March 31, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Security Operation In Lower Shabelle Nabs 15 Suspects
31 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 90 Words
A security operation led by Somali National Army and African peacekeeping forces AMISOM has nabbed at least 15 suspects in Lower Shabelle, between Leego and Burhakabo. Leego Commissioner Abukar Abdullahi Isak told Goobjoog that three other suspects were gunned down in the operation as they tried to flee. Some of the arrested suspects were transferred to Mogadishu for further investigation. There have been attacks on public transport and army installations in most of Shabelle region.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Signs Cooperation Agreement With Sweden Statistics (Wacaal Media)
- Security Operation In Lower Shabelle Nabs 15 Suspects (Goobjoog News)
- Martial Court In Hiran Warns Armed Forces Not To Sleep On The Job (Goobjoog News)
- Water Shortage Hits Villages In Baidoa (Radio Ergo)
- Yemeni Refugees Fleeing Conflict Arrive In Somalia UNHCR (Mareeg Media)
- Relatives In Shock As ‘Jihadi Brides’ Arraigned In Court (Standard Digital Media)
- Radical Cleric Arrested While Fleeing To Somalia (The Star Kenya)
- Senior Ugandan Public Prosecutor Shot And Killed In Kampala Suburb (Reuters Africa)
- British Woman’s Shock At Learning Her Mother Is A Top Jihadist Who Helps Suicide Bombers And Is Known As Mama Shabab (Daily Mail)
- Chile To Dispatch Ship To Support EU Somalia Counter-Piracy Campaign (IHS Jane)
- Mogadishu City Report Card: The Good The Bad And The Ugly (Hiiraan Online)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somalia Signs Cooperation Agreement With Sweden Statistics
31 March – Source: Wacaal Media – 154 Words
Somalia’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mr. Abdirahman Yussuf Aynte signed a four year multi million dollar agreement with Sweden Statistics to help Somalia develop a national census and an economic plan. The agreement is important to the government of Somalia especially in lieu of the coming elections which will rely heavily on an accurate figure of the country’s population. The agreement will also see the revival of the Statistics Center of the Ministry of Planning of Somalia. Minister Aynte termed the agreement beneficial to the government of Somalia and thanked the Swedish government for its role in Somalia’s reconstruction efforts. His Swedish counterpart Isabella Lövin said that the signing of the agreement will strengthen ties between the two countries. Somalia has recently signed several international agreements with different countries.
Martial Court In Hiran Warns Armed Forces Not To Sleep On The Job
31 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 169 Words
The chairman of the Hiran regional martial court Abdiaziz Abdullahi Hassan told Goobjoog that the armed forces in the region need to up their game and need to do more in order to bring back stability. The chairman also called upon the public to support the security forces. “I have hereby informed all armed forces to be on standby, and [be] ready at all times to safeguard the lives and properties of the public, we all depend on them, so they shouldn’t sleep on the job. I also warn whoever thinks Hiran is a soft target, to think again” the chairman said. The chairman also called on youth not to be misled by Al Shabab elements only to find themselves on the death row “I call upon all the misguided youth to desert Al Shabab, and if they do so, they would get the best reception and support,” Mr. Hassan said.
Water Shortage Hits Villages In Baidoa
30 March – Source: Radio Ergo – 267 Words
Hundreds of pastoralist families and their livestock in villages around in Bay region are facing an extreme water shortage as the water pans, boreholes and other sources of water have almost all dried up. Seven villages -Makuudo, Gooyaale, Bashaahin, Maara, Mugubo, Ashagow and Daboy – in Baidoa, the provincial capital are the worst-affected areas. The villages do not have a single water well, as the dried dams and water pans were the only source of water for the residents. They currently have to rely on water brought from the district which is 30 km away. However, most of the residents cannot afford to pay the imported water as the price has sharply increased.
