At least 20 people have killed and 35 others injured after bitter combat between Somali government forces backed by African Union peacekeeping troops and Al shabaab fighters broke out in al Shabaab controlled parts of Mogadishu, witnesses said on Thursday.
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Somali government soldiers and AMISOM forces managed to penetrate into more territories based by Al shabaab including Florence junction, Hamar Bille neighborhood and parts of Bakaara market and its vicinities.
Somali military officials told the Media that government forces allied with AU troops and Ahlu Sunna forces made huge gains.
The officials said they inflicted incalculable and irretrievable losses on Al shabaab, killing dozens of them.
Somali president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, said his forces made more advances in Mogadishu, urging them to keep on their combat battles against Al shabaab.
For his part, Abdi-Aziz Abu Mus’ab, the spokesman of Al shabaab said their fighters had come under attack from what he dubbed as African Crusaders and apostate soldiers of Somali government.
RBC: Mogadishu battle death toll rises
At least 25 people were killed while more than 50 others wounded in Somalia capital on Thursday after heavy battle broke out between government forces with the backing of African Union troops [AMISOM] and Al-Shabab rebels.
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..a spokesman of Al-Shabab group, Sheikh Abdiasis abu Mus’ab denied that any position was taken over from Al-Shabab saying that his fighters pushed back the government forces and AMISOM.
“They always tell lies. They were defeated in the fighting and we are proud that our fighters shown bitter battle to these crusaders”. He told the media in phone interview.
Ali Musse of the Mogadishu ambulance service told RBC Radio on Thursday night that they carried 40 wounded people to the hospital and were mostly civilians.
Meanwhile heavy fire destroyed business building in Suk Ba’ad market, the second largest market in Mogadishu. Eye witnesses told RBC Radio that the fire came as heavy shelling pounded in the market.
Somalia Report:
Eyewitnesses confirmed to Somalia Report that a mortar hit Hiliwaa district, an insurgent stronghold, killing seven residents including three from one family who were shredded by the explosion. More mortars landed in the district injuring nine people, mainly women and children.
“It was a horrible and terrifying incident. Three people from one family died in one place. We believe that the mortars were coming from AMISOM bases in Mogadishu,” Ibrahim Gadaaley, a resident in Hiliwaa district, told Somalia Report. “We carried more than ten injured civilians to the hospital who were not even part of the fight. What has AMISOM done?”
Another mortar hit in Dharkinley district of Mogadishu, a government stronghold, killing two civilian and injuring six others.
Ahmed Daaacd, one of the nurses of Keysanney Hospital, told Somalia Report that they received 15 injured people and three of them died in the hospital.
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AMISOM confirmed that al-Shabaab burned one of their tanks on Friday morning.
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Meanwhile yesterday’s fighting between government forces and al-Shabaab has badly affected communication and the community at large by destroying popular business centers.
Residents of Mogadishu told Somalia Report that Somalia’s largest internet network, Global Internet Service, has been out of service since Thursday after TFG troops seized the compound of the company in Bakara Market.
Danan Radio, an FM station in Mogadishu, is also out of service for the second day. Officials from the radio station told Somalia Report that they can’t go back on air due to the heavy fighting in the surrounding area.
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Witness told Somalia Report that some of the business centers in Bakara and Suuq-bacaad markets have been destroyed by the heavy shelling.
“Wiif business center, Nation link center (Suuq-bacaad branch), and Gargaar business center were all destroyed by the mortars,” said Hassan Nuh, a resident in Yaaqshid district. Speaking to the government troops in Wardhigley district of Mogadishu, the Deputy Chief Commander of Somali National Forces, Genera Abdihakin Yusuf Dhego Badan, ordered his troops in Mogadishu to eliminate the insurgents from the capital before the Islamic Eid begins in early September.
AP:
A medical official at Mogadishu airport said wounded AU peacekeepers were to be evacuated by airplane to Nairobi, the capital city of neighboring Kenya, to be treated of injuries they sustained in the fighting. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the press. An Associated Press reporter watched as three wounded soldiers were put in a small jet for the flight.
[Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda] said he could confirm only that two AU troops had been wounded.
