THE new UPDF contingent commander in Somalia, Col. Paul Lokech, has taken over the office from Col. Mikael Ondoga, who now goes to the US for studies.
Lokech took over office at a function presided over by the commander of the land forces, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, at Base Camp Halane in Mogadishu recently.
The overall commander of the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) forces, Maj. Nathan Mugisha, together with several officers attended the function.
As highlighted recently from AFRICOM's 2011 posture statement,
A notable IMET participant from Uganda is Major General Nathan Mugisha—the commander of the African Union‘s peacekeeping mission Somalia; a U.S. Army War College graduate.
Returing to the New Vision article,
Katumba urged Lokech to consolidate the achievements made and expand the area under his command so that the Somalis are liberated from the notorious ... al-Shabaab...-- -- --
UPDF fighting alongside soldiers of the Somalia transitional federal government, are in full control of six districts.
The al-Shabaab controls the northern Mogadishu districts of Huruwai, Karan and Yaqshid. The districts of Abdul Aziz, Scibis, Bondere, Hawlwaderg and Hodan are under intense fighting between the AU forces and the al-Shabaab.
But Katumba said he was optimistic that they will fall in the hands of the African mission soon.
“The advantage we have is that we have captured most strategic positions and we shall take over others soon.”
Over the weekend, Katumba toured the frontlines at Bondere, Dabka, Shigalle, Maaka al Mukarama, Terebunka, El’Hingi and Wardhigley.
At Shigalle, Katumba and other top UPDF soldiers were almost trapped in a dilapidated building as al-Shabaab snipers fired towards them for over one hour.
A commander in the area, Lt. Col. Anthonty Lukwago, pointed at one of the buildings, saying: “They are just there about 50 metres from here. We need to make groups of three people to cross to another point.”
He ordered a fighter tank to fire and create a safe path for the soldiers to leave.
Shabelle Media: Somali govt threatens to capture Jubba regions in a week
Somali government official on Tuesday threatened that their forces will launch attacks against al Shabaab and confiscate the Jubba regions in southern Somalia within a week.
Mohamed Farah Dahir, the spokesman of Somali troops in Jubba regions, said in interview with Shabelle Media Network that Somali army in the region [were] ready to conclude combats with Al shabaab in those regions as soon as possible.
AFP: Clashes over southwest Somalia town kill 26
Clashes between pro-government forces and Shebab rebels for control of a town in southwest Somalia claimed 26 lives, sources said Tuesday.
Fighting broke out late Monday in in Garbaharey, a town in the Gedo region bordering on Ethiopia and Kenya.
...
"So far we've counted 26 corpses and I think there are others in the more outlying districts. The fighting is the worst we've ever seen in this area," a local official Hussein Abdulle told AFP.
"The number of victims is getting close to 30 and most of them are fighters. The situation is calm this morning (Tuesday), and government forces are in control of the town," Ahmed Muhidin, a resident of Garbaharey said.
Mareeg Online:
According to our correspondent in the region, this is the heaviest fighting in years with casualties reported from both warring sides and the civilians as well.-- -- --
The fighting which lasted close to eight hours resulted in many casualties, according to local residents; dead combatants corpses can be seen at the fighting scene with both sides preparing for next round of fighting.
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Local independent sources have confirmed more than fifty people are dead including combatants and civilians. An entire pastoralist family has been reportedly wiped-out when they caught between the warring sides.
Mareeg Online: Al Shabaab Ambushes TFG Military Convoy in Gedo
Miltia men loyal to Al-Shabaab have ambushed TFG convoy carrying senior military commanders on Tuesday.
According to media reports, eight people were killed from the both sides including senior Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa militia commanders in the region.
Officials from Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa later denied they’ve lost any leaders or commanders in this Al-shabaab ambush and claimed they’ve killed at least ten Al-shabaab fighters in Maykarebay area of Gedo region after heavy fighting.
The governor claimed they killed at least 10 Al shabaab fighters were slain after heavy clash in the village of Maykarebay in Gedo region.
