March 15, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Militants Seize Small Port In Puntland Region
15 March – Source: Reuters – 345 Words
Somali Al-Shabaab fighters have seized a small port in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, the latest sign of a resurgence in activity by the Islamist militants in the Horn of Africa nation. A series of offensives last year by the African Union force AMISOM and the Somali National Army had driven Al-Shabaab out of major strongholds in the southern region of Somalia. At the time, officials said some Al-Shabaab fighters had moved north to the Puntland region, beyond AMISOM’s area of operation. In recent weeks, Al-Shabaab has also retaken smaller towns and launched deadly attacks in the southern region.
“Al-Shabaab fighters with several boats captured Garad town,” Hassan Mohamed, governor for Mudug region of Puntland told Reuters, adding that the attack took place on Monday. “We do not want to say publicly how we will react.” The head of the local authority in the port town of Garad, Abdinur Abdullahi, told Reuters by telephone that Al-Shabaab with foreign fighters had met local elders, saying they would “capture many places and fight non-Muslims.” “Most of the residents have fled,” he said, adding Al-Shabaab had been building up forces in the Galgala Hills, echoing comments previously made by officials in Puntland. There was not immediate comment from Al-Shabaab.
Garad is a former haven for pirates, who had used the natural port to mount raids on commercial ships passing along nearby shipping lanes leading to and from the Red Sea. An international naval effort has largely driven the Somali pirates away. There have been only a few reports of hijackings in the past two or three years, mostly involving fishing boats not the major tankers or commercial vessels targeted before. “Without any gunfire, we were surprised to see Al-Shabaab fighters here,” said resident Mohamed Abdullahi by phone, before phone lines were shut off.
Key Headlines
- Somali Militants Seize Small Port In Puntland Region (Reuters)
- One Killed As Djibouti Somaliland Coastguards Clash Over Illegal Fishing (Hiiraan Online)
- Security Operations In Bardale Town (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Rewarded Disable Man For His Outstanding Human Right Campaign (Mareeg Media)
- Belgium Issues Heavy Sentence On Former Somali Kingpin (Times Live)
- Somali Teen Shot By Police In The US Wakes Up From Coma (Associated Press)
- Is The U.S. Now At War With The Al-Shabaab? Not Exactly (The New York Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
One Killed As Djibouti, Somaliland Coastguards Clash Over Illegal Fishing
15 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 283 Words
One Somaliland coast guard was killed and two others wounded after a gunbattle with Djiboutian naval patrol boats on Monday off the Indian Ocean, officials said. The clashes started after Djiboutian patrol boats intercepted four illegal fishing vessels that were under Somaliland coastguards near the tiny horn of Africa nation’s maritime boundary, an area which officials said legally situates inside Somaliland’s territorial waters.
It was not clear if the foreign fishing vessels briefly venture past Djibouti’s maritime border before coming under attack by Djiboutian forces. In addition, the countries that belong to the vessels have not yet been identified. However, the battle had led to seizure of one of the vessels with its crew along with Somaliland coastguards by Djiboutian naval troops that subsequently clashed with another Somaliland reinforcement gunship boat which later emerged and started firing at Djiboutian patrol boats.
Meanwhile, sources in Somaliland told local media that the foreign fishing vessels have been operating in Somaliland’s territorial waters in recent weeks with permits issued by Somaliland government which sanctioned their fishing activities. No comment could be reached from Djiboutian and Somaliland officials on the incident. In addition, it remains unclear how the latest incident will affect relations between Djibouti and Somaliland, a breakaway republic in northern Somalia that had no known previous maritime-related disputes.
The tiny horn of Africa nation of Djibouti is strategically located near the world’s busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean as It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment center, and is the principal maritime port for imports to and exports from neighboring Ethiopia. It also hosts various foreign military bases, including the US, French and Chinese military bases.
Security Operations In Bardale Town
15 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 113 Words
Somali security forces carried out security operations intended to dismantle Al-Shabaab operatives in Bardaale town, officials said. Bardale District Commissioner, Weedow Ali said that security forces are undertaking to ensure the security safety and prevention programs over Al-Shaabab to conspiring to harm to the public. “Many times they tried to hurt people, but security forces and the residents did not allow their plans to fulfilled” said Mr Wedow Ali.
Somalia Rewarded Disable Man For His Outstanding Human Right Campaign
15 march – Source: Mareeg Media – 115 Words
Ministry of Housing and Special Programs has awarded Mohamed Ali Farah, activist in Mogadishu who campaigned for the rights of disabled population in Somalia. Farah who has become voice for the physically challenged persons in the war torn recuperating state started a campaign dubbed “open the door” last year.
The campaign which he meant to highlight the plight facing disabled people in Somalia has attracted local and international focus in the social media and has changed how the disable people are viewed by the society. Several private and public buildings including government offices have since installed special services for disabled people following Mr. Farah campaign. He has vowed to continue his campaign until his dream is realized.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Belgium Issues Heavy Sentence On Former Somali Kingpin
15 March – Source: Times Live – 248 Words
Mohamed Abdi Hassan, known as Afwayne, was suspected of having led the pirates who took hostage the crew of the Belgian ship Pompei in 2009. The United Nations had also named him a major figure in piracy. Belgian police launched an undercover operation to persuade him that they were planning a movie about his life as a famous pirate. Hassan thought he was flying to Belgium in 2013 to sign up for the film project, but was instead taken into custody upon arrival.
