November 7, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Lower House Elections Need To Be Completed In The Next 3 days, FIEIT Says
07 November – Source: Dhacdo.com – 164 Words
The Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) has called for the remaining federal states to expedite the Lower House elections, giving them 3 days. FIEIT who spoke to the press stated the importance and the urgency of completing the Lower House election process.
FIEIT Spokesperson Mohamed Keynan told reporters that Jubbaland, Galmudug and Southwest need to speed up the Lower House election and delegates should be ready in order to elect their representatives. “FIEIT urges SIEIT to complete preparations for the Lower House elections in their respective regions. Galmudug, Jubbaland and Southwest are expected to complete election within 3 days after they fulfill the conditions needed, delegates are ready. The only thing remaining is the submission of the women quota” the spokesperson said.
To date, Puntland is the only state that has started the process. It’s expected that the remaining states will start their election process in the coming days.
Key Headlines
- Lower House Elections Need To Be Completed In The Next 3 days FIEIT Says (Dhacdo.com)
- UPDATE: 29 Die In Renewed Fighting In Galkayo (Hiiraan Online)
- Residents Flee Somali Town Of Galkayo In Fear Of New Clashes (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia’s President Rejects Allegation That Government Took Part In Galkayo Fighting (Garowe Online)
- Somalia Leads In Offering To Vote For Amina In AU Post (Capital FM)
- Why Trump Warned About ‘Somali Refugees’ — And Why It Could Backfire (The Washington Post)
- Kenyans Again Deny UN Report Of Illegal Charcoal Trade In Somalia (Xinhua)
- ISIS’s Somali Franchise Seizes Qandala: Background And Significance (Bellingcat.com)
NATIONAL MEDIA
UPDATE: 29 Die In Renewed Fighting In Galkayo
07 November -Source: Hiiraan Online – 266 Words
At least 29 people were killed in renewed fighting in Galkayo between Galmudug and Puntland state forces despite a ceasefire brokered by the UAE according to officials from both sides. Col. Mohamed Aden, a military spokesperson from the Puntland region said that 16 soldiers died fighting for the region’s armed forces and 30 have been wounded since the fighting renewed.
The mayor of Southern Galkayo, Hirsi Yusuf Barre reported that Galmudug forces had 13 soldiers killed and another 20 seriously wounded. Medical staff working in the Galkayo have confirmed similar casualty numbers to Hiiraan Online. The situation in Galkayo remains tense as both sides blame one another for breaching the ceasefire that was brokered on Nov. 1. They agreed to a temporary truce while they worked on a peace deal.
An eyewitness told Hiiraan Online that he saw vehicles which were burning and houses that were torched. The same witness described witnessing mortar shells and gunfire being exchanged. The UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the conflict has worsened an already dire humanitarian situation as resources that were earmarked for those affected by the Deyr rainy season (October-December) are being depleted.
At least 40,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have again been uprooted from their temporary homes and haved moved to villages and makeshift settlements on the outskirts of the city. In total it is estimated that at least 80,000 people have already fled the town seeking security. Galkayo is currently divided into two districts, with Galmudug governing the southern district and Puntland state the northern one.
Residents Flee Somali Town Of Galkayo In Fear Of New Clashes
07 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 369 Words
Hundreds of families have fled their homes in Galsoor village of Galkaayo town fearing renewed fighting between forces loyal to Somalia’s two regional states in northern and central Somalia less after a recently signed peace deal collapsed. Commercial activity has been disrupted and hundreds of students have been affected as schools remain closed. Livestock owners and traders who rely on Galkayo as a transit route to the port of Bossaso have also been affected. “There are so many fighters who were deployed by the two states and weapons are everywhere in Galkayo town. Some people have started fleeing the areas for fear of the fighting. Most people are saying they have no option but to move in the outskirt of the town.” a resident in Galsor locality said.
Reports coming from areas near the battlefield say that the forces from both sides were spoiling for another fight as silence from Federal authorities persist. Another resident, Mohamed Farah said that there is high tension in the area which forced many people to flee from Galsoor locality as fighting can flare up at any time. “People emptied the town. The areas located in the outskirt of the town where people went to settle temporary have no drinking water. The tension is high, the two sides are getting reinforcement,” he said.
