September 4, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Humanitarian crisis in Gedo region escalates

04 Sept- Source: Radio Goobjoog/Radio Ergo- 169 words

The humanitarian crisis in Gedo region has escalated as shortage of food and water affects the lives of people and livestock in the region. One of the Elders in Bula Hawo, Khalif Haji Hassan speaking to Radio Goobjoog stated that the residents are facing dire humanitarian conditions adding that water shortages has claimed the lives of unspecified number of livestock and others might die if immediate help is not delivered.

“ If emergency support is not delivered to the affected people, i am afraid that a lot of livestock and even people might die,” the elder said. The elder stated that no emergency support delivered to Gedo residents since the humanitarian crisis started earlier this year.

He called on the federal government of Somalia and humanitarian aid agencies to deliver emergency support to the desperate and affected people in the region. Similar humanitarian crisis is reported in Bakol, Hiran and Galgadud regions where shortage of food and water has claimed the lives of over 10 people and unspecified number of livestock.

Key Headlines

Somali Army supported by AMISOM liberates the town of Jalalaqsi in Hiiraan Region (AMISOM)
Somali forces with the support of AMISOM liberate Jalalaqsi district (Minister of Information)
Somali government issues new resolutions on the ongoing security operations (Radio Mogadishu/Radio RBC)
Humanitarian crisis in Gedo region escalates (Radio Goobjoog/Radio Ergo)
NUSOJ calls for the release of a journalist detained in Mogadishu (Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Dalsan/Radio Risaala/Radio Kulmiye)
Military commander urges al Shabaab members to benefit from the government’s amnesty (Radio Goobjoog)
Somali security arrest journalist after speaking out against censorship (Radio RBC)
JK calls for united front against terror (Citizen TZ)
Finn aims to be first female president of Somalia (Yle)

PRESS RELEASE

Somali Army supported by AMISOM liberates the town of Jalalaqsi in Hiiraan Region

04 Sept – Source: AMISOM – 293 words

Somali forces supported by AMISOM have liberated the town of Jalalaqsi in Hiiraan region in central Somalia as part of its operation which is aimed at liberating more towns from the militants group.

The town of Jalalaqsi is an important trading and farming town located along the banks of Shabelle River and connects the towns of Jowhar and Buloburde, it is also the second biggest town in Hiiraan region.

The joint forces left Jowhar capturing a number of small towns on the way including a crossroad along Dangaras which connects several towns in Middle Shabelle region and Kiliga Shiinaha and Fidow.

During the latest operation in Hiiraan region, al Shabaab militants did not mount any serious battle and fled the town as Somali Army and AMISOM forces entered the town.

The Acting African Union Special Representative for Somalia Honorable Lydia Wanyotto said the capture of Jalalaqsi town is a welcome victory for Somali security forces and AMISOM because of its strategic location.

“The liberation of Jalalaqsi town would help alleviate the suffering of the Somali population because the town opens the route between the major cities and this will allow free movement for business people and the population” said Hon Wanyotto adding that AMISOM will continue to confront the enemies of peace and to support the people of Somalia as they strive to rebuild their nation.

Chief of the Somali Army General Dahir Adan Elmi said the forces will continue to liberate areas from al Shabaab as the Somali Government asserts its control in the newly liberated areas.

“In the last few weeks, Somali army assisted by AMISOM have s successfully liberated various towns from Hiiraan, Bakool, Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions and the momentum will continue until terrorism threat is dealt with”

Somali forces with the support of AMISOM liberate Jalalaqsi district

03 Sept – Source: Ministry of Information – 274 words

H.E. Mustafa Duhulow, the Minister of Information praised the bravery of Somali National Forces and AMISOM as the Indian Ocean military operation is succeeding very well. On 3rd September forces liberated Jalalaqsi district in Hiiraan region from al Shabaab.

The Minister said “The Federal Government of Somalia praises the bravery of Somali forces with the support of AMISOM as they continue to liberate town after town from terrorists group al Shabaab. The Federal Government is committed to bring peace and stability throughout the country in order for people to enjoy the peace and prosperity.

