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COUNTER-PIRACY UPDATES
STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra - 03. November 2011)
PROTECTING AND MONITORING LIFE, BIODIVERSITY AND THE ECOSYSTEMS OF SOMALIA AND ITS SEAS SINCE 1986 - ECOTERRA Intl.
ECOTERRA Intl. and ECOP-marine serve concerning the counter-piracy issues as advocacy groups in their capacity as human rights, marine and maritime monitors as well as in co-operation with numerous other organizations, groups and individuals as information clearing-house. In difficult cases we have successfully served as mediators, helped hostages to get medical or humanitarian relief and released, assisted in negotiations and helped the families of victims. Our focus to make piracy an issue of the past is concentrating on holistic coastal development as key to uplift communities from abhorrent poverty and to secure their marine and coastal ecosystems against any harm.
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STATUS-SUMMARY:
Today, 03. November 2011 at 20h00 UTC, at least 28 larger plus 18 smaller foreign vessels plus one stranded barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 480 hostages or captives - including a South-African yachting couple, two (or now only one) frail elderly ladies and four aid-workers - suffer to be released.
But even EU NAVFOR, who mostly only counts high-value, often British insured vessels, admitted now that many dozens of vessels were sea-jacked despite their multi-million Euro efforts to protect shipping.
Having come under pressure, EU NAVFOR's operation ATALANTA felt now compelled to publish their updated piracy facts for those vessels, which EU NAVFOR admits had not been protected from pirates and were abducted. EU NAVFOR also admitted in February 2011 for the first time that actually a larger number of vessels and crews is held hostage than those listed on their file.
Since EU NAVFOR's inception at the end of 2008 the piracy off Somalia started in earnest and it has now completely escalated. Only knowledgeable analysts recognized the link.
Please see the situation map of the PIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA (2011) and the CPU-ARCHIVE
ECOTERRA members can also request the Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor for background info.
- see also HELD HOSTAGE BY PIRATES OFF SOMALIA
and don't forget that SOMALI PIRACY IS CUT-THROAT CAPITALISM
WHAT THE NAVIES OFF SOMALIA NEVER SEE:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/05/fighting_for_control_of_somali.html
What Foreign Soldiers in Somalia and even their Officers Never Seem to Realize:
The Scramble For Somalia
PEACE KEEPERS OR BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENTS ?
SG Ban Ki-Moon (UN) and President Ram Baran Yadav (Nepal) should resign and take the responsibility for 4,500 Haitians having been killed by a Cholera strain introduced by unchecked, so-called UN Peace-Keepers from Nepal into Haiti.
LATEST:
STILL ALMOST 500 SEAFARERS ARE HELD HOSTAGE IN SOMALIA !
ECOTERRA Intl. has been the first group to clearly and publicly state that the piracy phenomenon off the Somali coasts can only become an issue of the past again, if tangible and sustainable, appropriate and holistic development for the coastal communities kicks in. Solutions to piracy have to tackle the root causes: Abhorrent poverty, environmental degradation, injustice, outside interference. While still billions are spend for the navies, for the general militarization or for mercenaries or conferences, still no real and financially substantial help is coming forward to pacify and develop the coastal areas of Somalia ir to help the Somali people and government to protect and police their own waters.
Updates and latest news on known cases of piracy - see the status section :
As earlier today reported on our top-priority-list:
GREEK BULKER RELEASED BY SOMALI PIRATES AFTER 10 MONTH HOSTAGE ORDEAL (ECOP-marine)MV BLIDA was released today after a ransom drop yesterday and the crew is in good condition, given the circumstances.Captain Vitali and the Chief Officer called ECOTERRA Intl. at midday to relay the message to the diplomatic missions, thanking everybody involved in the release efforts.
The captain confirmed that the remaining crew of 25 - two sailors had to have a medical evacuation earlier - is all right and happy that they will reach in about five days Mombasa in Kenya.
The released ship and crew are now escorted by a naval vessel through this still dangerous stretch of water.
Algeria's foreign ministry spokesman Amar Belani acknowledged the release and was then quoted by the official APS news agency as saying: "Algeria will make every effort to ensure that the perpetrators of this act of piracy are prosecuted and tried by the competent bodies." He confirmed to AFP that Algiers had paid no ransom in line with its official policy.
Also Ukraine's Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko (Kostiantyn Hryschenko) confirmed the release on Thursday, saying that the vessel will reach safe port soon. "The Ukrainian Embassy in Greece has just reported that the Blida, which has five of our countrymen aboard, was released by Somali pirates today. The ship has been sent to a safe port." The Foreign Minister ordered diplomatic institutions and the departments of consular services to keep the situation under control so that the sailors can return safely to their homeland. He also said: "I am happy to say that no Ukrainian sailor is currently being held by pirates."
EU NAVFOR has neither reported on the release of MV BLIDA nor on the sea-jacking of MT LIQUID VELVET last Monday and seem to concentrate in their reporting more on the social events taking place in their naval circus.