Somalia Report:
witnesses said four soldiers from the African Union and eleven from the government were killed when an AMISOM mortar shell accidentally hit its own forces at the Sinai junction. “There were many journalists from local and international media, and the TFG invited us to see the bases that they captured from the insurgent," one witness told Somalia Report. "Unexpectedly a huge shell hit a place not far from us, I saw with my own eyes four AMISOM troops and 11 TFG soldiers die.”
General Abdihakin Yusuf Aden Dhego Badan, the deputy commander of the Somali national forces confirmed the event, but denied the casualties were caused by friendly fire.
Badan said that further actions were planned against al-Shabaab bases in Mogadishu, naming Mogadishu Stadium, Towfiik, Huriwaa and Suuqa-xoolaha.
AP:
The AU troops also paid a heavy price, with one official saying 19 were wounded, and some of them were put on an ambulance jet bound for Kenya.
As that last link illustrates, Ankunda has fed the press the hard-to-swallow cover story that Thursday's offensive was to clear space for aid workers under the assumption that H.S.M. may try to prevent the delivery of humanitarian supplies within Mogadishu.
The offensive, he said, was to ensure the city streets are safe for aid groups to get humanitarian supplies to the more than 20,000 famine refugees that have arrived in Mogadishu this month alone.
“The agencies have been trying to deliver. Unfortunately, al-Shabab has been bent on ensuring this aid does not reach the people,” Ankunda said. “This operation is about the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
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African Union intelligence reports have indicated there could be attacks on Mogadishu’s patchwork of ad-hoc refugee camps.
In an AMISOM press release on Thursday, Ankunda (apparently) quotes himself stating that
"We fear that they may attack internally displaced persons in Mogadishu, who are still in range of Al Shabaab mortars and indirect fire."
From Wednesday's Somalia Report: Al-Shabaab Plans New Ramadan Offensive
Despite the failure of last year’s Ramadan offensive and a recent lull in fighting, militant Islamist group al-Shabaab is sending new troops to Mogadishu for another offensive during the Muslim holy month, which begins August 1.
As many as 2,000 troops could flood the city in an attempt to regain ground lost this year to government forces and the African Union peacekeeping force (known as AMISOM), although top al-Shabaab officials gave Somalia Report conflicting figures.
“We have not attacked in the past few months since we were busy within,” Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (Abu Mansoor), former al-Shabaab spokesman and now military commander, told Somalia Report, possibly referring to internal divisions within the group.
“But we are going to give the infidels and the non-believers a true taste of Jihad come the holy blessed month of Ramadan,” he added by telephone from the insurgent stronghold of Baidoa.
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AMISOM Spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda, speaking from the Halane military base in Mogadishu, told Somalia Report the peacekeeping forces were aware of the plans...
UNHCR:
UNHCR is concerned about the protection of civilians in the Somali capital amid renewed fighting between pro- and anti-government forces. An offensive on Thursday by pro-government forces in and around the important Bakara and Balcad markets has increased the risk for Mogadishu's citizens as well as the estimated 100,000 internally displaced people (IDP) who have fled drought and famine in neighbouring regions in recent months.
UNHCR staff in Mogadishu were confined to their compound as a result of the outbreak of fighting in Wardhiglleey district mid-morning. Many inhabitants had already fled the area in recent months due to previous heavy fighting.
AP:
The AU offensive that began Thursday has seen AU troops move up the east side of Mogadishu's largest market — Bakara. The troops now control three sides of the market — the west, south and east — and AU force spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said Friday that the gains mean that tactically speaking the AU essentially controls the market.
Forces are now moving toward the city's large sports stadium, from which al-Shabab fires artillery, Ankunda said.
Mareeg Online: Shabaab claims victory over past day
Islamist group of Shabaab has on Friday claimed victory over yesterday between them and Somali national army backed by the African union peacekeeping in Mogadishu , reports said.
Spokesman of Shabab Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage Sh. Ali Dhere told their forces reached victories over past day saying they have killed number of African soldiers, burned one tank and captured military equipment, reports said.
Ali held press conference in the capital Mogadishu late today warning AU forces of what he called naked aggressive attacks against Mujahidins.
