October 6, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Al-Shabaab Attacks Government Forces Checkpoint Outside Bardhere
06 October – Source: Wacaal Media – 122 Words
Federal Government forces in Bardhere town earlier today came under heavy fire from Al-Shabaab militants who attacked a checkpoint manned by the officers. However the Federal Government forces managed to ward them off. Confirming the incident, security officials said they inflicted huge damages on the attackers but the government side did not suffer any casualties. The militants used rocket propelled grenades to attack the base thereafter engaging the forces in a fierce gun battle. Residents of Bardhere confirmed to Wacaal media hearing sounds of heavy gunfire. A senior government security officer Abdi Mohamud Moalim said they launched security operations in the town and surrounding areas after the attack. The militants have yet to comment on the attack.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab Attacks Government Forces Checkpoint Outside Bardhere (Wacaal Media)
- National Army Intervenes In Bulo-Hawo Clan Clashes (Goobjoog News)
- Stern Humanitarian Situation In Mudug And Galgaduud Regions (Radio Dalsan)
- Puntland Vice President Calls For UNDSS To Elucidate Insecurity Reports (Villa Puntland)
- Terrorism Planned In Camps Says CS (The Star)
- CPJ condemn the arrest of Universal TV Journalists (Community To Support Journalists)
- Soma Says U.K. Graft Probe Causing Significant Financial Damage (Bloomberg)
- The Failed State Roadshow (Foreign Policy)
NATIONAL MEDIA
National Army Intervenes In Bulo-Hawo Clan Clashes
06 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 170 Words
The National Army has intervened in the clan conflict in Bulo-Hawo which has so far claimed two lives and injured over ten others, SNA officials have said. Osman Nuuh Haji, who is among the commanders in the town told Goobjoog News that they are carrying out initiatives to mediate the government soldiers who fought over clan disputes in Bullo-Hawo. “We have intervened in the situation and successfully brought lull which can lead to complete ceasefire. We want to call both sides to the negotiating table to iron out their differences,” he said.
Osman pointed out that SNA commanders decided to apprehend those who fueled the fighting between clan based government soldiers. Two civilians died and more than ten others injured after two clan militias engaged fighting in Bullo-hawo town near the Somalia and Kenya border on Saturday. The situation is calm and things returned back to normal after the battle between the clan militias subsided. Traditional elders, politicians and intellectuals have called for an end to fighting which has so far claimed two lives.
Stern Humanitarian Situation In Mudug And Galgaduud Regions
06 October – Source: Radio Dalsan – 170 Words
The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs of Galmudug State, Shire Hirsi Mohamud has said in a press conference that the Mudug and Galgaduud regions are in serious humanitarian situation after prolonged drought has stricken these two regions. A committee which has been assigned to assess the humanitarian situation in these two regions has said that if this goes on for the next few days and no humanitarian responses comes from the humanitarian agencies both human and livestock will be at stake.
“The people in these two regions are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, because there is prolonged drought in the regions and the rains have delayed, thus I will urge the humanitarian agencies to do quick humanitarian response to curb the crisis” said Hirsi. The places which the drought has at large affected are the far remote areas, and due to the scarcity of water in the regions a barrel of water costs 200,000 Som Shillings which is equivalent to $10.
Puntland Vice President Calls For UNDSS To Elucidate Insecurity Reports
05 October – Source: Villa Puntland – 232 Words
Puntland Vice President Abdihakim Abdillahi Hajji Omar has on Monday criticized United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) for its insecurity reports in Puntland state capital, Garowe. In his opening speech of the review of the United Nation Joint Program for Local Government held in Garowe, Vice President expressed appreciations to the donors of the International Community and United Nation Agencies for supporting the JPLG program, while underscoring the hard work and commitment of Puntland ministries and local governments.
“It’s noteworthy mention that JPLG remarkably contributed to the delivery of local services, peace and capacity building, on behalf of the government of Puntland”, stated Amey. In an off the cuff remarks, Amey criticized UNDSS for its insecurity reports in Garowe, which usually halts the International staff’s access to Puntland, calling for an immediate elucidation. “I, the Vice President of Puntland walk from my residential area to teashops without fear and insecurity, it’s really interesting that the United Nations’ Department of Security and Safety reported insecurity in Puntland, we are calling up on them to clarify the sources to this information,” noted Amey.
The Vice President urged United Nations Department of Safety and Security to communicate with the government’s intelligence and other security agencies for such critical reports that can weaken the security in general. The call comes at a time when the people of Puntland are enjoying relative peace and calm across all Puntland regions.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Terrorism Planned In Camps, Says CS
06 October – Source: The Star – 271 Words
Final planning and logistical support for nearly all terror attacks in Kenya take place in refugee camps, Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery has said. He said since Somali refugee camps threaten Kenya’s security, the country will continue to close camps and send refugees back to Somalia. “We cannot continue to offer asylum and protection to populations in areas that are taken over by criminal elements, and in this case, terrorists and their agents,” Nkaissery said. He was speaking in Geneva at the UNHCR’s 66th executive committee session. The CS said government security agents recovered a large cache of arms and phones in the Dadaab refugee camp last week.
Nkaissery said only 4,214 Somali refugees have been repatriated out of about 500,000. He said the process should move faster. The CS said humanitarian groups dealing with the Somalia situation should move to Somalia. He said the final planning of the Westgate terror attack on September 21, 2013, was coordinated in a camp. At least 67 people were killed and more than 200 others injured. The CS also said the weapons used in the Garissa University College attack on April 2 were ferried and hidden in the camps.
