May 8, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
President Farmajo Reaches Afgoye District
08 May – Source: Shabelle News – 87 words
President,Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, along with the Minister of Defense,Abdirashid Abdullahi Mohamed and other key government officials have arrived in Afgooye, a district in the Lower Shabelle on Monday morning.Security of the main road linking Mogadishu to Afgoye was tightened, and all movement of other transportations and people were halted ahead of the President’s travel to the region.Somali President is meeting with the residents of the town, army commanders and local authorities to discuss the security, social needs and the humanitarian crises, sources said.
Key Headlines
- President Farmajo Reaches Afgoye District (Shabelle News)
- In Controversial Move Puntland President Plans to Expand the State Parliament Seats (Garowe Online)
- NISA Officer Hurt in Car Bomb Explosion(Shabelle News)
- Preliminary Delegation Of The Federal Government Arrives In London(Jowhar.com)
- Pentagon Names U.S. Navy Seal Killed In Somalia Since 1993 (Newsweek)
- Thousands Seek Aid Amid Somaliland Drought(Al Jazeera English)
- Quarter Century After Black Hawk Down U.S. Boosts Somalia Role (Bloomberg)
NATIONAL MEDIA
In Controversial Move Puntland President Plans to Expand the State Parliament Seats
08 May – Source: Garowe Online-143 Words
The President of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland state, Abdiwali Mohamed Ali “Gaas” is aiming to expand the Parliament seats before the next scheduled presidential election in 2019. Sources have revealed that President Ali has sent a letter to the Parliament leadership requesting additional 7 seats for clans hailing from Mudug region.According to the source, Leelkase and Tumal clans will receive 2 seats equally, whereas Awrtable, Dir and Marehan clans will be receiving 1 seat each. This comes following the visit of a delegate from Somalia’s Federal Parliament to Galkayo city that held meetings with Puntland President. The Federal lawmakers were reported lobbying for increase of seats for Mudug clans in Puntland state Parliament. It will be the first time that Puntland leadership has requested from the Parliament to expand the seats since the establishment of Puntland state back in August 1998.
NISA Officer Hurt in Car Bomb Explosion
08 May – Source: Shabelle News: 94-Words
An intelligence officer has been wounded after a bomb planted in his car exploded on Maka Al-Mukarama road in Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday night, Police and Witness said.The spy officer, Abdirizak Mohamed Farah has sustained serious injures in the blast which took place near a hotel on the busy Maka Al-Mukarama street after evening prayers. The wounded Intelligence agent was immediately rushed to a hospital in Mogadishu. No group has claimed credit for the car bomb that aimed to kill Farah who works with NISA – (National Intelligence and Security Agency).
Preliminary Delegation Of The Federal Government Arrives In London
08 May – Source: Jowhar.com – 245 Words
The first group of Federal Government of Somalia delegates has arrived in London ahead of the Somalia conference that is scheduled to take place on May 11. Participants from over 40 countries and other international organizations will be attending to discuss issues relating to Somalia. The delegation of the Somali government for the London Conference is headed by Abdirahman Aynte, an advisor to the president. Abdirahman Aynte on an interview with Somali Universal TV discussed the preparation of the conference and the opportunity that it offers.
He stated that the preparation has been going on for the last three months, and the plan is how the Federal Republic of Somalia, will use this platform to achieve its objectives. Mr. Aynte state that the four agenda that will be discussed in this conference are security, development and economic revitalization, politics and constitutional review and the relationships between Somalia and International community. He explained that there are many important issues that needs to be agreed upon and cited the controversies surrounding the establishment of a strong military force. He further stated that the 5.5 billion US dollars debt owed to more than 28 countries by the Somali government to be forgiven in order to rebuild the country, or else Somali will never recover. The former Minister of Planning Abdirahman Aynte stated that the London conference will discuss the status of Mogadishu and is one of the provisions under the policy agenda, that need to be negotiated.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Pentagon Names U.S. Navy Seal Killed In Somalia Since 1993
08 May – Source: Newsweek- 526 Words
The Pentagon has said that the first U.S. military casualty in Somalia since 20 years was a Navy SEAL who died during an operation against Al-Shabab. Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, of Falmouth, Maine, was killed on Friday during an operation against the Islamist militants “in a remote area approximately 40 miles west” of the Somali capital Mogadishu, according to a Department of Defense statement circulated on Saturday.
The death, reported on Friday, is the first confirmed U.S. military death in Somalia since the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. Somali militiamen shot down two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters during the battle and killed 18 U.S. soldiers, dragging some of their bodies through the streets of Mogadishu after the battle. The deaths prompted the then – U.S. President Bill Clinton to withdraw from Somalia in 1994.