Mareeg Online: Nightfall shells kill 4, injuries 13 in Mogadishu
The warring sides exchanged mortar shells in the Mogadishu last night killing 4 and injuring 13 others in north and south of the capital, reports said.
4 of the dead and 5 of the injuries occurred in Karan district, north Mogadishu while 8 others wounded in Kahshika village in Dharkenlay district south the capital, reports said.
All the dead and injuries are reported to have civilians sleeping in their homes.
RBC:
An eye witness in Karan district on the north told RBC Radio that artillery shelling pounded in their village near Jungal where two people were killed.
One of the dead was a woman, residents confirmed.
Six persons from one family were wounded in Kahda location of Mogadishu outskirts after artillery shelling pounded their home during the night.
Meanwhile a health officer in Daynile hospital told RBC Radio that they have received several other wounded people on Friday morning.
The AMISOM spokesperson did not comment on the bombardment of the civilian populated locations when in contact with RBC Radio.
Beyond the heavy shelling there had been sporadic gun fire between the warring sides in the capital that can be heard on Friday morning which brought no details of its casualties.
At least 25 were killed and nearly 50 wounded in fierce gun battle which erupted in the capital on Thursday, officials of Mogadishu ambulance service told RBC Radio.
And continuing w/ an earlier Somalia Report link,
Residents in Wardhiigley district told Somalia Report that fighting erupted on Friday after al-Shabaab launched a fierce counter attack around Ali-kamiin conjunction and General Da’ud road, which were seized by AMISOM-TFG forces on Thursday.
“The intensity is very high and we are are very fearful. The bullets are falling on our houses and no one can go out,” said Anisa Haji, a resident in Laba-dhagah village of Mogadishu. ”We don't even have a chance to flee the area. We are still in the houses we entered two days ago.”
The number of casualties were unclear as the fighting is spreading to other areas like Laba-dhagah-village, Hamar-bile, Hamar-jadiid, Baar-Ayaan and Furayaasha.
A witness in the insurgent stronghold district of Suqa-Holaha, told Somalia Report that he saw the bodies of six AMISOM soldiers being dragged by al-Shabaab fighters from place to place.
“After the evening prayers, a vehicle carrying six bodies of AMISOM troops arrived the village and the people started to drag the bodies from place to other,” said Kafi Omar.
Although the fighting slowed down late on Friday, residents in Mogadishu fear that clashes that will erupt in the capital at any time due to the extremely tense situation.
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There have been way too many media stories misleadingly informing readers that Al Shabaab have blocked all humanitarian aid to areas under their control.
For example, DemocracyNow on Thursday reported that "Some 2.2 million Somalis residing in areas controlled by the militant group al-Shabab remain cut off from international aid."
Some of those links above state the same thing, some almost literally, such as the AP's claim that "Some 2.2 million people live in an inaccessible famine zone controlled by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab".
This is not true, as documented in last week's thread. Only a ban on specific outfits -- singled out for reasons ranging from hampering local agricultural harvest and market activities to too close of an affiliation w/ the USG and other destabilizing agents to Christian proselytizing -- remains in place.
From a Unicef press release on Friday:
To reach children as quickly as possible, UNICEF, along with its partners, has mounted a massive scale up of its operation and is using all avenues available to get supplies into the region. So far this month, the child rights’ agency has brought in enough supplementary feeding supplies for 65,000 children in the drought affected regions of Southern Somalia. These supplies are being distributed by partners on the ground.
Three flights to Mogadishu, two to Galkayo, and a flight to Baidoa, as well as two ships to Mogadishu have delivered life-saving nutritional commodities. The supplies included a total amount of 653 metric tons of Corn Soya Blend, a nutritious food, enough to feed more than 65,000 vulnerable children, and about 230 metric tons of therapeutic food to treat 16,000 severely malnourished children. Most of these nutritional supplies have already reached children in Mogadishu and the regions of Gedo, Middle Juba, Lower Juba, Bay and Lower Shabelle in southern Somalia.
