October 1, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Government Forces Repulse Al-Shabaab After Militants Attacked Their Base In Ali Mire Near Barawe
01 October – Source: Wacaal Media – 121 Words
Uneasy calm has this morning returned to Ali Mire settlement near Barawe after Al-Shabaab attacked government forces in the area. Locals told Wacaal media that the militants engaged the forces in fierce gun battle that lasted several hours with the latter successfully repulsing them. Ali Mire location lies 15km from Barawe and is a key entry point to the town which was recently liberated from militant rule. The heavily armed militants were in an attempt to run over the local base and checkpoint of the government forces in a bid to gain entry into the town which they recently lost. Government forces managed to ward off the attackers and are now fully in charge of the area and its surroundings.
Key Headlines
- Government Forces Repulse Al-Shabaab After Militants Attacked Their Base In Ali Mire Near Baraawe(Wacaal Media)
- Puntland Police To Benefit From 1 Million Dollar Agreement With U.S To Fight Terrorism (Goobjoog News)
- Federal Government Ships Military Gear To Integrated Forces In Kismayo (Wacaal Media)
- A Former Al-Shabaab Fighter Killed In Baidoa For Rape Case (Radio Dalsan)
- Soma Oil Lobbies U.K. To Oppose Proposed Moratorium On Somalia (Bloomberg)
- Canada Approves Refugee Claim Of Man Who Fled Somalia After Death Threat (City News)
- Britain Meddles In Somalia At Its Peril – Don’t Make Al-Shabaab Stronger (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Police To Benefit From 1 Million Dollar Agreement With U.S To Fight Terrorism
01 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 125 Words
The United States has signed a $1 million memorandum of understanding with Somalia and its regional state Puntland to enhance cooperation on police training and countering terrorism.The U.S States Department has said the agreement will expand the International Narcotics Law, INL, current police and counterterrorism assistance programs in Somalia to benefit Puntland State. The INL is the State Department division responsible for combating crime by helping foreign governments build effective law enforcement institutions that counter transnational crime. This ranges from money laundering, cybercrime, and intellectual property theft to trafficking in goods, people, weapons, drugs, or endangered wildlife. “This program is part of INL’s continued commitment to support mutually agreed-upon regional policing and counterterrorism efforts,” read a statement from the U.S Mission to Somalia.
Federal Government Ships Military Gear To Integrated Forces In Kismayo
01 October – Source: Wacaal Media – 127 Words
A ship carrying a consignment of government vehicles among other military gear has docked at the Kismayo sea port. The vehicles numbering up to 30 were a combination of Toyota Land Cruisers and Hilux which are commonly used in combat in Somalia. Sources told Wacaal media that the consignment is from the Federal Government and were shipped from Mogadishu destined for the integrated forces that is currently being trained in Kismayo. Commander of the Federal Government forces in the three regions of Lower and Middle Jubba as well as Gedo Muhiyadin Abdihakim Sayid received the consignment at the port of Kismayo. Muhiyadin declined to address the press over the arrival of the consignment. Up to 400 government forces are currently in Kismayo receiving training at the Kismayo University.
A Former Al-Shabaab Fighter Killed In Baidoa For Rape Case
30 September – Source: Radio Dalsan – 222 Words
A former Al-Shabaab fighter who has surrendered himself to the Somali government in the beginning of this year was on Tuesday shot dead by the Somali government soldiers in Baidoa town the headquarters of Bay region. The officials of Southwest State and the local people have in one voice confessed that since after the former Al-Shabaab fighter got his liberty he has been at large engaged in raping women in the IDP camps and the villages surrounding Baidoa town.
“We got the information that this man has been at large engaged himself in raping helpless women in the IDP camps, and on Tuesday we got report that he has raped two women at Hanaano IDP camp in Baidoa and we have started tracing for his whereabouts and advised him to give turn himself in to the government, but instead he cocked his gun and pulled the trigger and we shot him dead” said Lieutenant Onkod speaking to Radio Dalsan on Wednesday morning.
So far the number of rape cases which the late former Al-Shabaab fighter has committed in Baidoa and its surrounding areas is recorded as 11. After the killing of the former Al-Shabaab fighters the women in the IDP camps in Baidoa have rallied on the streets in Baidoa chanting words against the deceased fighter.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Soma Oil Lobbies U.K. To Oppose Proposed Moratorium On Somalia
01 October – Source: Bloomberg – 634 Words
Soma Oil and Gas Holdings Ltd., the U.K.-based explorer under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, asked the British government to help block a United Nations proposal that a moratorium be placed on oil deals in Somalia. Soma, whose chairman, Michael Howard, is the former leader of the U.K.’s ruling Conservative Party, wrote a letter to the Foreign Office requesting a meeting and urging the government to protect the company’s business interests in the Horn of Africa nation.
Soma has spent $40 million on surveys of 60,000 square kilometers (23,166 square miles) off Somalia’s coast, the company said on its website. The company was advised in 2013 and 2014 by Mark Simmonds, the U.K.’s former minister for Africa, and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office that reaching an agreement with Somalia on oil and gas “would not be inconsistent” with U.K. government policy, according to the letter.“Lord Howard has made it clear that he would have disengaged from Soma Oil and Gas had that assurance not been forthcoming,” Soma said in the letter, which was given to Bloomberg by an official close to discussions on the issue at the UN Security Council. The official asked not to be identified because the document isn’t public.