Resident Fatumo Mohamed Ishaq who treks water from Baidoa on her head told Radio Ergo’s local reporter that a barrel of water now costs at 120,000 Somali Shillings (roughly $6) , up from 30,000 Somali shillings before the scarcity began. They fear the water shortage will worsen and threaten living conditions of the people and their livestock in the area, which is populated mainly by agro-pastoralist communities. Sandher Mohamed Iftin, the District Head of Social Affairs, said they are aware of the water problem in the villages surrounding Baidoa, but he said that they unfortunately cannot reach the area due to security concerns. Somali militant group Al-Shabaab controls most of the roads leading to the villages. Iftin asked the regional administration to work on opening the blocked roads in the region so that the district administration and aid agencies can have access to the area
Yemeni Refugees Fleeing Conflict Arrive In Somalia – UNHCR
30 March – Source: Mareeg Media – 108 Words
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that the first group of Yemenis fleeing conflict have arrived in Somalia. The 32 Yemeni citizens from Tiaz arrived the port city of Berbera after more than 12 hours at sea. Meanwhile, the Federal Government of Somalia and UNHCR are working together to evacuate Somali refugees in Yemen caught up the in conflict. Somali Foreign Minister Abdulsalam Hadliye Omar has said UNHCR has the responsibility to protect Somali refugees in Yemen. There are estimated 236,000 Somali refugees in Yemen who fled the civil war in the country in 1990s.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Relatives In Shock As ‘Jihadi Brides’ Arraigned In Court
31 March – Source: Standard Digital Media – 914 Words
Three female suspects whose identities were revealed in court by police yesterday have shattered the long-held notion that Kenyans seeking to join Al-Shabaab are generally from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds. The young women from Mombasa are accused of trying to cross into Somalia to marry Al-Shabaab militants. Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir, Maryam Said Aboud and Ummul Khayr Sadir Abdulla were arrested in El Wak town. The three well-educated women from middle- class families are alleged to have joined Al- Shabaab last September, after being lured by a Syrian female contact through the Internet. Police claim the three hoped to reach Syria and join Islamic State, a terror group so brutal that even Al-Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, disowned it. The suspects were remanded for 20 days to allow police complete investigations. Relatives watched in disbelief yesterday as the State unveiled three women in Mombasa it accuses of trying to cross into Somali to join Al-Shabaab and become ‘jihadi brides’. See also: Kenya arrests 3 women over terrorism links More disturbing to relatives, friends and the security/intelligence community in Coast where two of them are from middle-class families and are all well-educated.
According to reports, Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir, Maryam Said Aboud and Ummul Khayr Sadir Abdulla joined Al-Shabaab in September last year, after linking up with the group on the internet. They were lured to join the militant group in Somalia by a Syrian female contact. They were promised marriage to Islamic fighters in Somalia, eventually ending up as widows of Islamic holy fighters in Syria where they hoped to reach through Turkey after flying from Mogadishu. A State report suggests Umul Khayr, who wore a red shawl in court yesterday, was the mastermind of the recruitment. Their cellphones and two laptop computers were reportedly seized by police during the arrest after they alighted from a bus in El Wak town on Friday from Nairobi. The report also claims Ummul Khayr confessed during interrogation by detectives that she was recruited by an Abdulla Ibl Zubeir through a telephone contact in Somalia. Yesterday, she told relatives that “somebody was supposed to pick us”, before the group was arrested in El Wak in Mandera county. They were unable to connect with Abdulla, whom Kenyan investigators suspect was in Mandera and the alleged Syrian contact. Intelligence sources indicate Maryam was born in 1990 and was a top student at Burhani Secondary School in Malindi where she scored a grade B in 2008 before proceeding to Kenyatta University. She graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Commerce. Khadija was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy at the Thika campus of Mount Kenya University after scoring a grade B at Tawir Secondary School in Malindi in 2012, according to a report by police and relatives.
