March 31, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Suicide Bomber Strikes While Hugging Official In Somalia’s Puntland
31 March – Source: Reuters – 129 Words
An Islamist militant suicide bomber put his arms around a local official as if in a hug and blew both of them up in the autonomous Somali region of Puntland on Thursday, officials said. The Islamist militant group al Shabaab, which frequently targets officials in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government, issued a statement taking responsibility for the attack.
“We killed Saeed Ali, the treasurer of Galkayo, and several police officers that were guarding him,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters. Major Nur Ahmed, a police officer, told Reuters that Saeed Ali and the guards had been targeted as they attempted to enter a car. Witnesses said that two bystanders also died in the blast, but officials could not immediately confirm that.
Key Headlines
- Suicide Bomber Strikes While Hugging Official In Somalia’s Puntland (Reuters)
- Somali PM Condemns Murder Of Turkish Doctors (Shabelle News)
- Somalia Set To Issue National Biometric IDs Amid Security Challenges (Hiiraan Online)
- One Injured As Gunfire Erupts In Beledweyne (Shabelle News)
- Origin Of Weapons Stash Not Known (Yahoo/AAP)
- Turkey Confirms Azerbaijani Citizen Dead In Drive-by Somalia Shooting (Trend News Agency)
- Nairobi Reality Distorted In Fiction Film About Drone Attack On Al-Shabaab (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali PM Condemns Murder Of Turkish Doctors
31 March – Source: Shabelle News – 177
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has strongly condemned the assassination of Turkish medical doctors in Mogadishu on Wednesday by unknown gunmen in a car. According to a statement from the office of the Prime Minister, Mr Sharmarke has termed the attack on Turkish doctors as “cowardly and senseless act.”
“We strongly condemn the attack and express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” read the statement. Two Turkish medical staff at Deva hospital in Mogadishu were killed after their car was sprayed with bullets by unknown gunmen in a moving car in Mogadishu’s Hodon district. The premier has sent his heartfelt condolence to the family and friends of victims.
“We share the pain with our Turkish brothers in the this barbaric killing of the medical doctors who were in Mogadishu to give medical assistance to the ailing Somalis,” said the PM in a statement. Finally, Somali PM said such attacks will not undermine the remarkable progress Somalia has made in the past months. He called on the public to work with security forces to secure the country.
Somalia Set To Issue National Biometric IDs Amid Security Challenges
31 March – Source: Hiiraan Online – 280 Words
Struggling to deal with growing security threats by the Al-Qaeda linked militant group, Somali government said it plans to start issuing new electronic national IDs for the all citizens, a move it says would help improve the country’s security situation. Security remains a major issue in the horn of Africa nation which has seen an increase in the number of attacks by Al-Shabaab group which despite being ousted from its key strongholds stepped up its guerrilla attacks across large parts of the country in recent weeks.
Yusuf Jimale, Mogadishu mayor said the initiative, the first which would have to be after more than two decades of war aims to identify all citizens and monitor their movements to boost security. “The plan will be implemented as soon as possible – by issuing IDs for all citizens we want to keep eye on the movements of people which would help with strengthening security,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
The initiative is parts of a new security approach by Mogadishu’s local government which has taken over control of the city’s security from the intelligence agency after series of deadly attacks by Al-Shabaab group last month. The group which security experts say shifted its military tactics also continues to attack against Somali government and African Union forces. Militants have also confiscated a large amount of military armaments and vehicles during the the deadly attacks on AMISOM bases, raising fears among AU officials that the group would use them to carry out attacks disguised as African Union forces.
One Injured As Gunfire Erupts In Beledweyne
31 March – Source: Shabelle News – 101Words
Heavy gunfire has erupted between two armed clan militia men in Beledweyne city, the provincial capital of Somalia’s central Hiiraan region on Thursday morning. At least one person was confirmed wounded in the tribal clash in Beledweyne which has triggered unresolved clan grievances, according to sources who spoke to Radio Shabelle.
The fighting in Beledweyne broke out as local clan militia fighters were given 48 hours ultimatum to surrender their weapons by Hiiraan regional administration and AMISOM. Beledweyne has been beset by tribal fighting over the past few years despite the presence of AU peacekeepers from Djibouti and Somali National Army (SNA) troops.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Origin Of Weapons Stash Not Known
31 March – Source: Yahoo/AAP – 349 WOrds
A vast haul of weapons seized by an Australian warship in the North Arabian Sea was bound for Somalia and may have originated in Iran, Defence suspects. But neither their origin or final destination are known for sure. Australian warships operating in the Middle East have seized large hauls of heroin from smuggling vessels in the past but the interception by HMAS Darwin in early March was the first involving a large quantity of weapons.
