Puntland Post: Hardline Somali Islamists fight over control of police station in capital
Fighting between Islamist groups opposed to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] erupted this morning in the district of Yaaqshid, Banaadir Region. Two Islamists groups, [Hisb al-Islam and Al-Shabab], are said to be fighting over the control of the police headquarters in Yaaqshid district, Mogadishu.
Eye witnesses said the fighting is concentrated in the areas near the Yaaqshid police HQ..
The fighting is said to have broken out after Hisb al-Islam forces that earlier on controlled the police station refused to withdraw from it.
Hisb al-Islam and Al-Shabab had earlier fought over the control of the police station in Yaaqshid district, which has resulted in the loss of life and injury. Fighting between the two sides comes at a time when senior Hisb al-Islam commanders and their forces have begun joining Al-Shabab, a move that has enraged Hisb al-Islam leaders.
Garowe Online: 10 killed as Somali militants fight in Mogadishu
At least 10 combatants have been killed and 20 others injured in heavy fighting that pitted militant group Al-Shabaab against rival Hizbul Islam in the restive capital Mogadishu, Radio Garowe reports.
The fighting erupted after militia from the two sides quarrel over the control of a military post in Yaqshid district, which both sides deemed strategic.
The fighting was heavy, I have seen the dead bodies of at least 10 fighters from both sides, injured include civilians,” an eyewitness told Garowe Online.
Residents started fleeing from the area, accusing the warring sides of not taking into consideration their plight.
Tension has been mounting between the two groups after officials from Hizbul Islam joined the rival group, handing over the control of some central towns to them. Some of the officials, who defected to Al-Shabaab were displayed in central town of Beledweyne on Monday.
Hizbul Islam’s Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is now held up in the outskirts of Mogadishu and surrounded by Al-Shabaab fighters, has refused to hand over his weapons to the hardline group.
Press TV adds
According to eyewitnesses, the majority of casualties are from Hizbul Islam fighters while a number of civilians were also wounded during the upsurge of violence.
"Al-Shabab fighters are now in control of the position while the other side has left the area. Civilians have also vacated their homes for fear of retaliations," an eyewitness told Press TV.
Radio Gaalkacyo: Al-Shabab, Hisb al-Islam said mobilizing to clash in southern
Tension is reported to be high between rival Islamist fighters in Lower Shabelle region, southern Somalia.
Reports reaching us from Afgoye District in Lower Shabelle Region say that mobilization of heavy fighting continues between Al-Shabab Islamic Movement and Hisb al-Islam faction over the control of the town.
Hundreds of fighters of the two groups armed with heavy weapons and armored vehicles have been seen patrolling Afgoye District. An eyewitness, who declined to be named, has told the media that the two sides are ready to clash. He further said that residents in Afgoye Town, Ceelasha Biyaha Locality and other towns of Lower Shabelle Region have fled from their homes in fear of gunfire.
Sources say that Al-Shabab wants to forcibly capture areas that Hisb al-Islam faction controls in southern and central Somalia. Fighters of Hisb al-Islam group and officials in Wanleweyn District have recently defected to Al-Shabab.
-- -- --
Shabelle Media: Somali traditional elders in Gedo call [on TFG] to stop organizing clashes
The Somali traditional elders of Gedo region in southern Somali have called the transitional government troops to stop the organizing clashes going in the region in southern Somalia, official told Shabelle radio on Tuesday.
Sheik Aden Abdulle, the spokesman of the transitional elders in the region told reporters in Bardere town that they got more information that the the transitional government troops Dolow town in the region were planning to attack parts of the villages under the region
“At the first time we call for the government soldiers to stop the plans of the war they continue in parts of the region. Because clashes my cause casualties of civilians in the parts of the region. We also call them to join to the Islamic administration in the region,” said the spokesman of the traditional elders.
Da’ud Mohadm Hussein, one of the elders had talked more on the joining process of the Islamic administrations of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen and Hizbul Islam in over the past weeks pointing out it was a step to be welcomed
The statement of the traditional elders of Gedo region comes as there had the transitional government officers in Gedo had been reiterating that they would attack the whole areas of Gedo region to take over its control whole region in southern Somalia.
