October 27, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
ISIS Militants Withdrew From Qandala Following Brief Takeover
27 October 2016 – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 130 Words
ISIS militants have withdrawn from the Somali coastal town of Qandala in Bari region of Puntland after briefly capturing it on Wednesday, local sources said. Local residents woke up this morning with little trace of the militia in the town, while credible sources in the area indicate that they retreated to the nearby mountainous region.
The heavily armed militiamen who allegedly took over were led by Abdulkadir Muumin, a prominent Jihadist who defected to ISIS earlier this year after fighting alongside Al-Shabaab for many years. Speaking to the local folks in Qandala, Mr. Muumin challenged them to cooperate with ISIS, pledging full Islamic protection in return. The Galgala-based ISIS militants have been trying to expand their authority in the region, with the mountainous Northeastern Somalia as preferred safe haven.
Key Headlines
- ISIS Militants Withdrew From Qandala Following Brief Takeover (Radio Kulmiye)
- Highest Commander Of Djibouti Army Reaches Beledweyne (Radio Dalsan)
- HirShabelle President Sacks Hiiraan Governor (Shabelle News)
- Al-Shabaab Claim Raid But Saleh Blames Locals (The Star)
- Kenya Unveils Security Measures Along Border (Xinhua)
- AFDB Approves Somalia Infrastructure Fund (African Development Bank)
- A Stray: Finding And Filming The Real Somali Immigrant Experience (BBC)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Highest Commander Of Djibouti Army Reaches Beledweyne
27 October – Source: Radio Dalsan – 133 Words
The highest commander of the Djiboutian army and other officers have on Thursday reached Beledweyne town in the Hiiraan region. The visit of the commander came after a truck bomb detonated at the gates of the AU base in Beledweyne town where soldiers from Djibouti are stationed.
The terrorist group Al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility of the attack. The attack killed two Djiboutian soldiers who are part of AMISOM peacekeeping mission. The spokesperson of Al-Shabaab said their fighters will continue to attack Djibouti troops in Somalia until they completely pull out of Somalia. The Somali National Army backed by Djiboutian forces have been securing the town amid political tension in Beledweyne.
HirShabelle President Sacks Hiiraan Governor
27 October – Source: Shabelle News – 129 Words
The new President of the Interim Administration of HirShablle, Ali Abdullahi Osoble has sacked the Governor of Hiiraan Yusuf Ahmed Hagar known as (Yusuf Daba-geed) and appointed a new governor to the post. According to a decree that was released Thursday, HirShabelle president has named Ali Jeyte Osman as the new governor of Hiiraan region in Central Somalia.
The president did not elaborate on the reason behind the dismissal of the governor. However, Yusuf Ahmed Hagar has rejected the dismissal by the HirShabelle president. Mr. Hagar said, “a president with no office has no power to sack me from my post.” The former Hiiraan governor accused the Federal Government leaders of being behind the decision.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Claim Raid, But Saleh Blames Locals
27 October – Source: The Star – 186 Words
Somalia’s al Shabaab militants on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the Mandera terrorist murders, hours after the Tuesday raid. The militants relayed their message through Andalus radio station, which is associated with them. The gunmen used grenades and explosives to break into Bisharo guest house and stormed in with guns. They killed 12 people and seriously injured six others.
Northeastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh yesterday ruled out direct involvement of al Shabaab. He said the border is sealed tight. However, Saleh told reporters preliminary investigations show al Shabaab did radicalise young criminal gangs that carried out the attack in Mandera town.
He said they used four IEDs to blow up a section of the hotel at 3am. Saleh said following the last attack two weeks ago, the border with Somalia has remained closed from dawn to dusk. There is no way the attackers could have crossed into the country from Somalia, he said. Saleh said Mandera residents are not cooperating with security agents and giving “actionable intelligence” that will lead to arrests. “Inside elements radicalised by al Shabaab are behind the attacks,” he said.
Kenya Unveils Security Measures Along Border
27 October – Source: Xinhua – 310 Words
Kenya has announced measures to tighten security in the northeastern region, which borders Somalia, after two deadly attacks claimed by Al-Shabaab militants. Militants used grenades and improvised explosive devices in an attack on a guesthouse in the northeastern border town of Mandera early Tuesday, killing at least 16 people. Earlier this month, six people were killed in an attack on a residential area in Mandera town.
Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said Wednesday they were collaborating with the Kenya Defence Forces to set up a border command unit to counter the infiltration of Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants. Nkaissery said the unit would assist in setting up roadblocks and checkpoints, boosting security in border towns including Mandera.
“We are working around the clock putting appropriate measures to ensure citizens across the country are secure and safeguarded,” said Nkaissery. Nkaissery said more police officers had been deployed to hunt down those behind the Tuesday attack. He commended police for their “swift response” to the attack. He said bomb experts were analyzing the scene to establish the source of the explosives and gather evidence.
AFDB Approves Somalia Infrastructure Fund
26 October – Source: African Development Bank Group – 478 Words
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a framework document for the establishment of the AfDB Multi-Partner Somalia Infrastructure Fund. The political and economic situation in Somalia in the last two decades has severely affected all sectors in the country, including infrastructure.
The devastating civil war that lasted for more than 25 years led to challenges, including high levels of poverty and human deprivation caused by a combination of limited social and physical infrastructure, nascent industrial production and financial sectors, and adverse climatic conditions.
Somalia’s fragility has been driven by a number of factors, including protracted conflict, sporadic violence and insurgency, political uncertainty due to inter-clan tensions and rent-seeking, inadequate human and institutional capacity, and nascent public financial governance.
The Somalia Infrastructure Fund, approved on October 3, 2016, is part of a comprehensive, coherent and coordinated multi-partner initiative to assist Somalia in consolidating peace and moving along a path of long-term development.
The Somali New Deal COMPACT, endorsed in Brussels in September 2013 by the Federal Government of Somalia and its international partners, sets out a commitment to implementing a strategy that brings together development, humanitarian, diplomatic and peace-keeping stakeholders around common goals.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“People in the Twin Cities should explore and go have dinner at a Somali restaurant or go visit a mosque… if people want to make that sincere connection, there’s ways to do that.”
A Stray: Finding And Filming The Real Somali Immigrant Experience
27 October – Source: BBC – 1,084 Words
In the largest Somali-American community in the US, residents say they are only portrayed on film as terrorists, pirates and soldiers. A new film tries to challenge those stereotypes. When independent film director Musa Syeed began travelling from his home in New York City to the heart of the Somali community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he started to hear a recurring complaint.
“You’ll see news cameras come in and set up on the soccer field and shoot something without permission,” Syeed says local teenagers told him. The shots would wind up in a piece about terrorism. “There was a lot of distrust in media and the way their images have been used.”
As a Muslim of Kashmiri descent who grew up in a small town in Indiana, Syeed was used to being a “hyper-visible” minority in a majority Caucasian place. He first got interested in Somali culture when a few families moved to his community. And Syeed noticed how they were treated differently not only for being Muslim, but for being black.
As an adult he saw those same struggles playing out in Minnesota, which is overwhelmingly white but also home to the largest Somali population in North America. Not only do Minnesotan Somalis deal with the fact that they are in the religious and racial minority, they are also the focus of the federal government’s war on terror.
The FBI says that of the 30,000 Somalis living in the region, at least 20 Somali men and women have successfully travelled abroad from Minnesota to join IS since 2014. Another nine have been charged for attempting to join IS, and the ensuing trial for three of the men created a frenzy of national media attention.
TOP TWEETS
@MinisterMOFA : Today signed the #IORA charter for #Somaliato officially be a member state in #Bali. Maritime safety & security one of priority areas.
@AbdulBillowAli: I’ll be reporting for @cctvnewsafrica from El Baraf, a rural town in Middle Shabelle region liberated for the first time in 7 yrs. #Somalia
@Eye_on_Somalia: #allAfrica UN Speaks Out Attacks On Media Freedom: [Shabelle] United Nations assistance mission in S…http://bit.ly/2eP0u9v #somalia
@Daudoo: #ISIS militants withdrew from the ancient port town of#Qandala in #Puntland peacefully, hours after capturing it peacefully. #Somalia
@gcmcSomalia: #Somalia Somalia: Somalia: Concern for deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaalkacyohttp://bit.ly/2exZwAh #crisismanagement
@abdirizakdhore: In #Sool_Region people and the #Animals are dying for drought! My Allah give his mercy.
@Mr_Omarsson : MT: A Stray: Finding and filming the real#Somali #immigrant experience http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Jubbaland leaders pledge to meet 30% gender quota in the Lower House of #Somalia’s Federal Parliament.
Photo: AMISOM