This haul comprised almost 2000 AK-47 assault rifles, 100 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM light machine guns and 20 60mm mortar tubes. HMAS Darwin was operating as part of a multinational taskforce engaged in counter-terrorism patrols. French destroyer FS Provence, a taskforce member, also seized a large cache of weapons when it intercepted a smuggling dhow in the northern Indian Ocean earlier this week, including AK-47s, machine guns and anti-tank weapons.
The French military didn’t release precise numbers but said they were believed headed for Somalia. Vice Admiral Johnston said this haul was also around 2000 weapons. Both vessels were assessed to be stateless and, as they were bound for Somalia, the weapons were seized under the UN arms embargo. Vice Admiral Johnston says the busts are unusual and could stem from improved intelligence.
Turkey Confirms Azerbaijani Citizen Dead In Drive-by Somalia Shooting
31 March – Source: Trend News Agency – 88 Words
The Turkish foreign ministry has officially confirmed the identity of a female citizen of Azerbaijan who died in a drive-by shooting in Somalia capital of Mogadishu, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry, told Trend March 31. He said that Kamaliyya Ismayilova is Azerbaijani, who died in the result of the attack. A microbus which was carrying employees to a Turkish hospital was shot at from a car by unknown gunmen March 30, RIA Novosti reported earlier. Six people were killed during this attack, the statement said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The action supposedly taking place in Eastleigh was actually filmed not in Nairobi but on sets in Cape Town. Director Gavin Hood, a South Africa native, explained to media outlet News24.com that he chose to make the movie in the South African city because “Cape Town is a world-class location.”
Nairobi Reality Distorted In Fiction Film About Drone Attack On Al-Shabaab
31 March – Source: Daily Nation – 641 Words
A fiction film supposedly set in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood opened in wide release in the US this week to glowing reviews and sizeable box-office receipts. “Eye in the Sky” dramatises the circumstances leading up to a drone attack on an Al-Shabaab safe house where militants are preparing for suicide bombings of civilian targets.
The thriller derives its power from a seemingly realistic portrayal of an agonising decision-making process involving military officers and politicians in the UK and US. Unbeknownst to the Shabaab plotters, their compound’s interior and exterior are being viewed in real time on video screens thousands of miles away.
Tension mounts as the British and American controllers of the Hellfire missiles poised high above Eastleigh debate whether to launch a strike that could result in civilian casualties. Concern centres on the presence of an innocent young girl selling bread from a table adjacent to the target zone.
An aura of authenticity is established in the first few minutes of the movie through actual footage of a Al-Shabaab shooter inside the Westgate shopping mall and a newscaster’s mention of the slaughter at Garissa University College. The street scenes, shown at ground level and from spy cameras disguised as a bird and winged insect, will also appear realistic to audiences unfamiliar with “Little Mogadishu.” The depiction is distorted, however.
TOP TWEETS
@AlinoorMB : #Lebanon through a #British firm finally inks deal to export its rubbish to #Somalia, ending #Beirut‘s six-month garbage crisis, report says
@GenvisecInfomap : #Somalia Islamist suicide bomber put his arms around a local official and blew both of them up in the autonomous Somali region of #Puntland.
@OCHASom : #Somalia: USD 105 million urgently needed to save lives in drought-affected areas http://bit.ly/1SAul2P
@Mirjam_Fischer : Deadly suicide attack claimed by#AlShabaab on hotel in #Galkacyo town. #Somalia – via@Tuuryare_Africa
@filsan_g : Australian Navy responded 2 question about where arms heading 4 #Somalia came from. The answer, it wld seem –#Iran via @sampiranty
@TObservatory : #OCVP researchers from all regions of#Somalia and #Somaliland receiving capacity building sem. from #NVIVO Partne
@PuntlandWatch : #Puntland needs to keep an eye on IDP camps as they are a recruiting ground for #Alshabab. hotels need to step up security asap #Somalia
@Daudoo : BREAKING: Fierce clashes between #AMISOM &#AlShabaab erupts near #Jannaale town in Lower Shabelle region – Residents say. #Somalia
@Tuuryare_Africa : BREAKING: Six people were killed in deadly suicide attack claimed by #AlShabaab on hotel in#Galkacyo town. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Two hundred Somali police recruits graduate in Baidoa.
Photo: AMISOM