UNICEF plans to further boost its supply pipeline to support the existing 325 supplementary feeding centers, 16 stabilization centers and 201 outpatient therapeutic feeding centers as well as expand outreach services to reach children in remote areas.
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“Although we have challenges, we are reaching children. For instance, this week, our partners were able to reach 3,550 children with a combination of Corn Soya Blend and ready-to-use therapeutic food in hard-to-reach areas in Qansadheere, Bay region,” said [Rozanne Chorlton, UNICEF Somalia Representative].
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UNICEF estimates it will need USD $117 million over the next six months to reach children in all of Somalia’s drought affected areas in the south with emergency and preventative assistance.
Being the single largest agency delivering therapeutic and supplementary nutrition services in Somalia, UNICEF works through a partnership with about 60 non-governmental organizations in the South.
One of those banned agencies is, of course, the WFP, whose website declares to be "the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger". The genesis of the WFP was US Food for Peace (PL 480) and the USG remains by far its largest donor.
A quick background on PL 480 -
From Raj Patel's Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
On 10 July, 1954, President Eisenhower signed Public Law 480, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, more commonly known as PL-480. While the language of the act ennobled its goal with terms of international camaraderie, PL-480 was a cunning and powerful foreign policy tool. Any US-aligned government that found itself battling worker-led organizing or, indeed, any plausibly left-wing political opposition could gain access to the US strategic grain reserve. Those countries abutted by socialist ones were bumped to the front of the queue.
And so food aid became a central part of US foreign policy, accounting for more than half of all economic aid by 1956. Between 1956 and 1960 more than one-third of the world trade in wheat was accounted for by American aid. The world price of wheat was kept artificially low through food aid, hurting growers, but hooking countries of the Global South on US largesse. In 1968, the Global South's addiction for American goods peaked - 79 per cent of all US exports went to the "Third World." It was an agenda fully subscribed to by the US. Earl Butz, Secretary of State for Agriculture under Nixon and Ford, observed: "Hungry men listen only to those who have a piece of bread. Food is a tool. It is a weapon in the US negotiating kit."
From L.S. Stavrianos'Global Rift: The Third World Comes of Age
...the impact of the Food for Peace program on Third World agriculture. Close to $30 billion worth of food was distributed by this program to over 130 countries between 1954 and 1980. Most Americans assume that this aid represents a humanitarian enterprise in support of needy peoples. In fact, the 1954 Agricultural Trade and Development Act (Public Law 480) was designed specifically to "improve the foreign relations of the United States" and to "promote the economic stability of American agriculture and the national welfare." Not until 1961 was the law's statement of purpose amended to include the goal of combating world hunger.
The need to buttress "the stability of American agriculture" was so urgent after the Korean War that the president of the American Farm Bureau warned that the accumulation food surpluses "will wreck our economy unless we can find sufficient markets to sustain the volume of production." So successful was P.L. 480 in finding the needed markets that during the first twelve years of the program, one fourth of all U.S. agricultural exports were financed by the law's easy credit terms. But the flood of U.S. food lowered food prices in the recipient countries to the point where local farmers were unable to compete. The net result was the undermining of local food production and increased reliance on U.S. food imports. This pattern was reinforced by trade associations representing the U.S. food industry, which encouraged local populations to adopt American-style eating habits, using P.L. 480 local currencies to promote their campaigns. Hence the growing shift from fish to hamburgers, from rice to bread and from local to American soft drinks.
The success of P.L. 480 not only expanded U.S. markets at the expense of Third World self-sufficiency in food but also realized the law's other objective - to "improve the foreign relations of the United States." Senator Hubert Humphrey, one of the earliest champions of the Food for Peace program, explicitly recognized and lauded this achievement before a Senate committee (1957):
I have heard ... that people may become dependent on us for food. I know that was not supposed to be good news. To me, that was good news, because before people can do anything they have got to eat. And if you are looking for a way to get people to lean on you and be dependent on you, in terms of cooperation with you, it seems to me that food dependence would be terrific.Precisely the viewpoint was expressed by Reagan's Secretary of Agriculture, John Block, during his confirmation hearing (1980): "Food is a weapon but the way to use that is to tie countries to us. That way they'll be far more reluctant to upset us." Because of adverse publicity, Block several days later changed his terminology, if not his views, by terming food "a tool for peace."