On October 11, the Somali pirates allowed two sick sailors from MV BLIDA, an Algerian who had suffered from a cardiac arrest and an - actually under-aged - Ukrainian crew-member, who had suffered a knee injury, to be taken off the ship by helicopter and to a navy ship, which transported them to Djibouti for further medical treatment. The way to do the Medevac this way and not by plane from Nairobi or Djibouti was caused not by a refusal of the pirates - as some reports falsely stated - but because the present conditions set by the UN and players in the medical evacuation business made an immediate flight from Nairobi impossible, though the pirates as well as the local authorities responsible for the Somali regional states of Galmudug and Puntland had given the green light.
"Even the medical evacuation needs are now surrounded by Mafia-like structures, pseudo-official restrictions and money-hungry businesses," stated a humanitarian coordinator and added "like almost all sectors concerning the Horn of Africa. Straight humanitarian work is severely hampered and has become extremely difficult and dangerous - not just due to the Somali factors and the Somali actors, who are often much more helpful in real emergencies and appreciative to humanitarian work than "institutionalised" or business players, who throw their dark shadows onto Somalia from neighbouring countries or pseudo-governance arrangements fostered by the UN and other so called "official" overlords."BACKGROUND: (ecop-marine)MV BLIDA : Seized January 01, 2011. At 15h36 UTC (12h36 LT) of New Year's day, the bulk carrier MV BLIDA (IMO 7705635) was attacked by an armed Pirate Action Group of four men in one skiff, which had been launched from earlier pirated MV HANNIBAL II at position Latitude: 15 28N Longitude: 055 51E. The location is approximately 150 nautical miles South East of the port of Salalah, Oman. EU NAVFOR and NATO confirmed the sea-jacking. The 20,586 tonne Bulk Carrier is Algerian flagged and owned. The vessel was on her way to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from Salalah in Oman at the time of the attack. The bulker has a multinational crew of 27 seafarers (17 Algerian, 6 Ukrainian - incl. captain-, 2 Filipinos, 1 Indonesian and 1 Jordanian). The official version is that the vessel is carrying a 24,000 tonnes cargo of Clinker. MV BLIDA was registered for protection with MSC(HOA) but had not reported to UKMTO, EU NAVFOR stated, but did not explain why the vessel was not protected - especially because the vessel used as pirate-launch - MV HANNIBAL II - was reported earlier by NATO to be in the area. Ship manager of MV BLIDA is SEKUR HOLDINGS INC of Piraeus, Greece and registered owner is INTERNATIONAL BULK CARRIER of Algeria. The manager could for the first time on 05. January contact the Ukrainian captain who said the 27-member crew is safe, the Ukrainian foreign ministry in Kiev said. The captain of the Blida bulk carrier told the Greek manager that "no crew member had been injured" during the attack last Saturday and that the sailors were in "satisfactory" condition. Shipping in Algeria is a government monopoly run by the Algerian state, the National Corporation for Maritime Transport and the Algerian National Navigation Company (Société Nationale de Transports Maritimes et Compagnie Nationale Algérienne de Navigation--SNTM-CNAN). Earlier on 05. January, shipcharterer IBC said it had received no ransom demand from the unidentified pirates who seized the vessel. "I don't know who will pay, but I repeat that we have not received such a demand," Nasseredine Mansouri, head of International Bulk Carriers (IBC), an Algerian-Saudi company specialising in maritime cargo transport, told AFP. Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz said on 06. January his country would not pay a ransom. Belaiz said in a statement to the press that Algeria was the first country to have "called, before the UN general assembly, for the payment of ransom to criminals and kidnappers to become a criminal act". Paying ransom encourages criminals and finances terrorism, he said. "Algeria does not pay ransom," he said adding that the kidnapped crew had been able to contact their families by telephone. The vessel had arrived in Somalia and was moored off Garacad at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia as marine observers reported, but then left for a piracy spree and was observed on 22. January 2011 in position Latitude: 09 54N Longitude: 052 56E with course 049 degrees and speed 8.6 kts conducting mother-ship operations.The Somali pirates were urged to let the vessel go in solidarity with the people of Algeria, but still the vessel and crew are held at Ceel Caduur north of Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast, while negotiations have not really been forthcoming.Algeria has now launched a formal appeal for the release of all hostages held in Africa, including the Algerians captured by Somali pirates early this year, according to Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci. When asked about the 17 Algerian sailors captured aboard the MV Blida in January, Medelci said that they were in "good condition". "The Algerian authorities are monitoring the situation and are in regular contact with them through ship owner International Bulk Carriers (IBC), who are negotiating their release," he said. Toudji Azzedine, from the city of Dellys in Boumerdes province, was among the detained sailors. According to his family, the last communication they had with him was on May 24th. They were told that the crew were in dire conditions. The water (being fed) is dirty, the food rancid," said Abdelkader Achour, whose brother is among the 27 captives. "We ask the Algerian authorities to intervene to speed up their release," he added. The appeal launched by Medelci came two days after the families of the hostages assembled in front of the IBC headquarters to denounce the authorities' silence regarding the sailors' fate and to demand President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's intervention to save their lives. The 80-year-old mother of Ismail Kehli, from Algiers, was among the participants. After hearing about her son's abduction, she suffered from paraplegia and was hospitalised. "What does the minister want from this appeal?" she wondered. "Does he want to say that Algeria will not pay ransom to save the sailors and they will remain there for many years?"In June 2011 sailor Moundeer Abdul-Rahmango called on Algerian authorities to do more