Radical Cleric Arrested While Fleeing To Somalia
30 March – Source: The Star Kenya – 111 Words
Kenyan security agents have arrested extremist Muslim cleric and Al Shabaab sympathiser Said Swaleh Said Awadh while he was crossing over into Somalia through Kiunga. He was arrested in Mandera by ATPU agents. Awadh is close ally to another extremist cleric Rashid Tumbo Kufungwa. He was on the run and was wanted for the killing of moderate Muslim cleric sheikh Mohammed Idris who served as the chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya. Awadh is suspected to be part of radical Muslims who have been taking over mosques at the Coast. He will be arraigned in a Mombasa court Tuesday morning.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Senior Ugandan Public Prosecutor Shot And Killed In Kampala Suburb
31 March – Source: Reuters Africa – 248 Words
A senior Ugandan prosecutor was shot dead late on Monday evening, in what police said could be a targeted assassination connected to her prosecution of suspects in twin bombings in the capital Kampala claimed by the Somali Islamist rebel group al Shabaab. Joan Kagezi has been a chief prosecutor in the trial of around a dozen people accused of organising two attacks that killed at least 79 people in crowds watching screenings of the soccer World Cup final in July 2010. Al Shabaab claimed the bombings as retaliation for Uganda’s despatch of troops to bolster the Somali government. Kagezi was shot at around 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) in Kiwatule, a suburb about 13 km (8 miles) from the centre of Kampala.
Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said she appeared to have been attacked as she was driving home by two men who had trailed her on a motorcycle, and that she had died shortly after arriving at hospital. Onyango said the police were looking into the possibility that the killing was connected to her work as a prosecutor. Last week, the U.S. embassy warned of “possible terrorist threats” on locations frequented by Westerners. Although it did not name the group behind the threats, Ugandan security said it was al Shabaab. “Al Shaabab could have realised that they could not carry out a big terror attack because of our security, and decided to target an individual,” Onyango said.
British Woman’s Shock At Learning Her Mother Is A Top Jihadist Who Helps Suicide Bombers And Is Known As Mama Shabab
30 March – Source: Daily Mail – 1, 532 Words
A British woman has spoken of her shock at discovering her mother is an influential jihadist who helps suicide bombers and is known as Mama Shabab. Amal Farah was stunned when police knocked on her door to tell her that Faduma Jama had become a pivotal member of Al Shabab, the Somali jihadists behind the Westgate mall massacre in Nairobi. Mother-of-two Ms Farah had cut off all contact from her strict Muslim family five years earlier and fearful for her life, had changed her number, her name and hidden her whereabouts. Describing the moment she was told, Ms Farah told The Sunday People: ‘The man and the woman were from the anti-terror unit. It was utterly devastating.’ Known as Mama Shabab, Faduma Jama allegedly ran a safe house for suicide bombers and Western fighters recruited into the militant Islamic organisation. The police officers told Ms Farah, 34, to Google her mother’s name if she wanted to know why she was in trouble.
She said: ‘It was not until I got to work that I could Google her name. There were all these pictures of people injured by suicide bombs. ‘As I read about what she’d done I felt so alone. I couldn’t just turn to my colleagues and say, “Guess what? My mum’s a wanted terrorist.” ‘I couldn’t believe my own mother was involved. I cried non-stop for days after that.’ In the three years since that earth-shattering day in July 2012, Ms Farah said: ‘I’ve grieved for her. It’s brought closure to any romantic idea about one day things being better with my mum. ‘I’ve accepted I’ll never see her again. How could she ever explain that she’d joined Al Shabab?
Chile To Dispatch Ship To Support EU Somalia Counter-Piracy Campaign
29 March – Source: IHS Jane – 146 Words
The Chilean Ministry of National Defence (MINDEF) is to send a ship to join Spanish and other European Union (EU) units taking part in Operation ‘Atalanta’, the EU’s Somalia counter-piracy campaign. An announcement was made by the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MdD) on 24 March, following a meeting of the Spanish-Chilean defence commission held in Santiago, Chile. The meeting was attended by Chilean defence minister Jorge Burgos and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Morenés. The MdD said that agreement had been reached for Spain to counsel Chile on generic defence matters, with activities involving personnel exchanges. As part of this relationship, Chile agreed to “integrate one of its navy’s ships in the European Operation ‘Atalanta'”, the MdD said in a statement, as well as “studying the possibility of becoming integrated in [international] peace missions alongside Spanish troops”.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Further, despite all the achievements of the city’s emergence from the last quarter century’s failed state, targeted killing of politicians and other relevant professionals, such engineers and educators carried out by callous death squads is still rampant, not to mention the constant suicide bombers who continuously rock the city to its core.”