Back to the present...
From a PBS NewsHour interview w/ WFP director Josette Sheeran
NewsHour: I want to ask you about another complexion that I have seen raised, which is the U.S. anti-terror laws that restrict aid from going to a place like Somalia, where there is -- it might get into the hands of Al-Shabab now. How much has that been a factor, and do you think that perhaps, even temporarily, such restrictions need to be lifted at this point?
Josette Sheeran: Well, given the life-and-death situation, United States now has really encouraged us to get into all the areas in Somalia we can, where we can provide assurances that we're reaching the people most in need.
And so the U.S. has contributed $60 million to help the people in Somalia. And we're now reaching some of the areas that now are newly accessible. But also in the north and center, we can reach, again, over 1.5 million people.
This support is vital. And, again, we're airlifting in these nutritional products for children with the support of the U.S.
From Time's blog
Challiss McDonough, the World Food Programme's senior spokesperson for east, central and southern Africa, said that her U.N.-affiliated organization will need to take charge of feeding 11.6 million people in the region after the worst drought in decades devastated at least five countries. In Mogadishu alone, the WFP feeds over 300,000 people each day, but many of the areas in the southern part of the country may never be reachable for aid workers as the Islamist group Al-Shabaab has largely barred humanitarian efforts for the past year and a half.
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The first food delivery since the U.N. declared an official Somalian famine arrived by airlift on July 27. Ten tons of nutrition-supplemented peanut-based paste was flown into Mogadishu from Kenya, and McDonough said there are several more planned deliveries in coming weeks. Once food arrives, the WFP largely outsources distribution to other NGOs and sometimes local government, but the organization employs "rigorous monitoring and controls" to ensure that the food is reaching its intended targets, McDonough said. This means that WFP staff will occasionally visit sites to make sure that the food is not wasted.
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As deliveries are coordinated, WFP organizers are also scrambling to secure sufficient funds to continue feeding the millions going hungry in the region. Combining food, delivery and staffing costs, the WFP estimates that it is currently facing a $300 million shortfall. Funds are coming in, McDonough said, especially after the U.N. declared an official famine last week, but these will not provide a quick fix to the crisis. McDonough estimated that the organization requires a minimum of two months to turn donations into direct aid and, more often than not, the process takes between four and six months.
DOS Fact Sheet:
The U.S. is one of the largest donors of humanitarian assistance to the region, providing approximately $459 million this fiscal year to help those in need. This funding supports humanitarian assistance to refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and other drought affected populations, and builds near and longer term food security. Because emergency assistance will not solve the underlying long-term problems in the region, the U.S. Government is also working on comprehensive responses, such as through the President’s Feed the Future initiative.
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Over a month ago, the United States contributed approximately 19,000 metric tons of food aid to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) for Somalia. It is being drawn down now from prepositioned stocks in the region. This week, the United States announced it is providing an additional $21 million contribution to WFP in Somalia to benefit those in need of food assistance. Another $5 million to WFP was also announced for refugees in Kenya, bringing the total this year that the U.S. has provided to $69.6 million in food assistance for the more than 211,000 refugees in Ethiopia and 507,000 refugees in Kenya. Since September 2010, the U.S. Government has provided $20 million to WFP in Kenya for the purchase of up to 37,000 metric tons of regionally-grown corn.
The U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) and Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU), which the United States supports, have maintained a strong presence in the region for decades, enabling the humanitarian community to identify conditions based on an extensive analysis of historical and current rainfall, cropping patterns, livestock health, market prices and malnutrition rates. FEWS NET’s early warning of the crisis in the Horn of Africa has allowed the United States to alert other donors and to make sizeable, early food aid contributions and scale up emergency programs to meet the increasing needs in the region.
President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative — which helps address the root causes of hunger and undernutrition — is critical at this time. Increasing the resiliency and further developing the capacity of pastoralists to engage in a commercially viable livestock trade is crucial to breaking the disaster cycle across the Horn. By working with other donors and governments in the region, Feed the Future will increase overall agricultural production as well as increase the resiliency of pastoralists who suffer most acutely from the effects of the drought.
