November 19, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Ethnic clashes erupt in Kenya after deadly bus bombing
19 Nov – Source: France24/AFP – 186 words
Violence broke out in Nairobi Monday when Kenyans went on the rampage in a mostly Somali district of the capital near the site of Sunday’s deadly bus bombing, which some have blamed on sympathisers of Somalia’s Shabaab fighters.
Clashes broke out on Monday in a predominantly Somali district of Nairobi between people of Somali nationality or origin and other Kenyans, leaving several people wounded, a police chief said.
The clashes broke out at the site where a bomb went off on a bus on Sunday, killing seven and wounding many more. An AFP reporter at the scene said police used tear gas and fired into the air to contain the violence, which started when non-Somali Kenyans turned on Somalis and attacked their shops and stalls, accusing them of being responsible for the bus bomb.
Key Headlines
- Somali Prime Minister promises ‘new change’ (Shabelle/Jowhar Online/Raxanreeb)
- UN Security Council debates piracy for first time as international peace and security issue (Washington Post/ABC News/AP)
- Kenyan VP condemns Eastleigh grenade attack (Bar-kulan)
- Ethnic clashes erupt in Kenya after deadly bus bombing (France24/AFP)
- Somali PM: there are no hospitals run by government (Radio Mogadishu/SONNA)
- AMISOM jails Somali official in Beledweyne (Shabelle)
- International partners pledge continued support to Burundi (Independent)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali Prime Minister promises ‘new change’
19 Nov – Source: Shabelle/Jowhar Online/Raxanreeb – 136 words
Abdi Farah Shirdon, Somali premier has announced Monday that his new government will make new change, to restore the peace and stability in the country after 20 years of conflict.
Addressing at a ceremony held in the capital, where former TFG minister have been handing over the offices to the new ministers, the PM talked more about the current situation in Somalia.
“The country has been in chaos for the past twenty years. My new government is set to move Somalia out of these crises and re-establish the rule of law across the country,” said Somalia’s PM.
The remarks followed week after Somali MPs passed overwhelmingly the new cabinet lined up by Abdi Farah Shirdon, the leanest cabinet ever formed in Somalia, with a female foreign minister Fowzia Hajji Aden.
Kenyan VP condemns Eastleigh grenade attack
19 Nov – Source: Bar-kulan – 136 words
Kenyan Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has condemned the Sunday grenade attack targeting a minibus in a suburb of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, that has a large Somali population.
At least six people were killed and over 30 others injured when a grenade was thrown into a crowded vehicle in the Eastleigh area, police said, ripping the roof and sides off the bus. Kalonzo called for calm amongst locals following retaliatory attacks against ethnic Somalis near the scene of the blast.
“The terrorists’ intention is to cause friction between Christians and Muslims but we believe in our security agencies. I urge for calm,” said Musyoka. A number of recent attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa have been blamed on Somalia’s al Shabaab militant group which vowed to revenge after Kenyan troops crossed the border into Somalia in October last year.
Somali PM: there are no hospitals run by government
19 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu/SONNA – 157 words
Prime Minister of the Somali Federal Government, Abdi Farah Shirdon revealed that Ministers of Health and Education will start to function from scratch after taking over dockets that were left empty.
Addressing a ceremony that saw Ministers of Information and Religious Affairs handing over dockets, the PM said that both Ministers of Education and Health Affairs will have to work hard. “There is no hospital that Ministry of Health run at this moment knowing there are seven hospitals in the capital Mogadishu,” he noted, adding that the same situation is republican to the education docket where there are no universities and The or learning institutions effectively run by Somali government.
The premier promised that his government would revive those important ministries that serve the population and would kick off the rebuilding of the country.
AMISOM jails Somali official in Beledweyne
19 Nov – Source: Shabelle – 97 words
The Djiboutian soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force on Monday took into custody a government official in Beledweyne, central Somalia, reports said.
Ahmed Osman Abdalla Inji, the deputy Hiiran governor for the security affairs was arrested over fistfight with Adawe Elmi Abdi, another top official in the regional administration of Hiiraan during a meeting by the local traditional elders in the city. Latest reports indicate that discussions are underway for the release of the jailed official by the AMISOM forces.
Rebels, Government forces clash in Hudur
19 Nov – Source: Bar-kulan – 77 words
A fierce fighting has reportedly erupted between Somali forces and al Shabaab militants in an area on the outskirt of Hudur town on Sunday afternoon. The fight reportedly occurred when heavily armed militants stormed government military bases near Hudur town.
Area district commissioner Mohamed Moalim Ahmed claimed victory over the al Shabaab fighters saying that they killed eight militants during the fight. He said few of their soldiers sustained injuries. The Al-Shabaab has not yet commented on the incident.