Independent sources have said that Abdirashid Janan TFG’s Dolow district commissioner was injured in this Al-Shabaab attack.
TFG also claimed the killing of Shiekh Fu’ad Mohammed Khalaf who is senior Swedish Al-Shabaab leader of Somali origin. a claim that later was dismissed by Sheikh Fu’ad him self in an interview with local media outlets.
Shabelle Media: Al shabaab says Ahlu Sunna’s chairman of Gedo region killed
Sheikh Abdi-aziz Abu Mus’ab, the spokesman of Al shabaab told the local media [on Thursday] that Sheikh Hassan Sheikh Ahmed, better known as Qoryoley, the chairman of Somalia’s moderate group of Ahlu Sunna Waljama ASWJ in Gedo region, died from his wounds sustained from ambush attack in Garbaharey town.
Abu Mus’ab said that the official died in a medical facility in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya on Wednesday night.
Sheikh Isaq Hussein, an Ahlu Sunna officer, confirmed the death of their leader while speaking to Shabelle Media Network.
Mareeg Online:
According to members of the Sufi Movement, Sheikh Qoryooley was severely injured following an I.E.D attack on his vehicle by Al-Shabaab and was urgently flown to Nairobi to receive further medical treatment. He later passed away surrounded by family members and some of his close associates at one of the major Nairobi hospitals.-- -- --
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Sheikh Hassan Qoryoley is widely believed to be one of the key elements behind Ahlu Sunna movement and his sudden absence at this critical stage would severely harm the TFG and Ahlu Sunna efforts to bring an end to Al-Shabaab’s rampage in Somalia.
Reuters: ANALYSIS-Bin Laden death will not dampen Somali insurgency
..while Washington has branded the militant Islamist movement al Qaeda's proxy in the Horn of Africa, analysts say it never fell under the operational control of bin Laden's network.-- -- --
Al Shabaab is battling to overthrow the Western-backed government and impose a harsh version of sharia law on the nation, although its predominately nationalist agenda is also coloured by clan rivalries and money-making rackets.
"The death of Osama bin Laden will have minimal impact on the al Shabaab rank and file, nearly all of whom are young Somalis and few of whom are ideologically motivated," said David Shinn, an adjunct professor of international affairs at George Washington University and a former U.S. envoy to Ethiopia.
"Bin Laden was never a major draw for them."
Nor does al Shabaab appear to lean heavily on al Qaeda for funding, instead appealing to the diaspora, taxing businesses and the popular mild narcotic khat, and controlling commerce through several ports in areas it runs.
"A handful of top al Shabaab members might have fought with al Qaeda and a handful of al Qaeda members might have taken refuge among al Shabaab, but al Shabaab's fighting capability is not correlated to al Qaeda," said Stratfor's Mark Schroeder.
From Ban Ki-moon's April 28th report on Somalia
44. During the reporting period, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea met on 9 February and on 11 March 2011.
45. At the 9 February meeting, the Coordinator of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea presented the Group’s midterm briefing to the Committee, pursuant to paragraph 6 (j) of resolution 1916 (2010) focusing on a variety of threats to peace and stability, as well as continuing violations of the general and complete arms embargo. He noted that Al-Shabaab had transformed itself into an overt and largely self-sustaining entity that derived significant revenues from taxation, notably at the port of Kismaayo. He informed the Committee that the Group had also noted with concern the growing activities of private security companies in violation of the arms embargo.
Contrast that 'self-sustaining' assessment to some of Ki-moon's statements re the TFG...
75. Stipends for the Somali military are being paid regularly thanks to the funding made available by the United States of America and Italy. To address frequent changes in the payroll, the United States assisted the Transitional Federal Government to introduce a biometric database in January 2011.-- -- --
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78. In Mogadishu, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) continued to support the running costs of the police headquarters, its criminal investigations division and eight police stations. In January, UNDP completed the payment of stipends for 2,322 officers, covering arrears from September to December 2009. UNPOS, through Japanese funding, will cover payment of stipends for the period from January to May 2010. UNPOS is coordinating with key partners on an appropriate payment mechanism and on ensuring stipend payments from June 2010 on.