From an interview w/ USAID administrator Rajiv Shah at Foreign Policy magazine dated Thursday July 28:
FP: What are the biggest problems for getting aid to the worst effected people in Somalia?-- -- --
RS: The United States has been overall the largest responder, providing nearly $460 million of support and reaching nearly 4.5 million people, helping most of those people avoid falling into a condition of famine -- which is a very specific condition defined by the number of child deaths -- 2 child deaths per 10,000 per day related to food insecurity. We've been doing that in parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia -- in areas where there has been enough humanitarian access to be able to get that done. It's no coincidence that the areas the U.N. declared as meeting the definition of famine were precisely those parts of south and central Somalia that have been under al Shabab control and where humanitarian access has been limited by Shabab over the past several months to years. But now we are taking Shabab at their word -- they are saying publicly that they are going to allow humanitarian access -- so the entire global community is testing that proposition by seeking to get to, and provide services in, the most inflicted areas.
FP: How would the United States be able to do that since there are very strict Treasury Department rules that say no U.S. government money can be spent on projects if there is any risk that it will "materially benefit" a terrorist organization [which is how the United States defines al Shabab]?
RS: Well, we have made the determination and I have made the determination that Shabab has offered legitimate humanitarian access -- based on their statements and based on a negotiation led by the United Nations special representative in the region. Based on that, where there is humanitarian access, we are providing support through the World Food Program, UNICEF, and so many other partners to be able to serve people who otherwise will starve to death. That's important and we're being very aggressive in trying to reach vulnerable populations, wherever there is some degree of effective access and we're basically testing that proposition.
FP: How are we [sic] testing it? Are we [sic] actually able to get into those areas?
RS: Well, we're getting into some. And the World Food Program and UNICEF and other U.N. partners are working with local NGOs -- and some of the larger international NGOs are essentially expanding their presence into Somalia to reach more acutely effected communities in south and central Somalia. And we're collectively providing them with food and financial resources and medical support to conduct that expanded humanitarian operation.
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We have an expectation that Shabab will live up to its public word and allow unfettered humanitarian access for the purpose of saving these lives.
FP: If they don't -- and there seems to be divisions and debate within the organization -- is there any way to get aid to people in those areas by going around the group? Or is that not possible?
RS: It's quite variable across different parts of south and central Somalia. We know there are ways to provide humanitarian support that are relatively more protected than others...
FP: Such as?
RS: How you manage convoy transport and providing vouchers so people can use local markets to obtain critically needed food. And reduce the size and scope of big visible convoys. So, there are a number of different strategies that are employed. But the bottom line is they do have to allow effective humanitarian access.
Irish Times: Irish colonel to head EU Somali mission
An Irish Army colonel is to take charge of a 150-strong EU force training Somali government soldiers in Uganda, it was announced [Tuesday].-- -- --
Colonel Michael Beary is to take on the role of mission commander of the EU’s Somali training mission.
The mission, which has been in operation since May 2010, is part of an international effort to strengthen the transitional federal government’s ability to fight Islamist insurgents.
Up to 2,000 recruits are being trained in Bihanga in the west of Uganda to become non-commissioned officers.
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The EU’s mission comprises of soldiers from 14 member states, and is currently led by Spain as framework nation.
Ireland, which currently contributes three personnel, will take over the mission commander role from Col Ricardo Gonzalez Elul of the Spanish armed forces at the beginning of September.
Plenty to read in the July 18, 2011 Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea submitted in accordance with resolution 1916 (2010)
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Robert Young Pelton of Somalia Report analyzes how the Monitoring Group manages to omit the obvious answer to the question Does the US, UN and AMISOM Supply Al-Shabaab?
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While USG officials continue to lead the charge in blaming H.S.M. for the famine and displacements in southern Somalia, the months-long TFG/militia offensive to attack and unseat the group throughout the South continues...
Shabelle Media: Fighting is looming in Lower Jubba region
Tensions high and fighting is feared to break out between the forces of Somali government and Al shabaab fighters in Lower Jubba region of southern Somalia, reports said on Saturday.