to pave the way for the seamen's release, saying the 17 have been facing heavy-handed and unyielding practices from Somali pirates. He made his appeal during a phone call with his family back home and said he and others hope they will be rescued before the holy Muslim month of Ramadhan, starting in August.Relatives of 17 Algerian sailors held by pirates since January then demonstrated at the beginning of Ramadhan to demand their release, saying they feared the men would not survive Somalia's famine and the Ramadhan fast."Seventeen Algerian sailors spend the month of Ramadhan in Somalia, the country of famine," said a banner at a sit-in by about 30 relatives of the Algerians in central Algiers. "When we last spoke with them by telephone, on July 9, they told us that they would do the fast whatever the conditions of their detention," the brother of one of the captives, Abdelkader Achour, told AFP."With their being fed, when they are, with pasta and dirty water, I fear that they will return them to us in coffins," he said, also referring to temperatures of more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). The government says it is "fully mobilised" and following the matter closely. Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz said in January that Algeria will not pay ransom, saying it encourages criminals and finances terrorism. This speech apparently angered the pirate gang and the crew is reportedly in bad condition, while negotiations have not yet concluded. As the holy month of Ramadhan closed with Eid al Fitr celebrations in the Muslim world, the Ukrainian captain of MV BLIDA, held by Somali pirates since over 8 months, reached out to a humanitarian organization for help, because the crew has no more food, no medicine and no clean water. Most of the crew suffer from high fever due to unknown infections, the captain stated, and he fears that some might have caught a Malaria while no appropriate medical help is provided. Captain Valentin stated to the regional office of ECOTERRA Intl. that he hadn't heard anything about any ongoing negotiations for their release, which allegedly were near a conclusion as the Greek management company stated to Ukrainian diplomatic offices.ECOTERRA Intl. had already earlier appealed to the elders of the pirate gang holding this vessel to ensure that ship and crew are released without conditions.The governments of Algeria and Greece as well as the ombudsman for human rights of the Ukrainian parliament have now been informed about the grave situation of their nationals as well as the other hostages on board of that vessel in order to establish the truth concerning the efforts by the Greek management or the Algerian owner to secure the release of the vessel, because the Algerian owner's hands seem to be bound by the Algerian policy, which stands against any ransom payment, and the captain stated that he had not heard from the Greek management company for a long time (see details below). Allegedly the negotiations broke down one month ago, and family members of the Algerian seafarers among the crew held demonstrations against the inactivity of their government, while their next of kin had to observe a sad Ramadhan in a hostage situation - suffering from a crime, which is outlawed by all teachings of the Holy Quran.The MV BLIDA and her crew were then held off the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia between Garacad and Ceel Dhanaane, while the pirates still demanded a multi-million dollar ransom for the release. A renewed call for help was received on 06. September 2011 from Captain Valentin as well as the Chief Officer and they described again the desperate situation of the crew and demanded help from the Greek Management company to secure the release of the vessel.
Requested by the shipowner, it then was achieved to deliver food and drinking water as well as medicine and fuel to the vessel.A critical situation on 10. September could be averted and the final arrangements for a release appeared to be underway, when suddenly the translator was fired on 08. October 2011 by the pirates - providing for a setback and further distress to the crew. Industry sources maintain that two major companies involved in the lucrative business of ransom drops and usually working out of Dubai and Nairobi try to frustrate the deals of each other by playing their respective Somali cards.
Realizing that the achieved release deal was broken by the pirates , one crew member suffered on 09. October 2011 a serious heart attack. With remote assistance from a humanitarian organization and their cardiologist the sailor could be stabilized, but due to the severity of the condition and with the consent of the pirates the sick Algerian national as well as an under-aged Ukrainian crew-member were evacuated to a naval vessel. Transferred via Djibouti the seafarer survived.
The remaining 25 crew, were still held on the vessel off Garacad, while a new release agreement.was negotiated between the Greek manager and the new negotiator for the pirates, who after an outrageous increase then settled for a more reasonable sum. The ransom then was dropped on 02. November 2011.
NATO WARNING NOT RELAXED
INDICATION OF PIRATE MOTHERSHIP
Suspicious Activity
This mother ship is now heading back to the Somali coast but the assessment NATO previously reported as no longer posing a threat and heading to the Somali coast; has been re-assessed as a THREAT.
It was last seen in position 1656N 05649E on 2 Nov at 06h11 UTC.
©2011 - ecoterra / ecop-marine - articles above are exclusive reports and, if not specifically ©-marked , free for publication as long as cited correctly and the source is quoted.
The maritime articles below are cleared or commented. If you don't find a specific article, it most likely was not worth to be republished here, but if you feel we have overlooked an important publication, please mail it to us.
What you always wanted to know about piracy, but never dared to ask:
SEARCH THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE INTERNET PORTAL ON PIRACY
Who sends a ship to the waters off east Africa with a one-man, unarmed security force?
Apparently the Greek owners of the Chemical Tanker Liquid Velvet aren’t big fans of armed security teams on board their vessels. In their infinite wisdom, they assumed that the unarmed Australian “advisor” they hired could defend the ship against pirates with his bare hands.
The plan failed, and now the vessel’s Filipino crew and the Australian are in the hands of Somali terrorists.