Transport has also been paralysed, residents told Goobjoog News. Earlier, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that while a peace agreement was reached on Nov. 1, clashes have erupted again leading unnecessary to losses lives and properties as the situation in Galkayo remained tense with armed forces calling for reinforcement.
Somalia’s President Rejects Allegation That Government Took Part In Galkayo Fighting
07 November – Source: Garowe Online – 190 Words
President Hassan Sheikh Mahmud has rejected claims against the Federal Government for fuelling unrest in the Mudug region over contested areas between Galmudug and Puntland. Mohamud said the tensions have existed for decades in the Mudug region and efforts to achieve reconciliation and peace between the two sides was mediated previously and witnessed by the international community.
During a Universal TV Interview, Mohamud has attributed the lack of commitment from both sides for the cause of the collapse of previous peace deals brokered by Somalia’s international partners. “The Somali Federal Government didn’t fuel unrest, instead we have pushed efforts to end fighting,” added Mahmoud.
He also added that the conflict in Galkayo has been ongoing before the establishment of Puntland and Galmudug administrations. “It needs commitment and refraining from actions that could reignite the unrest. We scheduled a meeting in Galkayo to come up with a resolution to end the fighting,” Mohamud said. Last week, leaders of regional administrations held meetings in Abu Dhabi, UAE and announced a peace agreement to end the recurrent clashes in the Mudug region.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Leads In Offering To Vote For Amina In AU Post
07 November – Source: Capital FM – 302 Words
Somalia has become the first country to publicly offer its vote to the candidature of Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed for the top African Union post. According to State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu, a delegation from Somalia made the announcement during a meeting where Kenyan ambassadors and high commissioners had been recalled.
“At the event, a delegation from Somalia announced that Somalia had publicly offered its vote to Mohamed, making it the first country to do so,” he said. Esipisu stated that the meeting’s objective was to strategize on the next steps in the critical weeks and months ahead of the late January vote and ultimate decision.
“The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Kenya, current Zimbabwe High Commissioner spoke glowingly of Mohamed’s candidature, but also made it clear that the vote itself resided in the Heads of State and Government,” he stated. He said that in the coming weeks, Mohamed as well as her colleagues in cabinet that are members of the sub-committee supporting her candidature, will fan across the continent as special envoys to campaign for her.
Why Trump Warned About ‘Somali Refugees’ — And Why It Could Backfire
07 November – Source: The Washington Post – 542 Words
Donald Trump emphasized his strict opposition to admitting refugees into the United States over concerns about terrorism as he made a closing pitch to voters in a trio of key battleground states Sunday. While the Republican presidential nominee regularly touts his call to halt the flow of Syrian refugees into the United States, during a campaign stop in Minneapolis, he singled out Somalis, mentioning a mall stabbing rampage in the region carried out by a Somali immigrant.
Although Trump’s words could resonate with conservative base in the state, particularly those with deep concerns about terrorism and the Islamic State, Minnesota has long been a Democratic stronghold in the presidential contests, meaning that Trump likely needs to win centrist and crossover voters to stand a realistic chance of victory. With his comments about minorities, refugees and immigrants having already come under heavy criticism from Democrats, he risked doing further damage to his image in the political middle and left with his latest remarks.
“Here in Minnesota you’ve seen firsthand the problems caused with faulty refugee vetting, with large numbers of Somali refugees coming into your state without your knowledge, without your support or approval, and with some of them then joining ISIS and spreading their extremist views all over our country and all over the world,” said Trump, using an acronym for the Islamic State. Trump said that as president, he would not admit refugees “without the support of the local community where they are being placed.”
Kenyans Again Deny UN Report Of Illegal Charcoal Trade In Somalia
07 November – Source: Xinhua – 256 Words
Kenya on Sunday dismissed a United Nations report linking its troops to illicit charcoal trade from a port under their control in Somalia. State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu condemned the allegation “in the strongest terms possible,” terming it “hogwash masquerading as research.” The Kenyan troops are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is helping the Somali government battle terror group Al-Shabaab.