Also, the opposing sides are amassing their military ability to confront each other, according to the latest reports emanating from the region.
Some 700 Somali soldiers, who have recently completed their training courses, started attempts to expand into the areas controlled by Al shabaab in the region, Dhobley outskirts in particular.
On the other hand, the Al shabaab movement also made military movement in the region to take precaution against the recently trained solders of the government.
A lot of armed fighters and battle wagons could be seen crisscrossing in the areas of Afmadow, Kismayo and Qoqani, all situate in Lower Jubba region.
Shabelle Media: Ahlu Sunna claims Al shabaab fighters slain in southern Somalia
Spokesperson for Sufi group, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein told Shabelle Media Network that the fighters of Al shabaab were killed during fighting occurred in Burdhobo district of Gedo region. Dozens more injured in the battle, according to the official.-- -- --
Mr. Hussein said they also confiscated the whole areas where the armed confrontations took place.
He noted that they are pondering plans in which they are to take control the entire southern Somalia region of Gedo, an area partially still in Al shabaab hands.
Shabelle Media: Somali soldier kills a civilian driver in Mogadishu
Somali soldier on Sunday shot and killed a civilian minibus driver in Mogadishu, witnesses said.-- -- --
Shabelle Media Network quoted the incident an eyewitness who was present at the time of shooting.
The killing came after the drive drove the minibus with speed as some water brought by the rain [splashed] the dress of the soldier and that prompted the driver to be gunned down.
Though some of Somali government forces reach at the scene for investigation and detention of perpetrator, the killer had escaped.
From a Daily Monitor interview w/ AFRICOM's Ham, US commando advises government on declaring Somalia a no-fly zone:
Some people have argued that US’s strategy on Somalia has so far been counterproductive. That while the UPDF and Burundi forces have been scoring military gains, there has been no any political progress because of serious contradictions within the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the complex Clan-based leadership system in Somalia. Do you think it’s time for a new strategy that would accommodate moderate Islamists and set a stage for peace talks to end the war?
It’s clear that the TFG is not yet a strong government but they are a government and I don’t think that there is much of an alternative to the TFG. I believe it’s in the best interest of all in the international community to do whatever is possible to make the TFG become effective and exercise its role in the leadership of the Somali people.
Ultimately, it should be the decision of the Somali people to decide what form of government they should have. Al-shabaab wants to impose their form of governance on the Somali people. The TFG position is that the people of Somalia should decide how they should be governed. To be clear, this is going to be a difficult struggle. I don’t think it’s the role of the USA to dictate what kind of government should be in Somalia but I think the international community has spoken clearly that it should be a government decided by the Somali people.
We have a meaningful relationship with the TFG and with local authorities in Puntaland and Somaliland. There is a sense, particularly in the USA that the whole of Somalia is in trouble but we in the AFRICOM know that that is not the case. The turmoil is in those areas where governance is not strong and where Al-shabaab has been able to exert their influence and take over the government.
Ham et al know very well that the TFG is not considered a legitimate government inside Somalia because it has been created outside Somalia primarily by foreigners. So when he says that the Somali people can only decide what "form" or "kind" of government they want (meaning anything other than an Islamic state), they don't get to determine the composition of that govt or its leadership. To declare that the "TFG position is that the people of Somalia should decide how they should be governed" is a polite fiction shared by those not having the actual interests of the Somalia people at heart.
The interviewer poses a question there that indicates a limited understanding of the situation in Somalia. The current incarnation of the TFG was itself an attempt to include "moderate Islamists" in an effort to secure governance against the recent revolutionary successes of political Islam across most of central & southern Somalia and set the ARS and certain clans at odds to ensure the ICU remain mostly defunct for the foreseeable future.
Recently the US offered drone assistance to UPDF and Burundi military to use against Al-shabaab. These drones are infamous for killing civilians in Afghanistan. Are you not putting innocent lives in Somalia at risk?
It should be very clear. What the US Congress approved was a package of small hand-held, remotely operated system for tactical use. They will not be operated by us; they will be operated by Ugandan forces. These are not armed systems. They have small cameras and they are able to see places where soldiers cannot go. It’s a very useful system but it will not be operated by us. We will provide training to Ugandan military to operate them in Somalia.