Allied forces move to seize jowhar city
19 Nov – Source: Radio Dalsan – 198 words
The Somali National Army and AMISOM forces are preparing to move to Jowhar town, the headquarters of Middle Shabelle, 90 KM north of Mogadishu after reaching a place near to the town, sources reported.
The residents in the town are reported to have started fleeing from the town to the nearby suburbs, witness said. The government officials have not made any comment about the operaton to seize Jowhar from al Shabaab fighters. AMISOM forces have already mentioned their intention to open up the road between Jowar and Mogadishu.
Somaliland Police Cheif Flags off Vehicles to be used in Nationwide Police Operations
18 Nov – Source: Somaliland Press – 101 words
Somaliland Police Chief General Abdillahi Fadal Iman on Sunday flagged off nine brand new vehicles which are to be used in policing in the various regions of the country.
The police chief said during the flagging off ceremony at the police rapid reaction unit headquarters in Hargeisa yesterday that the nine vehicles will be distributed to Salal, Awdal, Gabiley, Sahil and to rapid reactions unit in Burao, Eel Afweyn and Erigavo respectively.
He said that the new vehicles would play a vital part in transportation in coordinating security during the upcoming local elections period by affording the police forces the mobility needed.
REGIONAL MEDIA
International partners pledge continued support to Burundi
19 Nov – Source: Independent – 980 words
The international development partners have agreed to continue supporting Burundi’s socio-economic and political ventures as a way of recognising its vital contribution to stability in Somalia by contributing troops to AMISOM.
The partners made the remarks in NEW YORK on Nov. 16, at a meeting of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peace Building Commission. The World Bank Country Director for Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda, Philippe Dongier was among the participants in the meeting. Below is a full statement that emerged after the meeting:
At today’s meeting (Nov. 16) of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peace Building Commission in New York, the African Development Bank, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Bank pledged their continued support to the country’s achievements and commitments.
Immense deforestation risks turning Somalia into desert
19 Nov – Source: Daily Monitor – 399 words
Hassan Hussein cuts down 40 trees every month to fuel his charcoal business, fully aware of the impact his action has on the environment. But for the livestock keeper, the forests are the last remaining resource. And he is not alone.
Hundreds of thousands of Somalia’s traditional pastoralist herders do the same, putting their impoverished country on a path of heavy deforestation that risks turning large swathes of their country into a desert.
“I used to keep animals, but I lost my herd to famine and disease and am the eldest in the family,” says Hussein, 27, adding that he has 10 mouths to feed back home — two children, seven brothers and his mother.
Anti-terror unit maps hideouts of al Shabaab recruits
18 Nov – Source: Daily Nation – 461 words
Kenya’s anti-terrorism police unit has identified hideouts where hundreds of youths returning from al Shabaab training camps in Somalia are said to be seeking refuge.
Mombasa, Lamu, South Coast, Garissa, Isiolo are some of areas where anti-terrorism police officers have been deployed to track down the returnees.
Head of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) Boniface Mwaniki said although there are no official figures of those recruited, they suspect more than 1,000 Kenyan youth joined the group. Mr Mwaniki said the hunt for the Al-Shabaab recruits is yielding fruits following successful arrests in Garissa and Mombasa.
Kenya in the spotlight over its role in Kismayo’s administration
17 Nov – Source: East African – 620 words
Kenya could soon find itself on a collision course with Somalia’s newly installed government over reports that Nairobi is influencing the establishment of a local administration in Kismayo, claims the country’s Department of Defence has denied.
A group of Somali Members of Parliament are planning to table a motion in parliament to expel Kenyan forces from Kismayu, Radio Dalsan reported, adding that the MPs felt the Kenya Defence Forces had failed to deal with insecurity in Kismayo and were also allowing the export of charcoal despite a ban by the United Nations.
However, sources in the Somali government told The EastAfrican that the motion was an emotional reaction by individual MPs who still believed Kenya’s intervention was a mistake and amounted to foreign occupation.
Omar Osman, adviser to former prime minister Abdiwelli Mohammed, said the Speaker and the majority of Somalia’s 275 MPs would not allow the motion to be tabled because they thought Kenya was playing a crucial role in maintaining security in Kismayo.
Ugandan police officers on foot patrols in Mogadishu
17 Nov – Source: Coast Week – 114 words
On foot patrol in the Somali capital Mogadishu with Ugandan police officers serving as part of a Formed Police Unit (FPU) with the African Union Mission in Somalia.
AMISOM’s FPUs are working with their counterparts in the Somali Police Force (SPF) in helping to provide security in Mogadishu in addition to training and mentoring the SPF on policing techniques and practises.
The United Nations Security Council on November 07 renewed the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping force for a further four months to continue providing support to the Government of Somalia in its efforts to bring peace and stability to the Horn of Africa country.