...
95. The European Union agreed to continue to provide financial support to AMISOM for the first half of 2011. As part of the agreement, it will provide an additional EUR 65.9 million to the African Union, bringing the total allocation to AMISOM to EUR 208 million since 2007. The European Union agreed to increase the allowance for AMISOM troops to United Nations levels and to continue to cover personnel and operational costs.
96. To date, the trust fund in support of AMISOM has received approximately $38.3 million. During the reporting period, it received $2 million from Saudi Arabia, $1.8 million from Denmark for military (non-lethal) purposes, as well as $3.8 million from the United Kingdom for military and medical purposes. The United Kingdom confirmed its intention to make a further contribution without caveats of $2.5 million.
97. During the reporting period, the trust fund in support of the Somali security institutions has received a second contribution of $10 million from Japan as part of its continuing support to the Somali police force. Of the total of $22 million contributed to the trust fund since 2009, the fund has an uncommitted amount of $400,000 million. Saudi Arabia has pledged a contribution of $6 million.
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104. Speeding up the deployment of additional troops for AMISOM, as authorized by the Security Council, has never been more urgent. A stronger AMISOM would help the Transitional Federal Government to bring and sustain more territory under its control and to begin delivering services to the Somali people. I welcome the decision by the African Union and the European Union to increase the allowances for AMISOM troops to United Nations levels. I am, however, concerned that resource gaps continue to adversely impact the Mission’s effectiveness, possibly discouraging troop contributors. I reiterate the Security Council’s call in resolution 1964 (2010) for Member States to contribute generously and promptly to the United Nations trust fund in support of AMISOM without caveats, or to make direct bilateral donations. I thank those Member States and regional organizations which have already responded to this call.
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109. Somalia urgently needs more help from its international partners. It faces levels of violence, damaging weather conditions and insecurity that would shake even stable countries. AMISOM and the Transitional Federal Government have made some progress, but they need additional support. The international community must keep its end of the bargain. The Transitional Federal Government urgently needs assistance for Mogadishu’s stabilization, recovery and reconstruction. If we reinforce the military gains, provide humanitarian relief and achieve political progress, we can set Somalia on course to greater stability and peace. If we fail, we risk a growing humanitarian crisis, a deteriorating security situation and a worsening threat to regional peace and stability.
Globe and Mail:
It was supposed to be proof of how peace and stability have progressed in Mogadishu: For the first time, a small group of foreign journalists would be permitted a brief walk in the streets of the world's most dangerous city. The public-relations officers who polish the image of the African Union military force in Somalia (known as AMISOM) boasted that the city was now safe enough for us to stroll freely.-- -- --
It turned out to be a tightly guarded, 500-metre hustle from the gate of the airport military base to another heavily guarded military post. We were required to wear body armour and helmets, and military vehicles rumbled alertly behind us, while the PR people urged us to hurry up. Somali civilians laughed and waved, but we were told there was no time to talk to them.
Everywhere else in Mogadishu, we travelled like the rest of the soldiers – in South African-made Casspirs, massive armoured vehicles with V-shaped hulls to withstand land mines and improvised explosive devices. Through the tanks' murky windows, the civilians were silent shadows, beyond hope of contact.
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The 9,000 Western-armed troops of the African Union are waging a painfully slow battle, fighting from house to house, advancing only a few hundred metres on the best of days, and then consolidating their positions with mountains of sandbags as they wait for the inevitable counterattacks from the Islamic militants. To defend its gains, AMISOM deploys its soldiers every few metres along a network of newly dug trenches, where they sleep and fight in 12-hour shifts, rarely leaving their posts.
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Knowing that they need foreign support to survive, the AMISOM peacekeepers and their UN allies have launched a charm offensive, hiring two British public-relations firms to lobby the international media. They took us to the front lines of Mogadishu, where we spent two days inspecting the latest territorial gains.