Mogadishu City Report Card: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
27 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1, 180 Words
A few days ago I paid an impromptu visit to Mogadishu and I was determined to get a good-feel about the old city and how it was faring lately after three years of relative peace. I was not the least disappointed for the first time in decades – much rather rejoiced. My initial skepticism of the city’s recent evolution was immediately affronted by the immense transformation achieved over the past few years. I was captivated by the aura of the entire city that was priming with new vitality and renaissance like recovery of its old charm, unlike my last visit in 2011, when I felt visiting a city hit with strong earthquake. Mogadishu no longer looks like a downtrodden city from the Middle Ages, but rather a vibrant city with so much potential and captivating charm that takes hold of you and never wants to let you go. Despite all this, the city has still miles to claim of its old nickname as Pearl of the Indian Ocean; nevertheless, the road to a remarkable recovery is well underway and there’s no turning back. Thus, there’s every reason to believe that Mogadishu’s worst days are behind her and the future is as clear as its blue sky.
I was enthralled not only by the intense rebuilding of war-ravished buildings along city’s major streets, but by the spirit of hopefulness amongst the city’s populace, as if by resolve alone they could restore their city’s place in history. The biggest change is showcased by Turkey’s unprecedented soft-power, which has given the city a new lease in life and all Somalis around the world feel in awe and indebted forever to their brothers-in-faith who came to their rescue in the city’s darkest hour. Thanks to the Turkey’s faith on the city’s strategic potential, Mogadishu’s decrepit infrastructure has tremendously improved and most of the city’s historic landmarks have been shaped to their original shape and design. For instance, the city’s new modern terminal at Aden Ade International airport with gleaming spacious departure and arrival halls captures your eyes as soon as one descends onto the incandescent tarmac of the city’s airport. Another modern face of the city’s future is the Turkish renovated hospital Digfer (renamed after Turkish President, Erdogan) in Mogadishu, which boasts 200-bed with Training and Research Hospital. Not to mention the ever-bright solar-powered streetlights that has tremendously improved the city’s overall safety, not to mention increasing businesses to attract more customers.
Top tweets
@MogadishuNews: As #Yemeni refugees arriving in #Somaliamore chance for #AlQaeda in #Yemen (#AQAP) to reinforce #Alshabab. Somali govt NOT aware of it.
@amisomsomalia: The seminar assessed their needs & capacity with the view of improving their work conditions and enhancing their role in the force. #Somalia
@Aynte: Delighted to have signed cooperation agreement with#Sweden Statistics to help us w/evidence based decisions#Somalia
@themustafasaeed: #Berbera #Somaliland; only those who have been refugees would know the pain of war. #عاصفة_الحزم#Yemen #Somalia… http://fb.me/4UwZPWodl
@SomaliaNewsroom: #Somalia‘s SW Prez Sharif Hassan w/an#Ethiopia flag at an AMISOM sending off ceremony is getting some bad press…
@Rooble2009: Somalia: The Next Oil Superpower? http://nationalinterest.org/
@JamalMOsman: Some #Kenyans talk about building a wall at ‘the border’ with #Somalia but why not use the $millions to save Kenyans dying from starvation.
Image of the day
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia’s (UNSOM) office in Garowe delivered a 20 KVA generator donated by the Somali Police Force (SPF) to Puntland’s Police Force today in the presence of the Puntland Minister of Security, the Puntland Police Commissioner, and Commanders of the Central Investigation Department (CID) and Traffic Police. Photo: UNSOM