November 26, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Militants Kill Cleric And 14 Others In Somalia In Car Bomb And Gun Attack
26 November – Source: Reuters – 403 Words
Al Shabaab gunmen and a suicide car bomber struck a religious centre in central Somalia on Monday, killing a cleric and at least 14 of his followers, a police officer said The Islamist militant group had accused the cleric of insulting the Prophet Mohamed, which he denied.
The group was forced from Mogadishu in 2011 and most towns and cities but it retains a strong presence outside the capital and launches frequent bombings and other attacks in a campaign to topple the federal government. “The (security) operation is now over. Al Shabaab killed 15 people including the cleric, his wife, his followers and his guards,” Captain Nur Mohamed, a police officer, told Reuters from Galkayo by phone. “Three militants who stormed the centre were also shot dead.”
The group took responsibility for the attack and put the number of dead at 26. It said some soldiers who responded to the first attack also died as they tried to remove a second car bomb. “We killed 26 people including the owner of the centre, his followers, his bodyguards and soldiers,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, said. “The owner of the centre was the man who abused the prophet. The soldiers that died tried to drive a second car bomb that was left by the armed Mujahideen.”
Residents of Galkayo and a regional official said Abdiweli may have also been targeted because his centre hosts mostly youths who play music and dance. Al Shabaab said last year the cleric had insulted the Prophet, an accusation denied at the time by Abdiweli. Abdirashid Hashi, the governor of Mudug region, told Reuters that al Shabaab had threatened Abdiweli on numerous occasions.
An elder in Galkayo said Abdiweli had provided free boarding to former pirates, street boys and jobless men and they became his followers. He used to tell teenagers: “If you were a pirate, or a bandit, stop it and come and dance, eat food and sleep here. God will forgive your sins. Some other ignorant teenagers thought he was as saint … and so joined him,” local elder Ismail Abdirahman told Reuters. “We understood there was something wrong with him but we could not take him to court because the man was well armed.” Al Shabaab is fighting to establish its own rule based on its harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The group controls small sections on Mudug region, but it does not include Galkayo.
Key Headlines
- Militants Kill Cleric And 14 Others In Somalia In Car Bomb And Gun Attack (Reuters)
- Five Presidential Contestants Drop Their Bid Agree To Back Robow (Halbeeg News)
- Judiciary Suffers Collateral Damage In Beileh’s Budget Defense (Goobjoog News)
- President Museveni Somali President Mohamed Hold Talks At Entebbe (KMAUpdates)
- Annual 16-day Campaign To End Violence Against Women And Girls Gets Underway (UNSOM)
- Former Al-Shabaab Spokesman Mukhtar Robow Is Running For Office In Somalia (NBC News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Five Presidential Contestants Drop Their Bids, Agree To Back Robow
25 November – Source: Halbeeg News – 236 Words
Five presidential candidates in South West state polls have resolved to join their efforts in spearheading changes in the state. In a statement issued by the presidential contestants, they also agreed to form a political alliance to support one among them to face off with other contestants.
In their statement, the group of five presidential candidates settled on former deputy leader of Al-Shabaab leader Mukhtar Robow as their chosen candidate and accordingly dropped their bids to rally behind the ex-Al-Shabaab chief. Those who pulled out the race in favour of Robow include, Yusuf Badiyow, Mohamed Adan Farageti, Salah Sheikh Osman, Hassan Amin and Hussein Kushuk. The move by the five aspirants came just hours after Robow had been cleared by the newly reconstituted electoral coordinating committee to run for the top seat in the polls scheduled for December 5th.
Upon receiving his clearance certificate, Mr. Robow thanked the chairman and members of the electoral coordinating committee for processing his documents and giving him the nod to participate in the polls: “I want to assure you that I will bring change if I win this election. I urge all the people of South West to show tolerance and discuss their affairs internally,” he said. Robow will be coming up against former Energy and Water Minister, Abdiaziz Hassan Lafta-Garen, former head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), Abdalla Osman Abdalla and other candidates.
Judiciary Suffers Collateral Damage In Beileh’s Budget Defense
25 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 229 Words
Finance Minister Abdirahman Beileh’s robust defense of his ministry’s execution of the 2018 budget in Parliament Saturday not only took a swipe at the House’s Budget and Finance Committee but also left the judiciary badly bruised.