-- -- --
Second incident in two days
Somaaljecel: AU peacekeepers "quell mutiny" in Somali Presidential Palace
Reports are emerging regarding a mutiny staged by presidential guards of the interim government over pay. According to security officials, who declined to give their names, two soldiers belonging to the security force of President Shaykh Sharif were shot by AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] troops who tried to disarm the mutinous soldiers.
An AMISOM military officer said that no one was hurt in an operation the troops conducted to put down the mutiny by guards of the presidential palace. He said the operation was brief and the mutiny was quelled.
Reliable reports obtained from government military officers based at the presidential palace say that the presidential guards have not been paid salaries for the past 10 months. They added that their salaries were diverted to fund the removal of the former parliamentary Speaker and the election of a new house Speaker.
The day before yesterday, the presidential guards blocked the entry and exit points to the presidential palace, paralysing operations at the presidential palace and its environs for hours. While doing this, they shot rounds in their air, which reportedly causing some injuries.
-- -- --
This next one is either (1) a PR-firm ghostwriter trying to make the case to the U.S. not to pull its support for the TFG or (2) a last effort to cash out:
Help Wanted: Now is no time for the world to go wobbly on Somalia
BY Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
.."constructive disengagement" is a nice euphemism for the same very old and thoroughly failed policies that Western countries have used for years to wrongly argue that Somalia's problems can remain in Somalia. This was the prevailing attitude of much of the international community during most of the past two decades -- until rampant piracy drew navies from around the world toward Somali waters. The presence offshore of a flotilla of warships from the navies of more than two dozen countries illustrates vividly how our country's internal problems are a pressing international issue.
The global nature of Somalia's troubles is also visible on the ground, where an influx of foreign fighters is swelling the ranks of militant oppositionists who are openly aligned with al Qaeda. ... Indeed, a recent Human Rights Watch report looking at life for Somalis in Shabab territory reads as if it could have come from the organization's old file on Afghanistan's Taliban.
...
The world has seen this kind of savagery before, when the Taliban destroyed ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan and when al Qaeda-linked militants systematically bombed holy sites throughout Iraq. As the history of the past decade shows, the extremists in Somalia will also undoubtedly begin exporting violence throughout the region and around the world if we do not confront them.
...
What Somalia needs most now from countries like Britain and the United States is financial support, not troops or peacekeepers. Our government is closely watching the events unfolding in Afghanistan, where U.S. and British soldiers are fighting bravely in a war we consider a distant front of our own. Somalis are eager to do their part in pushing back against the menace of Islamist extremism, but they lack the resources to do so.
-- -- --
From a recent open letter to Ould Abdallah and his replacement, published at WDN:
As a Somali intellectual, and one indeed whom Al-Shabab would slit his throat today if I return to Somalia, I can tell you that in fact for better or for worse they I believe that they would be better than these recycled TFG stooges.
They made peace where they govern. Peace at any cost is better than no peace at any cost. The international community lead by UNDP-Somalia is investing at no peace at any cost. This must change in the new tenure of the new Envoy.
Al-Shabab is already in power in Somalia, why does the international community dismiss that they have learned or will learn their lessons and indeed change course and indeed go against global Al-Qaida?. Government policies change. Why would Al-Shabab not change for the better? Al-Shabab can change if they get the opportunity to get total power. They can be partner in dealing with Al-Qaeda in Africa. The International community does business with Saudi Arabia, the epicenter of Jihadism and the mother and father of Taliban and where 90% of funds now come from for Al-Shabab and other Islamic extremists all over the world.