We call on people to support the military operation while the government is providing basic services to newly liberated areas and stabilizing these areas. Our people need to see the benefit of peace dividend.

The Joint Chief of Army General Dahir Adan Elmi speaking to radio Mogadishu, the voice of forces said that the forces will continue to liberating areas from al Shabaab and for the last few weeks has successfully liberated Jalalaqsi and other towns from Hiiraan, Galgadud, Bakool, Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions.

The Minister of Information concluded his marks and said “The cabinet discussed the military operation and the urgent need to provide basic services to the people in the newly liberated areas. After discussion the cabinet decided to offer Amnesty to members of al Shabaab if they renounce violence and join the peace process within 45 days.

Failure to surrender will result those captured during the military operations will face justice. The aim of the amnesty is to provide an opportunity for young people to join the peace process in order to bring peace and stability in Somalia.”

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali government issues new resolutions on the ongoing security operations

04 Sept – Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio RBC – 93 words

The Council of Ministers of the Federal Government of Somalia convened on Tuesday night an extraordinary session chaired by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed.

The Cabinet discussed the security situation in the country and issued important resolutions on the ongoing security operations. The government has offered a 45-day amnesty window for militants who surrender and lay down their arm.

During a joint media briefing at the end of the meeting, National Security Minister H.E Khalif Ahmed Ereg and Government Spokesperson Ridwaan Hajji Abdiweli elaborated on the resolutions passed by the Council.

Humanitarian crisis in Gedo region escalates

04 Sept- Source: Radio Goobjoog/Radio Ergo- 169 words

NUSOJ calls for the release of journalist detained in Mogadishu

04 Sept- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Dalsan/Radio Risaala/Radio Kulmiye- 129 words

The National Union of Somali Journalists has called on the federal government to unconditionally release the Director of Radio Dalsan, Hassan Ali Gesey. NUSOJ said in a press statement that the detention of the journalist was deplorable action by Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency who arrested the journalist near his office in Mogadishu on Wednesday.

The statement added the detention of the journalist came after he gave an interview over a government decree in relation to the coverage of the security matters in the country. The recent decree issued by the government calls on the local media not to report stories relating to Al Shabaab militant group or conduct live interviews with al Shabaab members. Somali security officials are yet to comment on the detention of the journalist.

Military commander urges al Shabaab members to benefit from the government’s amnesty

04 Sept- Source: Radio Goobjoog- 179 words

Commander in chief of Somali national army general Dahir Adan Indhaqarshe called on a Shabaab members to take advantage of the 45 days amnesty offered by the federal government of Somalia. Speaking to Radio Goobjoog, the commander said the brainwashed youth have enough time to rethink and surrender to the government before the given time expires.

General Indhaqarshe stated that the offensive military operations against al Shabaab are going smoothly adding that the joint forces have seized weapons after the group withdrew from vast areas in Shabelle and Hiran regions. The commander underlined that the military operations will continue until all the areas under al Shabaab’s control will come back to the hand of the federal government.

The last two days saw government forces and African union troops capturing over three strongholds of al Shabaab in South and Central Somalia.
On Wednesday Somali cabinet in an extraordinary meeting chaired by Prime minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed vowed to continue Indian Ocean operation and gave 45 days amnesty for al Shabaab members to surrender.

Somali security arrest journalist after speaking out against censorship

04 Sept – Source: Radio RBC – 158 words

Somali journalist Hassan Gessey, a radio director at the independent Dalsan Radio, is being held without charge by the National Intelligence and Security Agency after criticizing a directive to restrict reporting on military operations, according to news reports and local journalists.

Armed members of the security services arrested Hassan and Abubakar Moyhedin, a presenter and staff manager, at the Mogadishu station at about 9 a.m. today according to news reports. Abubakar was released after a few hours but Hassan remains in custody and has not been charged, local journalists told CPJ.

The arrest comes after Hassan gave several radio interviews in his capacity as chairman of the Somali Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA) on Tuesday evening, including one for the U.S.-backed Voice of America Somali Service. In the interviews, Hassan denounced a directive made by the National Intelligence and Security Agency that called on the Somali press to restrict their coverage of a military operation.

