Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 22:28:17 +0200
A deadly Ramadan in Somalia
MOGADISHU/NAIROBI, 16 July 2014 (IRIN) - Militant group Al-Shabab has lived
up to its promise to step up attacks in Somalia, mainly against government
installations and personnel, during the holy month of Ramadan, which began
on 29 June. Over 30 people have been killed in Mogadishu alone.
On 8 July, the presidential compound was attacked during the iftar evening
meal. Assailants entered the gate using a car bomb, and then engaged in a
two-hour gun battle with palace guards, killing 14 soldiers.
On 5 July, at least four people, including two children, were killed when a
suicide car bomb was detonated outside of the parliament building. Just two
days earlier a long-time member of parliament (MP), Mohamed Mohamud, was
killed with his bodyguard when armed assailants opened fire on his car.
In response, the Somali government fired the police commissioner and head of
the intelligence agency. Abdihakim Dahir Said, the police commissioner, was
replaced by Mohamed Sheikh Ismail, while Bashir Mohamed Jama, the head of
national intelligence, was replaced by Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, on 8 July.
Since then however, attacks have continued daily. Local media reported that
the Ministry of Defence was attacked last night.
The presidential palace had previously been attacked in February, and the
parliament in May. Following the May attacks on parliament, National
Security Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled resigned. On 8 July he was
replaced by Ahmed Khalif Ereg.
Government inability to contain the violence has left many residents,
especially in Mogadishu, in a state of constant fear.
"If you go looking for bread for your children, you don't know whether or
not you will come back safely," a Mogadishu resident, who gave only his
first name, Abdinasir, told IRIN. "I don't have any hopes of it getting any
better in the foreseeable future."
"To reduce risk, I am staying indoors at night," Laila Abdi, another
Mogadishu resident, told IRIN.
Government accused of being weak, corrupt
The upsurge in terror attacks comes amid growing frustration with the state
of politics in Somalia. Critics accuse the government of being weak, corrupt
and inefficient.
In early May, over 100 MPs called on the president to resign. They cited 14
points of discontent, which included accusations of incompetence, failure to
improve the security situation, failure to implement the constitution, and
failure to revive the economy.
"The president is a spectacular failure. He did not keep a word of what he
had promised prior to his election," said Abdirahman Hosh Jibril, an MP and
former minister of constitutional affairs, who was one of the people who
signed the petition calling for President Hassan Sheikh's Mohamud's
resignation.
"The preparation of the constitutional development process is way behind
schedule, the boundaries commission has not been formed. On the security
front, the president had his own six-pillar policy, but look now, the
parliamentarians have been endangered and the presidential palace was
attacked," he told IRIN back in June, during the first set of attacks on
major government posts.
Since March, when African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops and the
Somali National Army launched a renewed offensive to capture towns in
south-central Somalia controlled by Al-Shabab, the militant organization has
fought back, targeting government and international organizations.
They have successfully attacked all three branches of government, the
judiciary, executive and the legislative, and have launched regular attacks
in Mogadishu. The armed forces, weakened by
<http://www.irinnews.org/report/100141/shortages-clan-rivalries-weaken-somal
ia-s-new-army> clan rivalries, equipment shortages, corruption and
indiscipline, appear powerless to keep people safe.
"The Somali government does not have a regular army. The force's loyalty is
questionable. They are more accountable to their clans than the federal
government of Somalia," Abdisakur Sheikh Hassan, a lecturer and political
analyst, told IRIN. "We need a national army whose main concern is defending
the nation at all cost and bringing back security and stability."
"To make matters worse, elements of Al Shabab have also infiltrated the
security apparatus," he added.
Somali police spokesman Qasim Ahmed Roble, however, rejected claims of
corruption and dubious alliances on the part of the security forces. "We are
working 24/7 to protect the people of Somalia. The accusation that we are
mixed up with politics is not true. Security is not a political
institution," he told IRIN.