I realize that quite a few shipping companies, and countries, out there have taken a hard line approach to this issue, one that is clearly working, but seriously, when is the rest of global shipping community going to realize that you can’t defend against AK-47s and RPGs with firehoses, loud horns, evasive manoeuvres, and unarmed security teams?
Ship owner takes responsibility for 21 Filipino seamen's release -- DFA (Interaksyon)
The owner of the Marshall Island-flagged, Greek-owned chemical and oil tanker is taking responsibility for the release of the crew that included 21 Filipino seamen, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
On confirming the newest abduction, DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said this latest incident brings to 43 Filipino seamen on board five ships in the hands of Somali pirates.
MT Liquid Velvet was hijacked by Somali pirates on October 31, 2011 at 2:13 p.m., as the vessel was approaching the Gulf of Aden on its way to Mormugao, India.
Hernandez said the families of the crew members were already informed by the local manning agency of the abduction.
At the same time, the DFA has instructed the Philippine embassies in Nairobi and Manama to monitor the situation and coordinate with the Combined Maritime Forces, as well as the Philippine embassy in Athens, on the negotiations being undertaken by the vessel’s principal with the pirates.
With the end of monsoon season, Somali gunmen are expected to venture into calmer seas where they have caused havoc in recent years, targeting vessels for ransom.
Two decades of lawlessness which has carved up Somalia into mini-fiefdoms ruled by gunmen and militia has encouraged piracy.
At least 47 foreign vessels and more than 500 sailors are held by pirates, according to Ecoterra International, an NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region.
Pirate kidnap: families taking strain By Thrishni Subramoney (EastCoastRadio)
South Africans are still rallying around the families of two Durbanites who were kidnapped off the coast of Kenya last October.
Bluff couple Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz have been held by Somali pirates for just over a year now.
The pirates are demanding a ransom of $4-million for their release.
Bruno's sister, Vera Hecht, who has been negotiating with the pirates, says both families are under enormous emotional and financial strain.
She says she was allowed to speak to her brother and Debbie two weeks ago.
Hecht says it was clear from the conversation that both of them are trying hard to be strong.
"I could hear that Bruno was taking strain, was under extreme pressure and very obedient, you know, you just follow the instructions. As he passed the phone over to Debbie: 'follow the instructions!', we heard them say that, and before Debbie left the phone she said 'please tell my kids I love them'," said Hecht.
For more information, you can visit the webpage set up in support of Pelizzari and Calitz www.sosbrunodebbie.co.za
“To sail the Gulf of Aden is like playing Russian Roulette” (EUNAVFOR)
Christian Colombo, a former French Navy sailor and his wife were on their way to fulfil their dream. They were sailing to see the world in their yacht, the SY TRIBAL KAT until this dream was destroyed in the most traumatic way.
The TRIBAL KAT was attacked by Somali suspect criminals off the coast of Yemen while passing through the Gulf of Aden. Christian Colombo was killed during the attack, his body thrown overboard and his wife taken against her will by the suspect criminals. She was being moved by skiff towards Somalia when by a combination of good fortune, considering the vast area to be searched, and close cooperation between the French frigate SURCOUF, a United States Navy maritime patrol aircraft and the Spanish ship GALICIA, a complex operation and dangerous rescue mission by EUNAVFOR succeeded in recovering Mrs. Colombo uninjured.
The SY TRIBAL KAT was only the most recent of about 10 yachts attacked and their crews captured by Somali suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in the past three years.
Nearly every recorded attack on a yacht has led to the crew being taken hostage and moved to Somalia where they were kept on land, their yachts being discarded. SY ROCKALL was completely stripped of everything onboard including the engine.
On land, the level of risk and hardship on the hostages is increased. They are removed from their familiar environment and exposed to a rough country with a harsh, hot climate. Often, hostages are held in the most basic conditions, i.e. no electricity, no sanitary installations, rationed basic food and water. Pirates have frequently moved hostages at short notice to avoid detection, increasing the stress and strain for the hostages.
The ordeal hostages have to endure can include every form of abuse. Physical and psychological mistreatment can include physical violence and mock executions. In some cases, crews and families have been separated for extended periods of time exposing hostages to the stress of uncertainty on the fate of their partner or child. When hostages were separated, pirates have simulated killing one or more of the hostages with machine gun fire out of sight of the remainder to increase the pressure for a ransom to be paid; the hostages are assumed to be very rich and the ransom demands can be for millions of dollars.
On average, maritime hostages have been held for over 7 months. However, for Paul and Rachel Chandler from the SY LYNN RIVAL, their captivity lasted 388 days in the Somali bush. They were eventually released after payment of a ransom however others are not so fortunate; French yacht-owner, husband and father, Florent Lemacon, was killed [by French forces] in April 2009 during the liberation of the SY TANIT. In February 2011, pirates shot and killed four Americans aboard the SY QUEST off the coast of Somalia when U.S. naval forces were trying to negotiate their release.
The presence of warships from EUNAVFOR, NATO and the Coalition Maritime Force, in addition to other naval forces, in the Gulf of Aden has significantly reduced the success of piracy attacks in this area. However, there remains a serious and increasing threat from piracy from the southern Red Sea, through the Bab el-Mandeb to the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia and into the Indian Ocean. This area is the same size as Western Europe and there are only between 12 and 18 warships in the area, with far higher priority tasking than protection of yachts and their crews, so if attacked, the chance of release is remote.