Somaliland Presidential Press Secretary refutes government reshuffle

03 Sept – Source: Somaliland Press – 102 words

Presidential palace has vehemently refuted news reports disseminated by local press claiming that the president H.E Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo intends to make a major reshuffle in his government.

Presidential press secretary Mr. Ahmed Sulieman Dhuhul yesterday strongly denied the existence of the nature of news reports saying that there is a government reshuffle which is imminent.

He revealed that those who hold government posts play a crucial role in assisting the president to do his national duty and that he is hundred percent put faiths on them. He admitted that the news sparked widespread worry and concern among the community.

REGIONAL MEDIA

JK calls for united front against terror

04 Sept – Source: Citizen TZ – 132 words

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has urged African countries to join forces in the war against terrorism. Addressing the African Union Security Council in Nairobi on Tuesday, President Kikwete said terrorism was a threat to all countries on the continent.

He added that there was no country which was immune to terrorism and called for collective efforts to fight the scourge. “Guided by AU commission report we now know that terrorism is a major threat to every country’s security; so it is paramount that we join force from national level, regional level, continental level and global level,”he said.

In doing so, the President said, countries should sought to know the source of terrorism, adding that it would be easier to tackle terrorism if countries were aware of what causes it.

Somalia offers amnesty to al Shabaab fighters

03 Sept – Source: Al Jazeera/AP – 145 words
Somalia’s government has offered an amnesty to fighters with al Shabaab, the armed group whose leader was reportedly targeted on Monday night in a US air strike. Following a cabinet-level security meeting, Somali authorities gave al Shabaab fighters 45 days to take up the offer, Security Minister Khalif Ahmed Ereg told reporters on Wednesday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

He said the government “will create a better livelihood to build their future for those who meet the deadline”. The offer of amnesty comes after a US air strike that targeted al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, whose fate remains unclear as Washington and Somali officials assess the outcome of the attack.

Somali forces, backed by African Union troops, last week launched an offensive on al Shabaab’s last strongholds in southern Somalia, where the fighters are accused of plotting attacks across Somalia that have left scores dead this year.

Al Shabaab leader behind Westgate attack believed killed in US military attack

03 Sept – Source: Daily Nation – 114 words

Al Shabaab boss Ahmed Abdi Godane, who ordered the Westgate mall massacre in Nairobi last year, is believed to have been killed in an American airstrike in Somalia. Godane, along with six other commanders, is believed to have died on Monday in a hail of Hellfire missiles, which witnesses compared to an earthquake.

The Pentagon press secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, told AFP that US special forces launched air strikes targeting a meeting of top al Shabaab commanders chaired by Godane. The meeting is believed to have been taking place in a forest near Sablale district, some 130km south of Mogadishu. He said there was a “strong probability” that Godane had been killed in the attack.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Finn aims to be first female president of Somalia

04 Sept- Source: Yle-447 Words

A Finn of Somali origin wants to run as a candidate in the Somali presidential election in 2016. Fadumo Dayib is currently studying public administration at Harvard, but she thinks that Somalia is now ready for a female president. Fadumo Dayib moved to Finland in the 1990s to escape the civil war in Somalia. She’s now studying at Harvard but planning to return to Somalia—and she thinks she can make quite an impact on the country.
”I want to be Somalia’s president because I believe women have a chance to lead Somalia,” said Dayib. ”Women lead the country economically, manage family budgets and are very visible in society, but they have been kept out of politics. Somalia is now ready for a female president.” In addition to improving the position of women in Somali society, Dayib’s campaign themes are fighting youth unemployment, protecting minorities and improving education.

Attack on Somali Islamist leader seen triggering power struggle

03 Sept- Source: Reuters-1060 Words

A hail of U.S. missiles aimed at the leader of Somalia’s al Shabaab militants may have left a gaping hole in the group’s leadership, potentially the biggest challenge to its unity since it emerged as a fighting force eight years ago. Washington said on Wednesday it was still uncertain whether the laser-guided attack on Mondayhad killed Ahmed Godane, who aligned al Shabaab with al Qaeda and authorized the group’s deadly raid on a Nairobi shopping mall last year.