Threat’s on National Security as al Shabaab Adds Up to The Internal Security Problem in Kenya
18 Nov – Source: Intelligence Briefs – 535 words
Kenya’s national intelligence service maybe again facing intelligence failure as more threats on the country’s national security manifest almost bi-weekly with terrorists taking advantage of other factors to deploy.
The main threats on Kenya’s national security are ; Ethnicity, land militancy, religious violence, and terrorism. A grenade attack on a transport facility in the crowded area of Eastleigh was successful leading to the deaths of seven people with dozens others severely injured after the bus explosion.
A terrorist hurled a hand grenade successfully at a mini-bus carrying people in the Muslim-christian district of Eastleigh killing seven and dozens others. The terrorist was successful having studied the geography of the target area and the position, routine, and profile of his target having isolated it using the crowds and traffic often omnipresent in the streets of the district.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Ethnic clashes erupt in Kenya after deadly bus bombing
19 Nov – Source: France24/AFP – 186 words
Violence broke out in Nairobi Monday when Kenyans went on the rampage in a mostly Somali district of the capital near the site of Sunday’s deadly bus bombing, which some have blamed on sympathisers of Somalia’s Shebab fighters.
Clashes broke out on Monday in a predominantly Somali district of Nairobi between people of Somali nationality or origin and other Kenyans, leaving several people wounded, a police chief said.
The clashes broke out at the site where a bomb went off on a bus on Sunday, killing seven and wounding many more. An AFP reporter at the scene said police used tear gas and fired into the air to contain the violence, which started when non-Somali Kenyans turned on Somalis and attacked their shops and stalls, accusing them of being responsible for the bus bomb.
UN Security Council debates piracy for first time as international peace and security issue
19 Nov – Source: Washington Post/ABC News/AP – 185 words
Centuries after piracy was recognized as the first international crime against humanity, its spread around the world has prompted the U.N. Security Council’s first debate Monday on piracy’s rise as a threat to world peace and security.
In the past, the council has focused on various regional outbreaks of the scourge. But piracy has been metastasizing worldwide with hotspots off Somalia, in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa and in Southeast Asia. Monday’s Security Council debate was called by the council’s president, Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, representing a country that has many sailors held hostage by modern pirates. Seven percent of all maritime workers are Indian nationals.
The Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau, which tracks pirate attacks, reported 252 attacks worldwide for the year as of late October. Nine ships were being held for ransom off Somalia at that time with 154 hostages.
Anti-piracy enforcement has also moved into land raids against the villages and ports that harbor pirates in Somalia, at the request of the Somali government. The council authorized that extension of enforcement power in 2008 and had renewed it.
NATO fights Somali piracy near the coast
16 Nov – Source: NATO – 435 words
This week, the ships of NATO’s counter piracy task force have been busy visiting local and regional mariners. Using their rigid hull inflatable boats, boarding teams from HNLMS ROTTERDAM, HDMS IVER HUITFELDT and USS HALYBURTON liaised with the dhows and skiffs to exchange information.
Naval patrols, armed security guards and best management practices on merchant ships are often stated as the reasons for the reduced number of pirate attacks and hijacks, however, to discourage pirates from going to sea in the first place the task force is moving into the coastal waters of Somalia. Commodore Ben Bekkering, Commander of the task force explains;
“We know the pirates find it increasingly difficult to remain undetected at sea for a long time. Yet, there they can still pose a threat. By moving closer inshore, making ourselves known, contacting the locals and showing the mariners, fishermen and traders alike that we are there to ensure maritime security for all, we aim to make it very difficult for the pirates to go to sea in the first place.”
In Somalia, Political Battle Over Newly Liberated Regions
16 Nov – Source: VOA – 507 words
Somali and African Union troops have made steady progress ousting al Shabaab militants from strongholds in Gedo and Juba, but now a political battle for control of newly liberated regions is posing a challenge for the country’s recently established central government.
Communities in southern Somalia are pushing to make the autonomous region known as Jubaland a semi-autonomous state that would function like semi-autonomous Puntland, or Puntland’s neighboring breakaway republic of Somaliland.
While community and clan leaders have reached some agreement on how to divide and rule the territory, the bigger challenge is convincing central government officials to accept the plan.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The dismal status quo that gave us a society that is perpetually staring at abject failure in the face would no longer pass muster with Somalis! Barring this, which is unfortunately more likely, President Hassan will continue on his merry way opening one Pandora’s Box after another until his presumed mandate (that was procured with cold cash) completely loses its patina. Thereupon Kismayo will truly become his Achilles’ heel.”
Is Jubaland President Hassan Sh. Mohamud’s Achilles’ heel?