The situation was sometimes confused and chaotic. At one forward position, our convoy came under a sudden volley of fierce fire. Our Ugandan military escorts fought back with the heavy machine guns mounted on the top of our armoured vehicles, until we were finally ordered to retreat.
Elsewhere on the front lines, AMISOM soldiers crouch behind walls of sandbags, in trenches or bombed-out houses, amidst a cacophony of gunfire. They stare down the scopes of their assault rifles into the concrete jungle beyond. When they see a flicker of movement, they squeeze the trigger. A moment later, invariably, a rebel fighter replies, and there is the whine of an incoming bullet, a lethal reminder that the militants of al-Shabab are still here, concealed in their maze of trenches and foxholes, just a hundred metres away.
AMISOM claims, after its latest offensive, that it now controls 60 per cent of Mogadishu. The claim may be exaggerated. Certainly its losses have been heavy. An estimated 50 to 80 of its Ugandan and Burundian troops were reportedly killed in the latest offensive. But there is no official confirmation of the casualty numbers, because AMISOM refuses to discuss it. “We don’t want to demoralize our soldiers,” said one senior officer. “It would give courage to the enemy.”
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“You can’t be a peacekeeper when you’re under attack every day,” says the AMISOM spokesman, Major Barigye Ba-Hoku. “You can’t even call it peace enforcement. It is war. Look how many soldiers, how many bullets and how much time is needed for us to capture even one block of Mogadishu.”
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Officially, there are 10,000 troops in the Somali army. But only a small fraction are of any value. “The majority are sick or old or incapacitated,” says Ugandan contingent commander, Colonel Michael Ondoga.
As well, the troops are often unreliable. Many don’t even bother to wear military uniforms. Their AMISOM commanders are scathing.
“I don’t normally take them to strategic points,” says Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Mbuusi, a senior Ugandan officer. “We could end up shooting at each other because they are dressed the same as the enemy.”
And Col. Ondoga questions the recruits’ loyalties. “There are cases where they take commands from their warlords, not from us,” he says. “When they recover guns from the enemy, they should send them to the central authorities, but instead they keep the guns. It’s a problem for me, because they’re not under my control.”
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Even if AMISOM gets more help, it cannot win this war with heavy weaponry and troop reinforcements alone. This is also a battle for the hearts and minds of the Somali people. Many Somalis are deeply angered by the “collateral damage” caused by AMISOM’s artillery and tank weapons. Hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed or wounded by AMISOM during its attacks on the rebels.
In a bullet-scarred building near the front lines, Lance-Corporal Richard Magona picks up a child and offers him sweets. “We have to show them love,” he says. “We show them that we are not the bad guys – we are protecting them from al-Shabab.”
But it is hard to win that struggle when Somalia’s official authorities still lack any democratic mandate from the people. Created by foreign[ers], the parliament and government are both unpopular.
Another selection from Ban Ki-moon's report, linked earlier
69. AMISOM has taken steps towards restricting operations that will indiscriminately harm civilians by refining its policy on the use of indirect fire. In February, the African Union deployed an international expert team to Mogadishu to assess the indirect fire practices of AMISOM with a view to mitigating civilian harm and making amends for civilian losses incurred during combat operations. The recommendations were broadly agreed by AMISOM; they will require increased capabilities for which the force would need international support and additional resources. Donor support for the proposed holistic approach to improving AMISOM operations and mitigating civilian harm is essential.
70. UNSOA has provided enhanced strategic communication support to AMISOM, including for the Mission’s efforts to effectively respond to the issue of civilian casualties. Radio Bar Kulan, which is broadcasting around the clock in Mogadishu, is one of the three most popular radio stations, according to public opinion polls. An information support team is permanently co-located with AMISOM in Mogadishu. UNPOS and UNSOA have established a coordination mechanism to harmonize planning and implementation of cross-cutting strategic communications activities in support of Somalia’s peace and security efforts.