“We are focused on the job that took us to Somalia in the first place, and will not be distracted by the latest hogwash masquerading as research,” Esipisu told journalists in Nairobi. A UN Monitoring Group report, published by a Kenyan daily on Sunday, said Kenyan troops in Somalia received fees for allowing illicit exports of charcoal from the port of Kismayu.
The report said the Kenyan troops received 2 U.S. dollars per bag of charcoal at Kismayu, citing charcoal industry and non-governmental organizations sources. The report estimated that up to 6 million bags of charcoal had been exported annually from Kismayu and Buur Gaabo, another port adjacent to a Kenyan army base in Somalia. Charcoal exports are banned by the UN Security Council in 2012 in an effort to cut off funding for Al-Shabaab.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“ISIS appears to have exploited a window of opportunity to seize Qandala provided by the distraction and weakness of their opponents. Over the course of the past month, Puntland’s security forces were involved in violent territorial feud with neighboring Galmudug federal state over the administration of Galkayo city.”
ISIS’s Somali Franchise Seizes Qandala: Background And Significance
07 November – Source: Bellingcat.com – 769 Words
On Thursday, October 27, militants from the self-declared Islamic State’s Somali affiliate seized the port town of Qandala, in the semi-autonomous northern Puntland region of Somalia. Eyewitness accounts claim that after cutting off communications, militants faced no resistance as they entered the town. To confirm their capture of the town, ISIS’s propaganda wing released a short video showing several dozen fighters equipped with small arms entering a nearly abandoned town, before raising the group’s black flag over its historic Italian colonial-era fort.
In the immediate aftermath, local authorities claimed that pro-ISIS forces had withdrawn from the town, fearing a counterattack by security forces. By a number of accounts, these claims seem premature, as Somali journalists report continued militant occupation. Qandala’s capture marks the first instance of ISIS securing control of a town in Somalia. ISIS’s Somalia affiliate formed in October 2015, under the leadership of former Al-Shabaab cleric Abdulkadir Mumin.
Shortly after his arrival from the UK in 2010, Mumin gained the position of religious leader for Al-Shabaab’s Puntland branch, where he is originally from. The British-Somali Mumin was a significant ideologue in the al-Qaeda affiliate, appearing at a number of major events and propaganda videos. After defecting from Al-Shabaab, and pledging allegiance to Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, the pro-ISIS faction secured the loyalty of no more than two dozen of the 300 Al-Shabaab fighters in Puntland.
Since their defection, Mumin’s ranks have expanded to several hundred, yet they have since been contained to the remote and desolate Galgala Mountain Range of Puntland. Sympathizers have managed to launch several small attacks outside of the country’s northeast. While the Puntland Security Force has successfully repelled ISIS attacks and attempts to capture territory in the past, the largest impediment to their growth has come from Al-Shabaab.
TOP TWEETS
@lasoco : Fighting in Somalia’s Galkayo city kills 29: officials – Reuters http://j.mp/2fKoi2c #Somalia
@JustinTBrady: Poor Deyr rains in #Somalia has worsened drought conditions- what little has fallen has had ‘little to no impact’: http://www.fews.net/east-
@DrumChronicles : #Somalia #Galkacyo reported calm today – death toll rises to 30 in fighting between #Puntland and#Galmudug forces yesterday
@EsayasMood : UN – KDF Makes Money On Illicit Charcoal Exports From #Somalia http://allafrica.com/stories/
@Kadarnouh : Donald Trump says #Somalia migrants are ‘disaster’ for #Minnesota. https://www.theguardian.com/
@alexpfielding : #Somalia: UAE-brokered ceasefire between#Puntland & #Galmudug regions over disputed Galkayo collapses, 20 killed http://af.reuters.com/article/
@klaasvandijken: A rare #piracy attack on #chemical vessel near #Somalia http://www.maritimeherald.com/
@ByegmENG: With the contributions of #Turkey, the first graduate school of health sciences was inaugurated in #Somalia http://bit.ly/2ffZtH0
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Puntland has become the first federal member state to start elections for the federal parliament’s House of the People.
Photo: UNSOM