But in towns where Al-Shabab has retreated, it still controls access routes,
and has been blocking off supplies. Combined with poor rains and a
disruption to the planting schedule due to hostilities, the UN and many
international organizations are now warning of the possibility of a
<http://www.irinnews.org/report/100051/somalia-at-risk-of-relapse> new
famine in the coming months.
One third of the population is in need of aid, and NGOs have been warning
that communities are just "one shock away from disaster." On 13 July,
Turkish relief organizations, who represented some of the only international
charities that still worked in Somalia,
<http://www.raxanreeb.com/2014/07/somalia-turkey-orders-their-workers-in-mog
adishu-to-suspend-operations-due-to-insecurity/> suspended their work in
Mogadishu, according to local media.
"The elements that could tip Somalia into an acute crisis now stand before
us - drought, continued conflict, restricted flow of commercial goods,
increasing malnutrition and surging food prices," noted the UN Humanitarian
Coordinator for Somalia, Philippe Lazzarini, in a
<http://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/drought-conditions-set-worsen-somalia-f
ood-crisis-statement-philippe-lazzarini> press statement on July 8.
Broader governance problems
Some see the shuffle in security positions as an important step forward,
particularly the appointment of the experienced Ahmed Khalif Ereg as
minister for national security, though the president's decisions will
probably continue to trouble him.
"Many of the policy decisions the president made early on have caught up
with him. For example, he appointed only 10 ministers whereas the smallest
[previous] cabinets were 18 or 25. This made a lot of politicians unhappy,"
Abdirashid Hashi, deputy director of Mogadishu-based think tank Heritage
Institute of Policy Studies told IRIN.
Meddling in the creation of due-to-be-formed federal member states, as the
government attempts to implement a federal system, has also led to a lot of
animosity.
"The process to form federal member states has been disorganized and
inorganic. All state formation conferences thus far and negotiations to
resolve subsequent disputes have been non-inclusive in some way - making the
battlefield the preferred venue," Tres Thomas an East Africa analyst and PhD
candidate at George Mason University, told IRIN. Under the constitution that
creates a devolved governance system, federal member states form the
sub-national units of government.
"For example, in the Juba region, pro-Somali government ASWJ [militia
group], and Interim Juba Administration forces recently clashed in the Gedo
region [part of the proposed Jubaland] because the
<http://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2013/Aug/40895/agreement_between_the_federal_g
overnment_of_somalia_and_jubba_delegation.aspx#sthash.XYGU77jT.dpbs> Addis
Ababa agreement - reached after the controversial Jubaland conference - was
an incomplete and non-inclusive political settlement."
The Addis Ababa agreement creates a federal state of Jubaland, which will
incorporate the territories of Gedo, Middle Juba and Lower Juba. But this
agreement has run in parallel with other state building initiatives in the
same region, and the process has been marred by
<http://www.irinnews.org/report/99600/briefing-can-federalism-work-in-somali
a> confusion, mistrust and sporadic clashes.
"Anger will build among many players until the Somali government is seen as
genuinely trying to do some consensus-building on a fair federalism process
that benefits all stakeholders and reconciles decades-long grievances,"
Thomas added.
"The political mood in Mogadishu is gloomy and citizens are not happy about
the disorientation and lack of focus among politicians," said Hashi.
"The whole government system is confused. Taking one guy out and bringing
another in won't change much," Abdifitah Gelle, a Mogadishu resident, told
IRIN. "There is a need for a complete reboot of the system."
<http://www.irinnews.org/Photo/Details/201407101123330329/Captured-suspected
-Al-Shabab-militants-wait-to-be-taken-in-for-interrogation-in-Mogadishu>
http://www.irinnews.org/photo/Download.aspx?Source=Report&Year=2014&ImageID=
201407101123330329&Width=490
Photo: <https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/14175446636> UN Photo/Tobin
Jones
Captured suspected Al-Shabab militants wait to be taken in for interrogation
in Mogadishu
(image/jpeg attachment: image001.jpg)