The risks to yachts from pirates are significant – they operate from one or more small skiffs, able to reach up to 25 knots. Increasingly, pirates use small arms fire and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) to stop and board vessels. Attacks have taken place mostly during the day, but pirates have also attacked at night. Pirates are likely to be aggressive, highly agitated, and possibly under the influence of drugs, (including khat, an amphetamine like stimulant).
Yachts cannot out-run the pirates and are unable to prevent boarding. Merchant ships, which have higher freeboards and can adopt the self-protection measures recommended in the fourth edition of “Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy” (BMP) improve their chances but even these only delay a determined pirate.
There is only one sure way of avoiding your yacht and crew being captured – freight the yacht across the high-risk area.
Otherwise you could be playing Russian Roulette with your crew and family.
Mumbai police to re-interrogate jailed pirates on fresh inputs (PTI)
City Police are set to re-interrogate over 120 pirates, currently lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, following inputs that one of them is a senior commander who knows about the operations strategies in the high seas, with the help of interpreters, police said today.
Since most of the sea brigands are Somalians, the police are also writing to Somali Embassy in Delhi through the Ministry of External Affairs to grant permission to Somali students, studying in various educational institutions in Pune, to help them in the interrogation of the pirates due to the language barrier.
"The process of writing to Somali embassy seeking help of the students from that nation is on. After the interrogation, if we manage to find out the syndicate's key member who can reveal us more information on their operations, it will help the Indian Navy in making effective assaults on pirates' attacks," said a police official at Yellow gate police station.
Earlier, Somali government had refused to send interpreters citing lack of resources. After arresting the pirates earlier, police managed to interrogate them with the help of a Mumbai-based interpreter.
Indian warships have been escorting merchant vessels in the Indian Ocean as part of international anti-piracy efforts and the Navy and Coast Guard have captured over 120 pirates, mostly Somali nationals, over the past few months in different operations. According to various reports, pirates currently hold some 30 ships and more than 600 hostages.
10 Somali pirates get that sinking feeling by Jon Cuthbert (ASC)
The Appeal Court in Muscat has handed down life sentences to 10 Somali pirates, reports Gulf News.
The pirates faced court after endeavoring to hijack a vessel waiting outside Raysut Port in south western Oman.
The offenders were foiled in their attempt by the Royal Navy of Oman, Coast Guard and Royal Air Force of Oman, whom did not need to fire a single shot in arresting the pirates.
FIRST KENYA SAID THESE WERE "PIRATES" - NOW THEY WERE ALLEGEDLY "AL-SHABAAB".
IS SOMEBODY KEEPING WATCH ?
18 Shabaab killed as Kenya sinks boat By Bernhard Momanyi (CapitaFM)
Kenya Navy forces on Wednesday sunk a skiff transporting fuel to Al Shabaab fighters in Somalia, killing 18 insurgents.Military Spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir said the skiff was sunk in the Indian Ocean at about 5pm on Wednesday as it headed to Kuday inside Somalia.
“A skiff laden with 18 Al Shabaab fighters was transporting fuel to Kuday. The Kenya Navy intercepted the skiff and sunk it killing all the militants,” the military spokesman said in a statement late on Thursday.
Chirchir also announced that they had learnt that Al Shabaab fighters had resorted to using alternative means of transporting their weapons, but assured that security had been intensified in all targeted regions.
“Information reaching us confirms that Al Shabaab has resorted to using donkeys to transport their weapons,” he said, adding that “The locals use donkeys to fetch water for domestic use. However, due to the heavy rains water fetching is not feasible.”
He said any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys would be considered as Al Shabaab activity.
The Kenyan defence forces have also warned aircraft owners to avoid landing them in Baidoa “because they will be considered a security threat.”
He said an aircraft had been over flying their troops in all the three sectors secured in Somalia and warned that it will not be tolerated.
“Further unauthorised over flying on the said region will be considered a threat. In addition, all aircrafts are hereby warned not to land in Baidoa,” he warned. He added; “Anyone violating this will be doing so at their peril.”
Since Al Shabaab started using donkeys to transport weapons, Chirchir said the cost of donkeys even on the Kenyan side of the border had shot up, raising fears they were sold across to Somalia.
He said donkeys had been trading at Sh22, 500 but their cost had shot up to Sh30, 000.
“Kenyans dealing in donkey trade along the Kenya-Somali border are advised not to sell their animals to Al Shabaab as it would undermine our efforts in Somalia,” he warned.
Al Shabaab insurgents have lately accelerated their pace of arming themselves following warnings by the Kenyan troops advancing towards Kismayu, one of their major targets as they seek to eliminate Al Shabaab presence to pave the way for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) authority.
On Tuesday, the militants received two planeloads of arms followed by another one delivered to them on Wednesday morning, according to the army spokesman.
Asked to state the possible source of the armament supplies to Al Shabaab fighters, Chirchir said “at this point we are concentrating on how to disarm the enemy.”
Eritrea has been accused of supplying arms by air and sea to the Al Qaeda-linked fighters, but Asmara has repeatedly denied the claims.