A Belgian court in the northern city of Bruges on Monday sentenced the 58-year-old to 20 years in prison for having hijacked the Pompei off the coast of Somalia, as it had been on its way to South Africa for dredging works. He was also found guilty of torture, Belga wrote. The Pompei’s 10 crew members were taken hostage for more than 70 days by Somalian pirates, who managed to extort a ransom of about €2m, according to Belga.
Hassan is expected to appeal the ruling, which also orders him to pay €20 000 to the Dutch captain of the Pompei and his family. Another suspect who was arrested together with Hassan in 2013 was also sentenced on Monday to five years in prison for having played a role in a criminal organisation. Mohamed Moalin-Aden, 44, was, however, acquitted of the Pompei hijacking, Belga reported. Piracy has been in decline along the Horn of Africa thanks to international naval patrols.
Somali Teen Shot By Police In The US Wakes Up From Coma
15 March – Source: Associated Press – 223 Words
The 17-year-old Somali refugee who was critically wounded in a police shooting in Salt Lake City is awake and talking, his cousin has said. Abdi Mohamed, who came to the US with his family in 2004, was shot twice in the torso last month when officers tried to stop him and another person from beating a man, police said on Monday. His cousin Muslima Weledi said that he has woken from his medically induced coma but remains on painkillers.
Police have said Mohamed and a second person were beating a man with metal sticks when officers intervened February 27. Officers fired after he moved menacingly toward the man instead of immediately obeying a command to drop the stick, police said. The teen’s friends dispute the police account. Selam Mohammad, a friend of the teen, said the fight started after a stranger made a comment about Abdi Mohamed’s girlfriend, and the other man was also armed with a stick.
Unified police detective Chuck Malm declined to say if the police have interviewed Mohamed, citing the ongoing investigation. Police have also refused to release video footage from the incident until the investigation into the shooting is complete. Salt Lake County Attorney Sim Gill said his office is still reviewing the case and that he hopes the process will be finished in the next few weeks.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
Is The U.S. Now At War With The Al-Shabaab? Not Exactly
14 March – Source: The New York Times – 1,118 Words
A striking fact about post-9/11 life is that Americans can wake up and discover that they are already at war with yet another Islamist group in yet another part of the world — based not on congressional debate but on an executive branch decision that the group is sufficiently linked to Al Qaeda. So last week, when the Pentagon announced that an American airstrike on an Al-Shabaab training camp in Somalia had killed about 150 people it said were low-level fighters preparing to attack peacekeeping forces, it raised a crucial question: Is the United States now at war with the Al-Shabaab, too?
The short answer, several officials said, is no. But there turned out to be a twist that illustrates how the fight against terrorism keeps eroding limits on presidential war-making powers. The Obama administration thinks that the Authorization for Use of Military Force against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, or A.U.M.F., enacted by Congress, covered the attack last week — a claim legal scholars described as novel and worthy of attention.
First, some context. Over time, the executive branch has stretched the nearly 15-year-old authorization by Congress to justify military actions far from Afghanistan and against foes other than Al Qaeda and the Taliban. It has done so by deeming other groups to be part of or “associated forces” with Al Qaeda, including the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Syria-based Nusra Front, and the Islamic State, a former Qaeda affiliate in Iraq that Al Qaeda excommunicated.
As the distance has grown between the text of the 2001 authorization and the combat waged in its name, critics have called on Congress to vindicate its constitutional role in decisions about war and peace by modernizing it. But Congress has been too polarized and gridlocked to act, essentially acquiescing to the executive branch’s interpretations of what the authorization covers.
Such legislative paralysis only reinforces the executive branch’s inclination to stretch the law. President Obama originally made his claim that the authorization permitted him to attack the Islamic State, even though that group is Al Qaeda’s enemy, because he saw Congress as too dysfunctional to hold a timely vote on any new war measure.
TOP TWEETS
@AgnesDinkelman : Personal story: how to become a terrorist in #Somalia
From a fishing village to al-Al-Shabaab’s most wanted@AJENews http://aje.io/frhl
@zaiddahir : AlAl-Shabaab captured a sea port yesterday and withdrew later after some 24 hours. So what was their objective?#Somalia
@garsoornews: BREAKING: #Puntland forces take peacefully Gara’ad town after #Alshabaab fighters withdrew the area on Tuesday. #Somalia.
@imanmali : Let’s build a party built on policies, politics, and reason. Not Qabiil for the love of God! #Somalia
@AliMohamoud : Gaas is singing in Twin cities, while militants are roaming in his Puntland fiefdom. Definition of failure.#HalMaXire #WaxMaTare #Somalia
@warganenews : #Somalia: President approves credentials of new #Australian ambassador http://wargane.com/2016/03/15/
@Daudoo: #AlShabaab militants vacates Gara’ad village after meeting with local elders, they were 150+ fighters incl foreigners on 3-5 boats. #Somalia
@omabha : Somalia rewarded Disable man for his outstanding human right campaign – Mareeg Media http://dlvr.it/KnNYC9 #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud approves credentials of newly appointed Australian ambassador to Somalia.
Photo: @wargane