71. The United Nations Office to the African Union has assisted AMISOM in recruiting civilian staff for the Mission, strengthening its public information offices and updating the AMISOM communications strategy and the strategy on the protection of civilians.
EastAfrican: Uganda remains US pointman in EA
The radicals in Mogadishu argue that the 7/11 twin bombings were small beer compared with the daily bombardments of civilians by the UPDF in the Somali capital.-- -- --
Somali nationalists hold Museveni’s army responsible for over 15,000 civilians who have died at the hands of the AU peacekeeping force.
Without his troops in Mogadishu, innocent Somalis would not be “uprooted, massacred and shelled daily by the US backed Uganda-Burundi occupying forces with 40 tonnes of weapons shipped directly under the explicit orders of President Obama,” wrote Omar Hashi in the Ethiopian Review last August.
And while his influence still hovers over the region, the Americans are happy to have him around.
This, in fact, scores a double shot for Museveni.
On the one hand, the Americans want him to tackle the Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda menace, while he too gets to stick around as the East African Federation takes shape.
RBC: Unpaid government forces vacate Gusar village
Somalia government forces have reportedly vacated Gusar village, 50 km away from Elwak town of Gedo region, residents told RBC Radio.
The government forces withdrew the village on Saturday afternoon after argument on salaries broke between the forces and their commanders in Elwak town.
The Unpaid soldiers then moved from Gusar to Elwak, a town near Kenya border sources told RBC Radio.
Gusar was among several strategic towns and villages in Gedo region that Somalia government forces and allied Ahlu suna militia seized from Al-Shabab last month.
Reliable sources confirm the fighters of Al-Shabab re-entered Gusar village which is now under their control.
Shabelle Media:
Sources confirmed that the forces were not paid in the last few months.
Mareeg Online:
Buursaar is relatively small village that fall between the two key strategic towns of Garbahaarey and Balathawo in Gedo region of southern Somalia, the village has been recently captured by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the Sufi Islamist Militia of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a after the bloody battle with Al-Shabaab that took place two weeks ago.-- -- --
Immediately after TFG and Ahlu Sunna’s withdrawal, Al-Shabaab mobilized their fighters positioned in nearby villages and successfully captured the village without any fighting.
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Al-Shabaab’s spokes person in Gedo vowed that they will not rest until they gain back control of all Gedo region towns that have been captured recently by the combined forces of TFG and Ahlu Sunna.
Shabelle Media: Clash among Somali forces leaves 2 dead
Some of Somali government soldiers on Sunday clashed in Mogadishu’s Dharkenley, an incident repeatedly occurs in the capital.
At least two soldiers killed and four others including civilian people wounded in that confrontation.
The clash erupted after some of the soldiers robbed humanitarian aid destined to distribute needy internally displaced people in Mogadishu.
After that, others Somali forces attacked their colleagues to prevent from taking the humanitarian food.
Fighting in Somali interim federal government forces is common and repetitive in Somalia, particularly in the seaside Mogadishu.
Mareeg Online:
The clashes erupted when TFG soldiers tried to stop some of their comrades from looting nearby Food-Aid warehouse where the distribution of food aid for internally displaced people and other volnurable groups have being taking place for months, the distribution was disrupted by TFG soldiers who looted the shipment for their own benefit.-- -- --
According to an eye witness;TFG soldiers clashed in a battle lasted for approximately an hour causing civilian injuries and serious damage to properties owned by civilians.
Shabelle Media: Al shabaab: Osama’s death will not hurt our struggle against TFG
The Al shabaab movement, which controls large swaths of southern and central Somalis, proclaimed the killing of Osama Bin laden, the founder and leader of Al Qaeda, would not hurt Al shabaab’s struggle against the transitional federal government of Somalia and African Union peacekeepers.
Speaking to the local media in Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of Al shabaab said that Al shabaab is committed to remove the transitional government.
He said that Al shabaab will continue fighting until the country falls in their hands.
Rage also pointed out their primary goal is to purge Somali government AU forces from Somalia completely.
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