I took arms against the early Islamists in Somalia and continue to do so to this date. But, I have realized that indeed, the international community is part and parcel indirectly responsible of the making and engineering of Islamic extremism in the Horn of Africa. The international community has approved negotiating with the Taliban. Why not with Somali Islamists? The reason is simple: Kenya and Ethiopia want Somalia in ruins for ever and have no interest in a Somalia in one piece and in peace. They have taken over the economical, political and natural resources of Somalia already. With Al-Shabab in power, they will and can never do that. Wise men said only fools don’t change their minds. Al-Shabab can, and are more reliable than the TFG who has never kept one word. Who starve their own soldiers who steal left and right and where each and every one of them has one ambition. The pocket game, in concert with UNDP.
-- -- --
June 15th Radio Daljir interview w/ U.S.-Somalia policy wonk Bronwyn Bruton is available as a ram file here. Bronwyn shares her observations of a recent visit to Villa Somalia at the invitation of the TFG and her insight into where U.S. policy currently stands.
As is quite apparent to even those far away from Washington, patience is wearing thin w/ the TFG and politicians are scaring themselves silly to the point where they'll soon start climbing over each other in support of just doing something about 'the Somalia problem'. Bruton lays out the reasonable arguments against military intervention, though reason doesn't weigh too prominently once fear takes hold. She says that the conclusion in Washington is that the TFG is not viable and has no capacity on any meaningful level. Rather less convincingly, however, in her remarks on why the U.S. is rethinking pouring any more money into the TFG -- to either build institutions or buy off the opposition -- she contends that "any policy maker is concerned with what he does with taxpayer money." Heh.
Still, and despite dressing up some basic truisms, the candor in the following remarks is most welcome these days and, hopefully, others are listening & showing signs of the same thought processes
at present, I feel that the international community -- as a rule, generally, and i'll include myself in this, to be honest with you -- has just a very limited understanding of what the fight in Somalia is about. If you look, you know, at what is happening in Gedo, if you look at what is happening in Beledweyne, if you look at what is happening in Mogadishu. We have some sense of the economics of the situation, but not a very good sense. We have some sense of the clan politics, but not a good enough sense. And, you know, we have very limited intelligence on the Shabaab. We're worried, of course, that they're thinking about attacking the United States, but to be honest, we don't know. You know, we're playing better safe than sorry. But it could be that the Shabaab is, you know, got a very limited number of a.. a sort of transnational jihadists in it, and that it's mostly, you know, a.. a local movement. Um, I really believe that unless you have some basic understanding of the situation you're dealing with, you're not going to do a good job. I mean, um, basically, lack of intelligence never leads to good policy. In fact, it often produces policy disasters, and in Somalia that's just been profoundly the case.
...
I'm sorry to say this, it sounds terrible, but - I'm not willing to give International policy makers the benefit of the doubt. Until they can prove that they know exactly what they're doing, they shouldn't do anything. We shouldn't act just because we think that we should.
...
..in 2006, in January, Somalia was on a pretty good path. You know, the Islamic Courts Union were on the rise. Business was booming. Conflicts were stabilising. Um, you know, the direction was, it wasn't fabulous, but it was broadly positive. And I think that if you look at Somalia now, obviously it's going in the wrong direction - everything is a disaster. And I see the international community's intervention in the country at the heart of that change. Um, and I think that if you.. if you have that point of view, it's very hard to be confident or enthusiastic about the international community, you know, advancing further. If, on the other hand, you say look, stop bombing people in Mogadishu, stop shelling them, stop mortaring them, um, because the response that you're going to get is, you know, going to to be catastrophic, it's going to backfire, um, and the government you're protecting is.. is not worth killing Somali's for, then I think you could start to get on the right path, eventually.
-- -- --
A new analysis from Michael Weinstein is now up at Garowe Online
Harakat al-Shabaab Mujahideen Reactivates its Encirclement Strategy
The new stage of H.S.M.’s strategy is aimed at consolidating the armed opposition to the T.F.G., AMISOM, and other anti-Islamist forces by eliminating its major competitor within the Islamist opposition, the nationalist Hizbul Islam (H.I.). Having earlier displaced H.I. from Somalia’s southern Jubba regions, H.S.M. moved in June to remove H.I. from all the areas of southern and central Somalia in which the two groups have divided or shared control.