In dismissing the committee’s report as “full of falsehoods and propaganda”, the minister observed the contents of the report and the manner in which the committee handled the report “which ended up on the internet before being tabled in the House” could, in other parts of the world, have amounted to prosecution.
Luckily for the committee, reacted Beileh, “we don’t have courts’: “The issues you have written here are baseless, full of lies and imaginary. In other parts of the world, this would have ended up in court. I can tell you it could have been a court case, but, do we have courts? The clan is our only court, isn’t it?”
President Mohamed Farmaajo appointed Bashe Yusuf Ahmed as Chief Justice in June to lead a transformation agenda and revamp the judiciary which has for a long time remained one of the least established arms of government. Beileh tore into the report findings, which had put him on the spot over $20 million the Committee said could not be accounted for. But Central Bank deputy governor Maryam Abdullahi said the government in September requisitioned $5 million and the balance is still intact.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
President Museveni, Somali President Mohamed Hold Talks At Entebbe
26 November – Source: KMAUpdates – 271 Updates
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and his Somali counterpart Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo held discussions on Sunday that centered on areas of cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the areas of peace, security, defence, education, trade and investment at State House, Entebbe.
President Farmaajo, who was on a one-day official visit to Uganda at the invitation of President Museveni, expressed happiness to note that the situation in his country has improved tremendously in spite of the Al-Shabaab terrorists menacing behavior in the South of Somalia and the negative media reports.
President Farmaajo commended the cooperation in defense and the support extended by the African Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in the transformation process of Somalia. He noted that the Tripartite Agreement that had been concluded in September 2018 between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia is being implemented adding that it has greatly led to the economic development of the three states.
President Farmaajo further observed that if the objectives of the agreement framework were achieved, the initiative would facilitate the resolution of political differences and end conflict in the Horn of Africa Region. President Museveni, who warmly welcomed his Somali counterpart to Uganda, commended him for the timely conclusion of the Tripartite Agreement saying that it was a step in the right direction of ensuring peace, stability and prosperity of the region.
The two leaders noted with satisfaction the existing bond of friendship and mutually beneficial relations between Uganda and Somalia. In attendance were: State Ministers for Defense, Hon. Okello Engola, for Northern Uganda, Hon. Kwiyuucwiny Grace, the Somali Chief of Staff, Aamino Said Ali and Presidential Advisor, Balal Mohamed Ausman.
Annual 16-day Campaign To End Violence Against Women And Girls Gets Underway
25 November – Source: UNSOM – 734 Words
The annual 16-day campaign of activism against gender-based violence was launched at a press briefing today in the Somali capital. Global in scope, the campaign seeks to raise awareness on the need to end violence against women and girls and is led by the UN Women agency with participation from the entire United Nations family, national governments, civil society and the private sector.
Jebbeh Forster, a UN Women Regional Policy Advisor on governance, peace and security and humanitarian action issues, said gender-based violence in Somalia has deepened the cycle of poverty for women and girls and hindered their empowerment.
She singled out the high incidence of child marriages and high maternal mortality rates in the country as the most serious challenges facing Somali women and girls today. The UN estimates that at least 45 percent of women in Somalia between the ages of 20 and 24 years are married off before their eighteenth birthday: “It is time to critically look at some of those things that put women and girls at a disadvantage,” said Ms. Forster.
The UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, said more needs to be done to strengthen preventative measures and ensure that the necessary legal provisions and services are in place to discourage gender-based violence. “Today, we call on the Federal Government of Somalia, the Federal Member States and all other national and international actors to play a vital role in creating awareness, providing legal and medical aid, and facilitating access to services to those who are the most vulnerable,” said Mr. de Clercq.
“The 16 days of activism campaign is a moment of reflection and renewed commitment to bolster organized efforts to root out gender-based violence, which is a gross violation of the human rights of women and girls. These violations must stop,” the senior UN official added. The launch of the campaign coincides with today’s observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The campaign will end on December 10, when International Human Rights Day is commemorated.
“As UN Women, we want to say that we stand with the women of Somalia, we stand with the women of Africa and we stand with women globally to end violence against women,” stated Ms. Forster. “It’s a scourge that cuts across culture, it cuts across economic status, social status, and it is a global phenomenon. And unless there is a global coalition to end violence against women and girls, it will never end.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“But Robow’s running for office — a move announced in October — might be a step too far. The South West State’s regional assembly is set to vote on whether he is eligible for office. While local authorities cleared his candidacy, the central government has announced Robow cannot run because he remains under international sanction.”