A U.S. government source said that a tweet in Arabic from what the United States believed was a legitimate Shabaab account had proclaimed Godane dead, but this was still being assessed for its authenticity. Godane has not appeared in social or other media to prove he was still alive, which some other militants who survived U.S. attacks have done.

Al Shabaab, usually vocal on social media and other channels of communication, has yet to comment. There may be good reason for its silence as it seeks a successor. With no obvious candidate to replace the man who ruled al Shabaab with an iron fist and killed off many of his rivals, experts say there is a real chance his death would trigger infighting or the formation of smaller, potentially more dangerous splinter movements.

Somalia accuses Norwegian oil explorer DNO of destabilising country

03 Sept- Source: Reuters-355 Words

Norwegian oil company DNO and other small explorers are destabilising Somalia, the African country’s petroleum ministry said on Wednesday, warning it may lodge complaints against these firms to the United Nations Security Council. DNO has been prospecting for oil in Somaliland, a breakaway territory of Somalia. The company did not respond to telephone and email requests for comment but in July a senior official said DNO would not engage in any activities that threaten peace in Somaliland.

Somalia has been riven by conflict for more than two decades as rival warlords and Islamist militants have fought for control of the Horn of Africa country. The Somali Petroleum ministry said companies signing overlapping oil contracts and striking deals with regional governments were “adding fire to conflicts”. “These small companies are destabilising the country and destroying the international community’s effort to build the peace and the security of the country,” it added.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“The image of Somali fathers, with their baggy pants, munching on tender cuts of goat meat or dhaylo; girls selling fuel by the dusty roadside, leisurely applying kohl to their almond-shaped eyes; mothers selling khat in open-air markets, jostling against weary-eyed men scrambling to get hold of the stimulant; lads from the diaspora desperately trying to catch the eyes of the local beauties; mullahs and mendicants in their religious robes (khamees); the wandering, bloodshot eyes of security guards peeking behind bulwarks: all coming together to form one big collage of Mogadishu.”

10 Reasons Why You Are Missing Mogadishu Right Now

03 Sept- Source: Sahan Journal-562 Words

1. The slow afternoons spent lying on a thin mattress, in a vest, under one of the large neem trees lining up the front yards of the bungalows.

2. The swirl of leaves in the wind playing against the distant voices of the dugsi teachers exhorting their apprentices to read the Quran louder and with proper enunciation.

3. The early morning exchange of banter at the markets in Mogadishu, folks catching up on the biting details of the previous night’s events. The traders quibble over each other’s narratives, a detail missed here and there, loudly furnished by another, the whole eventually weaving into a group tale of what happened.

4. The “blasted beauty” of a quick drive through the streets: remnants of ruined buildings that once made this port city one of the most beautiful places in Africa. Haunted and eerie as the buildings might look, their irreparable damage, their blown out ceilings, crumbling columns, missing doors and bullet-scarred façades bear witness, like the prophets of yore, to the city’s destruction for over two decades.

Top tweets

@amisomsomalia Day 3 of the awareness raising workshop on gender issues for #Somalia media in Kampala #Uganda pic.twitter.com/4OfWq2p2mL

@SomaliPics Have you ever seen a more beautiful sunset?#Mogadishu #Somalia. Let’s spread positivitypic.twitter.com/5mlLXratAk

@Somalia2016 Somali students studying in #Kuwait graduate from Kuwait University in various fields. We are proud! #Somalia pic.twitter.com/dag7MmM5Zb

@Somalia111 Aware of concerns about curbs on media in#Mogadishu. #UN committed to promoting & protecting freedom of expression.

@amisomsomalia VIDEO: #SNA and #AMISOM Burundi troops capture various towns in Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan regionshttp://bit.ly/1rmOyww

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Image of the day Turkey’s Erdogan takes a selfie with a Somali Military cadet being trained in Turkey. Photo: @evolvingprimate