H.S.M.’s consolidation move is familiar to students of revolutionary coalitions: at a certain juncture, the dominant actor in the coalition judges that it is powerful enough to eliminate its collaborators-competitors so that it can gain an open field for establishing administrations in the areas that it dominates and coordinating efforts to mount operations against its major opponents. When a single faction takes control of a revolutionary coalition, it is a sign that its leaders perceive that their power has been enhanced to the point at which their faction stands to gain more by going it alone than by cooperating and sharing power. If it is successful, consolidation serves as a prelude to an offensive by the revolutionaries against their adversaries.
...
H.S.M. is ..., by all appearances, pursuing a calculated and coherent strategy of avoiding armed confrontation with H.I. in favor of persuading and inducing local and regional H.I. forces to merge with it. Striving for consolidation, H.S.M. does not want to fight an internecine war that would damage its Islamist credentials, at least temporarily weaken its position in relation to the coalition of forces opposing it, and deprive it of the H.I. forces that it wants to win over. If possible, H.S.M. will stick to intimidating H.I., unless H.I. agrees to incorporation in the T.F.G.
...
For the moment, the success of H.S.M.’s encirclement strategy depends on removing H.I. from Elasha Biyaha and the Afgoe district directly south of Mogadishu.
The article provides a good recap of these events since late May, sprinkled with new information from Weinstein's closed source(s?).
-- -- --
Mahiga doesn't sound necessarily committed to the TFG, or at least in its current incarnation
UN News Centre: Political reconciliation and basic security the priorities for Somalia, new UN envoy says
Augustine Mahiga, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and the head of the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), told UN Radio that promoting reconciliation and a more inclusive political process must be a priority in a country that has not had a functioning national government in two decades.
“But this is predicated upon the existence of a modicum of security in Somalia to enable this Transitional [Federal] Government or a government that brings in other political groupings to survive,” he said.
[update: the full interview with Mahiga is available here]
-- -- --
Getting back to Bronwyn Bruton's calls against international intervention in Somalia, she argued this point in a recent week-long "debate" against the ICG's EJ Hogendoorn over at The Economist. Unsurprisingly (considering the context), the consensus there favors intervention. Some of the comments, however, where Somalis themselves -- as well as persons not from imperialist states -- are actually allowed a voice, do show signs of intelligence & good sense.
-- -- --
Garowe Online: New political feud engulfs fragile TFG
A new row has erupted between Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharma’arke over formation of a new government.
The dispute erupted after Premier handed over a new list of cabinet ministers to President Ahmed, which he rejected.
“The president rejected the PM’s list of cabinet ministers including those from Ahlu Sunnah on the grounds that he dislike of them,” said an official who works in Sharma’arke’s office.
...
New reports that emerge suggest that Ahmed is planning to depose Sharma’arke through any means possible with the support of speaker Sharif.
-- -- --
Poor attempt at PR spin here, including the shifting references, of both surname and venue.
New Vision: UPDF to leave Somalia when peace returns
THE Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) will leave Somalia once stability returns, the land forces commander, Lt. Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, said last week.
Katumba made the remarks while receiving a batch of UPDF peace-keepers at the Entebbe International Airport.
The troops from Somalia headed to Singo military base. Wamala said they would stay there for a week before getting a pass for one-month’s leave.
Wamala told journalists at the United Nations Mission in the DR Congo that Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal would send peace-keeping troops to Mogadishu. [ha ha] Only Uganda and Burundi have sent their troops so far.
He described the lack of manpower as a constraint to the achievement of peace in Somalia.
Wamala said the morale of the UPDF in Somalia greatly improved after the United Nations intervened.
“We are now fully catered for by the UN. They feed us, give us medicine and our troops no longer travel in the C130 cargo planes, but in comfortable Boeing,” he said.
Wamala explained that a lot of lives had been saved in Mogadishu.
“Our hospital treats at least 5,000 people every day. To us this is an achievement,” he said.
The contingent commandant, Col. Tumusiime Katsigazi, said attacks on UPDF had reduced.