CPJ condemn the arrest of Universal TV Journalists
06 October – Source: Community to Protect Journalists – 416 Words
Somali national security forces raided the offices of the privately owned broadcaster Universal TV in Mogadishu on October 2 and arrested Abdullahi Hersi, the station’s East Africa director, and Awil Dahir Salad, a producer, on the same day, according to local journalists and reports. Abdullahi and Awil were arrested without a court order after being summoned to the offices of the National Intelligence and Security Agency, news reports said. Authorities are holding the journalists at the Godka Jilacow detention center, three Universal TV journalists, who have not been named out of security concerns, told CPJ.
On the same day, security agents raided the Universal TV offices in Mogadishu, switched off the broadcast signal, and ordered the station to be suspended indefinitely, the same journalists said. Abdullahi and Awil have not been charged and no official reason for their arrest and the raid has been made, according to the journalists with whom CPJ spoke. “We condemn the arrests of Abdullahi Hersi and Awil Dahir Salad and the suspension of Universal TV,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. “We call on Somali authorities to stop this arbitrary harassment of journalists and respect freedom of the press, as called for in the country’s constitution.”
Universal TV, which has headquarters in London, in the U.K., can still be accessed outside of Somalia, but its coverage has been limited since the Mogadishu office was forced to stop work. The arrests and the suspension of the station came after a show produced by Awil called Doodwadaag (“Debate”), was broadcast on October 1. During the show, parliament members Abdi Hashi Abdullahi and Mohamed Abdi Yusuf discussed the presence of foreign troops in Somalia and other sensitive issues, the Universal TV journalists who spoke with CPJ said.
Soma Says U.K. Graft Probe Causing Significant Financial Damage
05 October – Source: Bloomberg – 272 Words
Soma Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. said an investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office caused the company “significant financial and reputational damage” and is hampering its business plans, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg and confirmed by the company. “Until the SFO investigation is closed, it will be challenging for Soma to progress on its business strategy,” the London-based company said in a report dated Sept. 30 that it submitted to the U.K. government. Soma, whose chairman Michael Howard is the former leader of the U.K.’s ruling Conservative Party, reported an $8.9 million loss in the 12 months through December, having spent $41.3 million on exploration off Somalia’s coast.
The SFO on July 31 raided Soma’s London office as part of its investigation into payments to Somali officials under a capacity-building program with the country’s Petroleum Ministry. The investigation “may cause very serious economic and financial damage,” the company said, reiterating its denial of the allegations. “Additional funding within the next two months” is required, the company said. “Although the group does not have adequate resources to continue for the foreseeable future, existing shareholders will support the business for the next 12 months.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, D.C., said the support thrown behind Mohamud has much less to do with his abilities as a leader and a lot more to do with the international community’s unwillingness to deal with another political transition in a country that has lacked a federal government for more than two decades and has gone through more than 10 prime ministers in the past decade.”
The Failed State Roadshow
02 October – Source: Foreign Policy – 1,628 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud rules what may be the world’s most failed state, one wracked by poverty, corruption, and a grueling fight against a deadly Islamist militant group. Shortly before arriving in the United States for the United Nations General Assembly, though, Mohamud got a rare bit of good news: The speaker of Somalia’s parliament was dropping an effort to impeach him. That’s a major win for Mohamud — and, potentially, his entire fractured and fractious country. Mohamud came to New York in part to secure further support for Somalia’s ongoing battle against al-Shabab extremists, and the looming possibility of impeachment would not have helped his case.
“It had no legal base,” Mohamud told Foreign Policy in an exclusive interview at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 29. “It was intended to obstruct the government from moving and making progress toward an electoral process in 2016.” Those are precisely some of the charges Mohamud’s opponents have been leveling at him. At least 90 of Somalia’s 275 lawmakers — who were elected through a loosely organized clan-based representation system — were reportedly in favor of debating his impeachment in parliament, citing 14 points of failure, including failing to implement the country’s constitution. The parliament would have needed two-thirds approval to move forward.
That’s not to say that Mohamud is on solid ground at home, where his opponents are promising to continue pursuing the case. “We have neither discussed nor given up the motion,” Mohamed Abdullahi Fadhaye, a lawmaker who supported the impeachment motion, told Reuters on Sept. 26. “We shall take the matter to the court.” Mohamud wasn’t the only one relieved to have the motion put on hold — for now at least. Donor nations like the U.S. and the United Kingdom see the academic activist as Somalia’s best hope for a peaceful transition to democracy (neither he nor the country’s parliament was directly elected).
Their patience for the East African nation, which has been without a fully functioning government since 1991, could wear thin with another unexpected transition of power. In recent years, the presence of Al-Shabaab terrorists and the threat they pose to the stability of the entire region has made Western nations even more concerned about the situation there.
TOP TWEETS
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@xasanmahamudmah: #Somalia Jubaland president in consultative meetings with elders over long overdue cabinet naming
@deeqtaako: In #Somalia Hight number of graduates with high number of unemployment, that is discouraging the @education
@SNTVSomalia: #Somalia‘s Prime Minister H.E. Omar Abdirashid Ali signed agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey L. in NY.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRCC Ambassador Maman Sidikou briefed the Atlantic Council on the political and security situation in Somalia, on 5th October 2015, in Washington DC.
Photo: AMISOM