On Tuesday, the defence headquarters in Nairobi warned residents in 10 Al Shabaab-controlled regions South of Somalia to beware of a major assault planned by its troops who were advancing towards the port of Kismayu.
Chirchir said Baidoa, Baadheere, Baydhabo, Dinsur and Afgooye were among the areas Kenyan troops intended to hit as they head to the Al Shabaab-controlled port which is their major source of revenue and contraband.
Regions of Bwale, Barawe and Jilib also remain under imminent attack of Kenyan troops.
“In line with the Kenya Defence Forces strategy of diminishing Al Shabaab effectiveness and weapon use, the aforementioned towns will remain under imminent attack. Residents in the towns are advised to avoid contact with Al Shabaab militia,” Chirchir warned.
Kenya’s military chief Julius Karangi has vowed his forces will only pull out of Somalia “when the Kenyan government and the people of this country feel they are safe enough.”
(*) Bernhard Momanyi is a full time journalist and mainly writes crime-related stories at Capital FM. He has practiced journalism for 10 years both in print and electronic media. He studied Information Sciences at Moi University, Nairobi campus where he specialized in Publishing and Media. He also holds a Diploma in Journalism and Public Relations.
From the SMCM (Somali Marine and Coastal Monitor): (and with a view on news of events with an impact on Somalia)
The articles below - except where stated otherwise - are reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and are for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions held by ECOTERRA Intl.
Articles below were vetted and basically found to report correctly - or otherwise are commented.
Somalis say:
NO TO UN-TRUSTEESHIP OVER SOMALIA AND NO TO AU AND IGAD MILITARIZATION
NO foreign or local military governance on land or foreign naval governance on the Somali seas.
NO to any threat infringing on the sovereignty of Somalia, especially concerning the 200nm territorial waters, given since 1972, and the 200nm EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone / UNCLOS) already in place since 1989 as well as the 350nm continental shelf zone.
NO to any Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in relief food or Genetically Engineered (GE) seed supplies.
Somali rebels ready Kismayu to repel Kenyan strikes (Reuters)
Rebels linked to al Qaeda mounted weapons on rooftops, dug trenches and armed students to defend the southern Somali port of Kismayu from an expected onslaught by Kenya's military.
Kenya's army has warned Somalis to stay away from al Shabaab bases in 10 southern towns due to "imminent strikes", but nearly three weeks into their cross-border operation, Kenyan and Somali government troops are bogged down by heavy rains and thick mud.
Kenya issued the warning after it received intelligence reports that consignments of weapons had reached al Shabaab militants in the rebel-controlled town of Baidoa.
"They have put their weapons over us. Every high house in the city is a defence for al Shabaab," said Fatuma Ali, a resident in Kismayu who lives next to the rebels' military base.
"Since Kenya mentioned the 10 towns, al Shabaab have been readying all their weapons and small arms," she said.
Spurred on by a wave of kidnappings and attacks on its soil, Kenya is the latest country to be drawn into the conflict in Somalia, which has had no effective government for two decades.
While Kenya has east Africa's biggest economy, some analysts say it lacks the military muscle to deal a mortal blow to al Shabaab, whose ultimate aim is to impose its own strict version of Sharia law across the Horn of Africa country.
Other residents in Kismayu, al Shabaab's nerve centre, the militants were digging trenches in the city and handing out weapons to some students to confront the Kenyans.
"They gave arms to people and they're telling them to stay and defend the country from foreigners," said resident Amina Mahmoud in Kismayu. "They said yesterday evening: 'Everyone of you who dies here is a mujahid and will enter paradise'."
There were no reports on Thursday of any air raids since Kenya sent out its warning two days ago. But fearful of a confrontation, Somalis were trying to flee towns, only to be stopped by militants who want them to stay and fight.
"They've refused to let us out, and we don't have any money to leave. Some people are trying to flee but the heavy rain is not giving them a chance," said Ali.
On Wednesday residents in the strategic town of Afmadow said al Shabaab had also ordered them to stay at home.
Afmadow is a strategic transit point for contraband smuggled through Kismayu port and is seen as a likely flashpoint for a confrontation between Kenyan forces and al Shabaab militants.
Kenyan and Somali government troops, in addition to militia nominally allied to the Somalia's Western-backed government, have set up forward positions close to Afmadow.
Somali rebels say will subject Kenya to 'endless war' (AFP)
Somalia's Shebab rebels said Thursday they were building defences that would plunge Kenyan forces battling them into an "endless war."As Kenyan forces prepared to assault rebel position after moving into Shebab-controlled southern Somalia last month, army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir warned militants were moving weapons by air and donkeys.
"The Shebab mujahideen will defend Somalia, and will put Kenya into an endless war," the Al-Qaeda-linked rebels said in statement.
"We will defeat you like the other major countries that have suffered when they attacked Somalia, you will see the consequences."
Since Somalia spiralled into civil war in 1991, several foreign armies -- including US forces, UN peacekeepers and a 2006 Ethiopian invasion -- have failed to create stability in the anarchic nation.
Chirchir said that the rebels, who he claimed had received three planeloads of arms this week, were now transporting the weapons on donkeys.
"Information reaching us confirms that Al Shebab has resorted to using donkeys to transport their weapons," Chirchir said in a statement.