-- -- --
Will U.S. fears of H.S.M. now be used to justify shoring up the Djibouti regime?
VOA: Djibouti Rebels Threatening Stability in Strategic Country
Analysts are expressing fear that increasing rebel activity in Djibouti in recent months could threaten the stability of one of the most strategically important nations in the Horn of Africa.
...
Djibouti, a tiny country of just 800,000 people bordering Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, has little natural resources or industry. But in the past decade, its strategic location in the Horn of Africa has turned Djibouti into a key partner for the United States and Western countries fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia and conducting counter-terrorism operations in the region.
Djibouti is home to France's largest military base in Africa, and since 2001, the U.S. military's Combined Task Force, Horn of Africa, now numbering about 3,000 troops, has been based there. The military bases earn President Guelleh's government millions of dollars every year in lease revenue.
The former French colony is also an important economic ally of the region's landlocked giant Ethiopia. Virtually all Ethiopian imports and exports pass through the port in Djibouti.
Kalpakian says there is no evidence to suggest that external actors are involved in fueling the latest round of turmoil. But he says Djibouti's ties to Ethiopia and the West leaves the country vulnerable to destabilization by groups interested in destroying those relationships. "It would not surprise me at all if we find out there was some linkage with the Shabab or with Eritrea in this mess. "If I was an opponent of the United States, one of the things I would be thinking is how to use Djibouti's internal divisions to destabilize it and to make it less of a secure toe-hold for the United States and France in the region."
-- -- --
Puntland upholds it promise to prevent the TFG's new currency from circulating there
Garowe Online: New Somali currency nabbed at Galkayo airport
Officials at Galkayo airport, in Puntland-administered central Mudug region have nabbed individuals carrying the new Somali currency, which was prohibited in the region, Radio Garowe reports.
Reports said the individuals were given the money by Somali government in Mogadishu as a payment for debt owed to the former administration of President Abdullahi Yussuf Ahmed.
However, an official from Puntland’s Finance ministry said the transitional federal government under the leadership of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is trying to disburse the currency, which was already rejected by Puntland.
“It was not payment for the people, who owe the former Somali administration but rather a test to try and see if the new shilling will penetrate Puntland,” said the official.
Puntland, government has stated that it would not allow the circulation or the usage of the currency in the areas under its control.
-- -- --
Reuters: E.Africa defence heads want Somalia troop ban lifted
A meeting of East African defence chiefs has recommended that a U.N. ban on Somalia's neighbours sending peacekeeping troops to the anarchic country should be lifted, a report obtained by Reuters showed.
More than 6,000 hard-pressed African Union troops are guarding Somalia's fragile government in Mogadishu, but a U.N. resolution does not allow the country's neighbours -- Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti -- to contribute forces to beef up the mission.
"The meeting therefore recommends the following to the council: ... seek to lift UN resolution 1725 that limits neighbouring states from deploying in Somalia," said the report on the meeting of chiefs of defence staff in Nairobi last week.
Djibouti planned to send 450 soldiers to Somalia in January to boost the AU's AMISOM peace mission, but the resolution ties the hands of the small Red Sea country.
...
A senior Somali official told Reuters their delegation did not endorse the document signed by seven defence chiefs from eastern Africa because the Somalis were concerned that unilateral intervention by neighbouring states could trigger further unrest in Somalia.
"We refused to sign the document in our country's interest and our people have a very sensitive attitude towards foreign intervention, especially from Kenya and Ethiopia, which have closed their borders with Somalia," the official, who wanted to remain unnamed, said.
"We can't allow such a deal at the moment, but if the troops come under a United Nations or African Union mandate, we can agree to that."
...
The defence chiefs' report is also seeking an expansion of the AU mission's mandate, and recommends a 22,500-strong force to stabilise Somalia.
The member states of the defence body are Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Comoros, Uganda, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia. According the Somali official, Seychelles and Comoros were not represented at the conference.
Paving the way for EASBRIG, which is supposed to be up getting its feet wet later this year?
0 comments:
Post a Comment