18 Nov – Source: Wardheer News – 2314 Words
The selection of Hassan Sh. Mohamud in September, 2012 as President of Somalia kindled a momentary burst of excitement in a national mood that was, up to that point, epitomized by dour feelings and increasingly pessimistic outlook. Somalis everywhere were thrilled, in the off chance, that with new political leaders at the helm, as it were, the country maybe at the cusp of national renewal. For a brief moment in time, this was the prevailing sentiment expressed passionately in spontaneous outpouring of well-wishes and heartfelt congratulatory messages.
Folks from all walks of life within the country as well as from far flung corners of the world took part in the reveling, which, in retrospect, turned out to be entirely premature demonstration. Why? Because the President decided early on to be upfront about his plans to fulfill sectarian agenda at the expense of policies advancing archetypical national priorities. As a result, all the goodwill and near universal support shown to him personally and subsequently to the government that he seems control evaporated in one fell swoop.
Many of those welcoming the new head of state had no illusions that President Hassan, a virtual unknown among Somalis, was going to morph into a transformational leader overnight and suddenly bring about a sort of nirvana in the troubled country. Their expectations were rather modest. They hoped for a government that pursued a national agenda giving rise to clear break with the sordid politics of the recent past; an honest attempt at ending the sorry era of mindless civil conflict and comprador-led, caretaker governments.
“Through his restaurants Ahmed has given confidence to ordinary Somalis to dare to think and act more freely. Ahmed is making a great sacrifice. The stakes are so high he might end up bankrupt or dead. But it may be brave, ordinary dreamers like Ahmed who have the power to rebuild Somalia.”
Unreported World: The Master Chef of Mogadishu
19 Nov – Source: Channel 4 – 624 Words
Mogadishu is one of the most dangerous cities on earth. Unreported World meets the remarkable British Somali man who has mortgaged his life in London and left his family behind to set up a chain of restaurants in the Somali capital. Cooking is his contribution to the peace process in this war-torn country.
Ahmed fled Somalia when he was a boy and settled in Britain. He trained as a chef and set up a successful restaurant in West London before returning to Somalia.
But Ahmed’s success running restaurants has made him a target of jihadi organisation al Shabaab. One of his restaurants has been hit by a double-suicide attack, leaving 20 dead.
Ahmed is determined to carry on. The stakes could not be higher: his business, his marriage, even his survival. Be sure to watch the 1 x 30 minute documentary about Ahmed Jama on Friday 23rd November at 7.30pm on Channel 4.
“Somalis of all regions and backgrounds should be proud of these developments. The international perception of the Somali homeland has been slow to adjust but is now starting to improve as investors wake up to the many opportunities the region has to offer. While there is still much to do to make it a reality, there can be no doubt that an active stock exchange would be yet another stamp of approval, and would unlock even more of the Somali territories’ great potential.”
A capital idea: The first Somali stock exchange will usher in a new era of growth
17 Nov – Source: East African – 976 Words
Three months ago, the Somalia Stock Exchange Investment Corporation and the Nairobi Securities Exchange signed a memorandum of understanding that laid the foundations for the first ever Somali stock exchange. The NSE, as East Africa’s oldest and largest bourse, will offer important technical expertise in the early stages of the venture.
It is important to note however that while this will be the first formal exchange, there is already a thriving informal market for shares in the Somali territories. Many Somalis at home and in the diaspora are adept investors in this market and indeed across international markets.
The recent MoU is a resounding endorsement of the growing strength of the Somali economy. Despite the challenges of the past two decades, sectors such as livestock, money transfer and telecoms have undergone rapid growth that has benefited consumers as well as producers.
Top tweets
@amisomsomalia Beledwyene,capital of Hiraan region, Djiboutian troops patrolling as a way of keeping security in the area. Watch here: http://vimeo.com/53822503.
@UNPOSomalia #Somalia: Former (r) & current (l) Minister of Information at handover ceremony in #Mogadishu @TheVillaSomalia pic.twitter.com/JFnZEqJR.
@AidanJHartley Courageous cuisine under fire in Somalia. A heroic tale of camel broth and bananas instead of extremism or warlords http://bit.ly/WfVTLA.
@OCHASom In case you missed it…NEW VIDEO: First UN mission to #Kismayo to assess urgent needs of the population http://youtu.be/G-8sOWgqnQw #Somalia.
@CapitalFM_kenya Dozens wounded as clashes break out on Juja Road, #Eastleigh between people of #Somali origin and other residents after yesterday’s blast.
@UNPOSomalia @TheVillaSomalia Welcome to Twitter! Looking forward to updates & news from the #Somali Government.
Image of the day
A former pro-government militia member conducts a mock mine-sweep in the central Somali town of Beledweyne in the Hiiraan region of Somalia, during a technical and tactical training course run by the Djiboutian contingent of the AMISOM. Photo: AMISOM/AU/UNIST.