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The US is very proud to support the AU mission in Somalia, especially Uganda and Burundi troops who are operating inside Somalia to provide stability and security, and protect the Somali people against this extremist group who are operating in Somalia.
As you know, we have been providing training and assistance for a few years now to Uganda and Burundian troops who are deployed in Mogadishu. Recently our Congress in US approved funding to continue that programme and to add on some capabilities which previously have not been in existence.
Without getting into lots of details, the significant change has been the provision of small unmanned aerial systems which we think will be significant to Ugandans and Burundi troops. We are glad to partner with Uganda and Burundi in what we believe is a significant AU mission in Somalia.
It is quite reasonable to expect this will require on-the-job training and supervision.
After the July 11 bomb attacks in Uganda, the US sent its intelligence officers to help Uganda security agencies with the investigations but up to now FBI is yet to release its finding as regards who masterminded the bombing. Most Ugandans have been eagerly waiting for the FBI report. When should we expect this report?
I don’t think it’s for us to say. This is an attack that was conducted by the Al-shabaab against Uganda. We were asked for some support. We have some officials who are good at this type of efforts. To me, I think that it will be inappropriate to say what happened inside Uganda.
It’s one of the extreme that the Al-shabaab would go to influence those whose decisions they don’t like. They came to attack innocent people in Uganda. It’s a lesson for us in the international community that we cannot allow the Al-shabaab become a ruling force in Somalia because if that was the case, more and more of this type of attack would occur.
The man with the hammer sees mostly nails. Obviously Ham & others heard H.S.M. repeatedly state that the attacks in Uganda, as well as the continued threats against Uganda & Burundi, have been direct retaliation for the indiscriminate killing of Somali civilians in Mogadishu by the troops from those two countries. He does acknowlege H.S.M. "came to attack innocent people in Uganda", implying he is well aware of the objective. However, by ignoring the stated motive the commander, for whatever reason, clearly illustrates that no actual learning has taken place and no insight has been gained on his behalf. As much as he may not like it, H.S.M. is already & has been a "ruling force in Somalia". Perhaps he intended should H.S.M. 'become the ruling force in Somalia' then "more and more of this type of attack would occur." But, again, that makes little sense unless foreign troops continue to wage open war on Somalia. While Uganda is guilty of many crimes in Somalia and against Somalis, it does not lay claim to any Somali irredenta. And on the chance that Ham is indeed refering to fears of renewed irrendentism by a Somali govt interested in reunifying all five points on the Somali flag, it is irresponsible on all levels to conflate that w/ the retaliatory bombings in Kampala.
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Shabelle Media: Al shabaab: We killed an American officer in Mogadishu battle
The Al shabaab movement on Saturday proclaimed an American officer for training was killed in Mogadishu battles.
Speaking to the local press, Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Abu Mus’ab, the spokesman of Al shabaab fighters said the US officer was slain while giving combat instructions in the seaside city of Mogadishu.
Abu Mus’ab mentioned they have documents proving the identity and the job of the killed US official.
However, he declined to give father details including the name, the identity and information.
But, he reiterated the American has been involved in providing training course to African Union soldiers in Somalia.
RBC:
“The Mujahidin killed senior military advisor for AMISOM troops in Mogadishu. He is US citizen. He was killed in Hodan district of Thursday”. Abu Mus’ab told reporters.
He added “We will soon display his identity and all other documents we have to make it proof”.
“The man used to train AMISOM and he was also senior advisor”. He said.
The spokesman also praised Al-Shabab fighters who managed to shoot the military advisor as he warned the other military gents involving in Somalia matters will be targeted.
Somalia Report:
“He was white man and an American military expert. We are fully aware that more westerners are fighting alongside our enemy which is also the enemy of Allah,” said Abu-Musab.
The spokesman claims that they got this information from an al-Shabaab sources planted within the Somali government.
“He was killed in the area of Hodan on Friday as he was assisting AMISOM soldiers. He was rushed to the African troop’s bases where he was later confirmed to be dead,” said the spokesman.