"Thus, any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys will be considered as Al Shebab activity."
Kenya has warned residents in 10 southern Somali towns to leave Shebab-held areas ahead of an imminent attack, and on Wednesday sunk a small boat off the southern Somali coast carrying 18 men it said were Shebab fighters.
"The Kenya Navy intercepted the skiff and sunk it killing all the militants," Chirchir added.
The militants however dismissed the reported air deliveries as an excuse by Kenya to legitimise civilian deaths ahead of the expected assault.
"This is cheap propaganda to legalise the indiscriminate killing of Somalis," the Shebab statement added, posted in Somali on an Islamist website.
Kenya has said it will probe reports of civilian deaths when its warplanes struck the rebel-held town of Jilib at the weekend, where aid agency Doctors Without Borders said five civilians were killed.
Rebels however said they feared that there could be more civilian deaths when Kenya ramps up its military attacks on its positions.
"This is a plan to carry out collective punishment against the Muslim people of Somalia... the killing of civilians at Jilib by Kenya is clear testimony of this," the Shebab statement added.
WITH DRONES AGAINST DONKEYS - BUT THEY KILL PEOPLE!
US drone raids kill over 120 in 2 days (PressTV)
At least 127 people have been killed in separate US assassination drone strikes in Somalia and Pakistan's northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan over the past two days.On Thursday, 41 people were killed and 33 others were injured when the US military launched a assassination drone attack on the outskirts of Hoomboy town, which is situated in Somalia's southern region of the Middle Juba.
The aerial attack followed a US assassination strike against Jamame town in Somalia's southern Jubbada Hoose region. At least 28 people were killed and dozens more were wounded.
Meanwhile, at least three people were killed in a non-UN-sanctioned US assassination drone attack on Pakistan's northwestern region of North Waziristan on Thursday.
The attack took place in Darpa Khel village, which is located about four kilometers (two miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in the district of North Waziristan.
Local security officials said a drone fired two missiles on a compound in the attack.
On Wednesday, the US remote-controlled assassination drones launched aerial attacks on Qeydar and Marodile villages, which are situated between Guriceel and Balanbale districts in Somalia's central region of Galguduud.
Somali tribal elders said that at least 38 people were killed and more than 74 people were also injured in the strikes.
Earlier in the day, 20 people were killed and 60 others were injured after a US assassination drone launched a strike on the outskirts of Kismayo, a strategically important port city on Somalia's Indian Ocean coast located some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The US says its remote-controlled unmanned assassination drones target militants. However, reports have shown that most of those killed in such aerial attacks are civilians.
US terror drones kill 41 more in Somalia (PressTV)
At least 41 people have been killed in a US assassination drone attack near the country's border with Kenya, Press TV reported.The US remote-controlled drones launched an aerial attack on the outskirts of Hoomboy town, which is situated in Somalia's southern region of the Middle Juba.
The aerial attack followed a US assassination strike against Jamame town in Somalia's southern Jubbada Hoose region earlier on Thursday. At least 28 people were killed and dozens more were wounded.
Somalia is the sixth country where the United States has used remote-controlled drone aircraft to launch deadly missile strikes.
On October 28, the United States admitted to flying unmanned aerial vehicles from Ethiopia.
"The US has unarmed and unmanned aircraft at a facility there (Ethiopia) to be used only for surveillance as part of a broad, sustained integrated campaign to counter terrorism," Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby said.
The confirmation appeared a day after The Washington Post revealed in a report that the US flies “armed” drones from an airfield in Ethiopia's southern city of Arba Minch.
The US military has also used drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world.
US drone attack kill 20 Somalis (PressTV)
A US drone attack has killed 20 civilians and injured 60 others in southern Somalia, Press TV reports.The US assassination drone carried out the attacks on Wednesday morning on the outskirts of Kismayo city, leaving 20 people dead and 60 others, mostly women and children, injured.
Somali security sources have also told Press TV that another drone attack in Kismayo killed dozens of al-Shabab fighters.
Kenya Bombs Somali IDP Camp By Jessica Hatcher(ThinkAfricaPress)
Kenya's bombing of a Somali IDP camp exposes the confusion and dangerous lack of intelligence at the operation's core.
Since May, approximately 7,500 Somalis have flocked to the town of Jibil in south-central Somalia seeking refuge from the twin threats of terror and famine. On Sunday, aid workers in the medical centre at a regional refugee camp heard an explosion approximately 300 metres away.
Hungry, war-town women and children watched low-flying military jets pass over their camp and drop bombs on two locations. Medecin Sans Frontieres declared three children and two women dead while 52 required treatment. The wounded were almost all injured by shrapnel; nearly two thirds of them were children. According to eyewitnesses, Kenya Air Force jets carried out the strike.
Major Emmanuel Chirchir, a spokesman for the Kenyan army, explained to the BBC, "we received intelligence that a top Al-Shabaab leader was to visit a camp in Jilib so we conducted an air raid". This was before reports of civilian casualties surfaced.
When asked to comment at a press conference on whether the Kenya Air Force had in fact bombed an IDP camp in Somalia, Prime Minister Raila Odinga dismissed the attack as "Al-Shabaab propaganda". Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the Kenyan airstrike had hit an Al-Shabaab vehicle, which drove into the camp before exploding. Clearly neither explanation satisfies the truth.