President Donald Trump has ramped up operations against Al-Shabab, an affiliate of the global militant group Al-Qaeda, since coming into office. The president signed off on a Pentagon request to loosen restrictions on U.S. drone strikes in Somalia, meaning that the military requires less high-level vetting to obtain authorization for attacks on Al-Shabab.The Trump administration has also deployed several dozen U.S. troops to the Horn of Africa country for the first time since 1994. U.S. military and counterterrorism advisors have been present in Somalia for many years, but regular troops have not. Milliken enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2002 and was assigned to an East Coast based special warfare unit, CBS News reported. He was a graduate of Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine; in a statement the president of the school offered “our deepest condolences” to Milliken’s family and “our gratitude for his brave service to our country.”
Thousands Seek Aid Amid Somaliland Drought
08 May- Source:Al Jazeera English- Video-2.07 Minutes
A three-year drought has left more than half a million people in need of urgent humanitarian aid in Somaliland.More than 100,000 people have left their homes in search of food.The lack of clean water has also led to acute diarrhea and disease.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The U.S. has conducted at least 42 drone strikes in Somalia since January 2007, according to data from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a London-based media organization that has tracked the U.S.’s use of the unmanned aircraft in four countries. Some strikes have killed senior Al-Shabaab officials, including former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and intelligence chief Abdishakur Tahliil,”
Quarter Century After Black Hawk Down, U.S. Boosts Somalia Role
08 May- Source:Bloomberg – 856 Words
Almost a quarter century since the U.S. withdrew from Somalia after militiamen shot down two Black Hawk helicopters and special forces took heavy losses in a battle in the capital, an al-Qaeda-backed insurgency is once again drawing U.S. attention.The U.S., which already supported the Horn of Africa country’s battle against Al-Shabaab militants with drone strikes and limited special forces, say it’s deploying about a dozen troops from the 101st Airborne Division to train Somalia’s army and has given U.S. commanders greater authority to use air strikes. A Navy SEAL was killed May 4 in a operation with Somali forces west of the capital, Mogadishu. The Pentagon said it was the first death of a U.S. service member in combat in Somalia since 1993.
President Donald Trump has given “enhanced authorities in the last several weeks” to strike al-Shabaab, General Thomas Waldhauser, who heads U.S. Africa Command, told reporters last month at Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. military base in neighboring Djibouti. “We continue to develop intelligence and develop targets. And when we have the opportunity, we will use those.” He said Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed supports the U.S. efforts.
The steps come as Trump says fighting terrorism is his top priority, the U.S. bolsters special forces in Syria and eases restrictions on military action in Yemen. Analysts say adding foreign firepower is unlikely to bring peace to Somalia, a nation wracked by decades of civil war that’s seen three foreign invasions in the past decade.“Stepping up military engagement is only part of the solution: it won’t address fundamental problems,” said Matt Bryden, director of Sahan Research, an institute in neighboring Kenya. “Al-Shabaab is constantly evolving — it adeptly appropriates local social and political grievances — so defeating al-Shabaab requires a focus on engaging the population, not simply going around and killing militants.”
Somalia descended into conflict with the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, prompting the deployment of a U.S.-led United Nations peacekeeping mission that involved as many as 33,000 multinational troops. The U.S. ended its role after the shooting down of the two helicopters and the deaths of 18 of its troops in Mogadishu in October 1993. Other UN troops pulled out shortly afterward. The incident was recounted in Mark Bowden’s book “Black Hawk Down.” Al-Shabaab, a splinter group of the Islamic Courts Union that controlled Mogadishu for about six months in 2006, has waged an insurgency ever since, holding parts of southern Somalia and staging suicide attacks that have targeted members of the internationally backed government.The government has little authority beyond the capital, and while an African Union peacekeeping force, known as Amisom, and Somalia’s army have wrested back towns, al-Shabaab often resumes control once the troops withdraw. The militants swore allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2012.
TOP TWEETS
@MinisterMOFA:Thank you #Rwanda for a visionary leadership for #Africa & a wonderful hospitality during consultative meeting on #AUreforms in #Kigali. #AU
@KentPage:#Somalia: Projected # of malnourished children up 50%. #UNICEF on the ground providing lifesaving aid http://uni.cf/2p21JGd v/@unicefusa
@BBGAfrica:U.S. boosts role in #Somalia a quarter of a century after #BlackHawk incident https://bloom.bg/2qHzfpr
@BashiirMaxmud:#Somalia: #Afgoye road locked down as prez #Farmaajo to reach SNA base in #Laanta Buuro, Lower #Shabeellaha region
@newsikhwan3:#Somalia Intel officer injured after bomb planted into his car exploded in #Mogadishu‘s Maka Al Mukarama road.
@SomaliPM:Met with Business leaders, discussed the importance of cooperation between the Gov and Privates sector.#nabadiyonolol #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and PM, Hassan Ali Khayre attend the closing ceremony of the first session of the Upper House.
Photo:Jowhar.com