugees #somaliahttp://m.dw.com/en/africalink-
@JohnSjoholmLC : SOMALIA: Small surveillance #drone that crashed in #Somalia‘s Lower Shabelle region yesterday and captured by#AlShabaab
@SOParliament : Somali #Council of #Religious #Affairsrejected the recently signed cabinet law 4 #LGBT and Condom Laws in #Somalia
@IlwadElman : These religious leaders must acknowledge the nexus between HIV & Security& the conflict specific health constraints 4women/girls in #Somalia
@US2SOMALIA : Newly sworn-in US @AmbSchwartz to#Somalia delivers remarks at swearing-in ceremony at@StateDept in Washington DC
@SRSGKeating : Italy & Netherlands agree 2 split Security Council seat, bodes well 4 high level international attention 2#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A reinforced battalion of UN soldiers serving in Somalia have been feted for their distinguished service. The soldiers received medals and certificates at an awards ceremony presided by the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Mr. Michael Keating
Photo: UNSOM