Former Al-Shabaab Spokesman, Mukhtar Robow, Is Running For Office In Somalia
26 November – Source: NBC News – 1010 Words
“Thousands of people have died because of his ideology. How do his victims feel about him being a candidate?” a member of Somalia’s parliament asks. For years he was the spokesman and deputy leader of al Qaeda inspired al-Shabaab, Africa’s deadliest terror group. Now Mukhtar Robow is running for office in Somalia, a country struggling to emerge from decades of war.
While Robow has traded his military fatigues and black banner of jihad for the dapper look of a politician, his candidacy in the Dec. 5 elections has angered many in this war-shattered East African nation. It also raises questions about whether to emerge from decades of conflict, Somalia must also embrace some of the figures behind much of that violence. “There are thousands and thousands of people who have died because of his ideology, because of his beliefs, because of his involvement in the al-Shabab organization,” said Abdirizak Mohamed, a Somali member of parliament. “How do his victims feel about him being a candidate?”
While Robow’s own campaign slogan is “Security and Justice,” his new public profile appears to present a choice between the two: Embrace al-Shabaab defectors for the sake of security or hold them accountable in the name of justice. During the height of its power al-Shabaab, which was founded in 2006 and is fighting to establish an Islamic state, carried out near daily suicide attacks that killed thousands. The violence reduced cities to rubble, displaced millions and exacerbated the effects of a long-running drought and famine that left around a quarter million dead in 2011.
The group has also lashed out across the region, with devastating and coordinated operations including the 2010 World Cup bombing in Kampala, Uganda, that killed 74 people, and the 2013 assault of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, where at least 67 died. In recent years the U.S. has carried out a campaign of airstrikes targeting militant training camps and al-Shabaab leaders. The group has been pushed out of Mogadishu, although it continues to control rural areas in the south and central regions.
Robow, who according to American officials was born in 1959, was one of the founders of al-Shabaab in 2006. Also known as Abu Mansour, he was inspired by al Qaeda and received militant training in Afghanistan where he has said he met with Osama bin Laden days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He was then instrumental in deploying al Qaeda’s violent insurgent strategy to fight the Somali government and international forces. In 2008, Robow was added to the U.S. list of designated terrorists and a multi-million-dollar bounty was put on his head. But a rift within al-Shabaab, between parts of the group seeking to establish a global caliphate and others like Robow who were more focused on national issues, set him on a new path.
TOP TWEETS
@US2SOMALIA: Proud to coordinate! Ambassador Yamamoto and Prime Minister Khayre today co-chaired a security sector-focused CAS Strand 2A meeting for #Somalia and international partners to coordinate critical efforts.
@Halbeeg_News: Somali president attends Sustainable Blue Economy conference in Nairobi https://en.halbeeg.com/2018/
@HarunMaruf: BREAKING: Explosion reported at a Khat market in Wadajir district, southern Mogadishu.
@MoCASomalia: Second day of Constitutional Conference on Human Rights opens today in Mogadishu. Minister of Constitution @HoshAbdi gives his opening remarks.#Doodqarameed #Somalia #Humanrights4All
@Goobjoognews: #BREAKING: Car explosion hits Kawo-Gaodey area in Wadajir district, #Mogadishu.
@DalsanTv: PRESS CONFERENCE : Somalia’s Journalists Trade Union GS Mohamed Ibrahim @MOALIMUU bashes PM@HassanAKhaire and his government over what he terms a “bribe or threat “policy applied recently by the Somali journalists and media houses #Mogadishu #Somalia
@Puntlandmirror: Abdiweli Sheikh Ali, who was a religious leader was killed in car bomb attack in south of #Galkayo town on Monday morning. More than 10 of his followers were killed in the attack, claimed by Al-Shabab militant.
@M_Farmaajo: Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims of the cruise boat accident in Mukono district, near Kampala. We stand by Uganda this trying moments of grief.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Mukhtar Robow, former Al-Shabaab deputy leader, receiving a certificate of clearance to run for the South West state presidential elections.
Photo: @Halbeeg_News