The Foreign Office confirmed it received the letter and said it couldn’t comment on the unpublished UN Monitoring Group report. “The U.K. government continues to advise the federal government of Somalia on the importance of having an effective legal and regulatory framework in place before signing oil contracts,” it said in a statement e-mailed September 28. Soma, a privately held company based in London, didn’t respond to questions sent via e-mail and declined to comment when contacted by phone on Wednesday. It’s the most active oil company in Somalia, which currently has 22,000 African Union troops backing government forces in their fight against Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked group that’s been trying to topple the government since 2006.
Canada Approves Refugee Claim Of Man Who Fled Somalia After Death Threat
30 September – Source: City News – 225 Words
A Somali man who swam across the Red River thinking it was the border between the United States and Canada has had his refugee claim accepted.The Immigration and Refugee Board told 32-year-old Yahya Samatar at a hearing in Winnipeg today that his claim was accepted.
Samatar can now apply to be a permanent resident, a process that could take more than a year.At that time, he will be able to bring his wife and four children to Canada.Samatar was a human rights worker in Somalia, was kidnapped and fled after his life was threatened by terrorist group Al -Shabaab.
It took him a year to reach Canada — first he flew from Somalia to Brazil, then hiked through the jungle to Colombia, then up through Central America and to the United States, where he was detained, then headed north.He found himself on the shore of the Red River.Although he wasn’t exactly sure where he was, he believed crossing the river would land him on Canadian soil so he jumped in and swam across through the fast and frigid waters, wondering if he would encounter crocodiles as he would in rivers at home.Emerging on the other side, Samatar walked across several farms before meeting a Good Samaritan who gave him clothes and linked him with the Canadian Border Services Agency.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Great leaders are those who learn from past mistakes. Cameron’s forefathers brought great misery on the Somali people. He should be redressing these wrongs, not inflicting more militarisation on them. What we need is peace. We need assistance in building roads, schools and hospitals. Our country is in a strategic corner of the world. It is rich in natural resources. For once, let’s try to see the mutual benefit and work together for the good of both nations. Cameron should rethink this decision. If he goes ahead he will, I believe, succeed only in making al-Shabaab stronger.”
Britain Meddles In Somalia At Its Peril – Don’t Make Al-Shabaab Stronger
01 October – Source: The Guardian – 878 Words
David Cameron announced this week that he is sending troops to Somalia to assist in efforts to counter the Islamist group Al‑Shabaab. The very real possibility, however, is that Britain may end up helping the jihadi to build their support among local people. Cameron has made Somalia one of his foreign policy pet projects. He hosted international conferences on Somalia in London in 2012 and 2013. Some of his top officials visited Mogadishu to show interest. He has promised generous amounts of aid saying the challenges faced by Somalia are issues that must concern Britain. It is worth noting too, that a company chaired by a former Conservative party leader, Michael Howard, has signed oil deals with Somalia.
Last week, I watched with amusement as Britain’s ambassador to Somalia wished Somalis a happy Eid. It may have seemed like a clever idea, but it will take a bit more than a few phrases of badly spoken Somali to convince people that Britain cares. I believe that Somalis are deeply sceptical about Cameron’s real motives. To understand their suspicions, you have to recall Britain’s colonial record. British people may say: “That’s history, get over it.” But Britain still commemorates its own “heroes”, remembering those who lost their lives defending the UK. Somalis too have heroes who defended their nation and they know their history. Deploying British troops could help these militants recruit more fighters and receive financial and moral support
Decisions made by the British colonial rulers affect Somalis to this day. Somali territories were given away to Ethiopia and Kenya. The north-eastern region of Kenya for example is inhabited by more than 2 million ethnic Somalis. When Britain pulled out, the population voted overwhelmingly to join Somalia, but their wishes were ignored. I wish Cameron would visit Garissa and Wajir in modern Kenya to see the terrible conditions Somalis now live in. It is underdeveloped compared with other parts of Kenya and there are widespread reports of extrajudicial killings.
TOP TWEETS
@RT3Somalia: UN chief calls on Somalia to continue moving forward in building federal … – GlobalPost http://ift.tt/1FHepcI #الصومال #Somalia
@Eye_on_Somalia: #goobjoog Britain meddles in Somalia at its peril – don’t make al-Shabaab stronger: By Jamal Osman Da… http://bit.ly/1iNtvm1 #somalia
@Bogorad_Olga: #Somalia #alShabaab ban of #ISIS affiliation discourse indicates underlying concerns over internal war amid strong ties with AQ @VOAAfrica
@45Eyes: Well, i realized Somali ppl r very active in social media, hope it unites them, not divide them, why raise hate!#Somalia #Somaliland
@ferigom69: UNHCR animation: Voluntary Repatriation from Kenya to Somalia (English) – YouTube | @scoopithttp://sco.lt/5MIIlN #Somalia #Kenya
@SomaliaNewsroom: Analysis: Can #Somalia‘s new national forum save 2016 elections? Or will there be another mandate extension? http://somalianewsroom.com/
@PeteChonka: good piece by @JamalMOsman on potential consequences of increased UK military footprint in #Somaliahttp://gu.com/p/4cqgj/stw
IMAGE OF THE DAY
AU Special Representative for Somalia and Head of AMISOM Ambassador Maman Sidikou is currently meeting with the leadership of the Somali-American Police Association, in Minnesota, U.SA. The meeting with Sgt. Waheid Siraach, Sgt. Abdullahi Mohamed and Officer Abdiwahab Ali is aimed at seeking ways to partner with AMISOM, to support the Somali Police Force.