History of errors
This slipshod bombing does not inspire confidence, and it is not the only military blunder to raise alarm bells. The first casualty sustained by Kenyan troops was a member of the navy deployed to rescue Marie Dedieu from her kidnappers. He drowned because he could not swim. The next five losses sustained were the result of a helicopter crash on Kenyan soil that Kenya claims was due to pilot error or mechanical failure following take-off. However, an unnamed eyewitness told Reuters that the aircraft flew in at high speed from Somalia before crash-landing, and reports have suggested that the helicopter had met with anti-aircraft fire. With all passengers killed, definitive answers are not available but the lack of clarity is concerning.
At Kenya's first military press briefing in history on Saturday, the Chief of Defence, General Julius Waweru Karangi, said that this military operation was not premeditated.
"We were able to have done what we have done so far within 10 days," he said. "At no time did we plan to enter Somalia at all." Does such haste explain the catalogue of errors we see unfolding? And if so, as Kenyan forces approach their greatest trial yet in the battle for Kismayo, an Al-Shabaab coastal stronghold, what will Kenya's allies, those with money and the resources to help, do about it?
Alliances and proxy warfare
On Monday, Kenya and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government jointly appealed to the “big countries and big organisations” to support a naval blockade on the port of Kismayo. It is thought that without the control of Kismayo, al-Shabaab funding will dry up. Last week, Kenya's Chief of Defence described Britain and the U.S. amongst other nations as "friends” from whom they received both logistical and financial support.
Last Thursday the Washington Post revealed that the US has been flying drones over Somalia from a remote airport in southern Ethiopia. When asked to clarify this, the Air Force underlined the temporary status of their personnel in Ethiopia, but confirmed they are working on "a range of regional security missions, including surveillance, counter-terrorism, and bilateral security engagements".
Reports suggest Britain is involved in similarly proxy warfare. There are unconfirmed reports of SAS and SBS activity in south-central Somalia. The Ministry of Defence confirmed "a range of support across the territory of Somalia". The British government has committed to an average spend of $100 million per year in Somalia until 2015. This is especially significant given that Britain only announced its first aid package to Somalia in March 2010, pledging $8.7 million in response to evidence that Somalia could become a safe-haven for al-Qaeda militants.
Somalia on the international agenda
Somalia's security status and its impact on the West is now a high priority for Britain. This follows the attempted bombing of London's underground train network in 2005 by four bombers, two of whom were of Somali origin, the suicide bomb attack in Baidoa, southern Somalia, in 2009, carried out by a former UK university student, which killed 20 Ethiopian soldiers, and the arrest last month of two British teenagers by a Kenyan anti-terrorist unit attempting to enter Somalia “to join the holy war”, according to the father of one of the boys.
Training African Union troops to fight in Somalia is a focal point for Britain. Last week it was revealed in the British press that Royal Marine Commandos visited the northern province of Somaliland to facilitate talks with a senior member of the community. This was billed as the first time British troops have touched Somali soil in 40 years.
The British Army has in fact sent two groups into Somalia in the last year. The second was a small team from the Joint Forces Head Quarters, a specialist unit prepared for quick deployment, that went to Uganda in the summer of 2011.
"The team made a brief visit to Somalia is to gain crucial awareness of the situation on the ground in order to provide the most appropriate form of training to the UPDF,” said a Ministry of Defence spokesperson.
Speaking on Saturday at Kenya's press briefing, an official from the Kenya government said that they have “a great deal of intelligence” on the whereabouts of al-Shabaab operatives, both in Kenya and in Somalia. However, if the bombing of IDP camps is the outcome of this intelligence then the statement should be heeded with caution. Speaking off the record, the official confirmed that much of Kenya's intelligence is sourced from her foreign “friends”. How those friends respond to Kenya's latest appeal for support and whether their intelligence can be trusted remains to be seen.
Mine blast kills 18 civilians in Somalia (PressTV)Hungry, war-town women and children watched low-flying military jets pass over their camp and drop bombs on two locations. Medecin Sans Frontieres declared three children and two women dead while 52 required treatment. The wounded were almost all injured by shrapnel; nearly two thirds of them were children. According to eyewitnesses, Kenya Air Force jets carried out the strike.
Major Emmanuel Chirchir, a spokesman for the Kenyan army, explained to the BBC, "we received intelligence that a top Al-Shabaab leader was to visit a camp in Jilib so we conducted an air raid". This was before reports of civilian casualties surfaced.
When asked to comment at a press conference on whether the Kenya Air Force had in fact bombed an IDP camp in Somalia, Prime Minister Raila Odinga dismissed the attack as "Al-Shabaab propaganda". Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the Kenyan airstrike had hit an Al-Shabaab vehicle, which drove into the camp before exploding. Clearly neither explanation satisfies the truth.
History of errors
This slipshod bombing does not inspire confidence, and it is not the only military blunder to raise alarm bells. The first casualty sustained by Kenyan troops was a member of the navy deployed to rescue Marie Dedieu from her kidnappers. He drowned because he could not swim. The next five losses sustained were the result of a helicopter crash on Kenyan soil that Kenya claims was due to pilot error or mechanical failure following take-off. However, an unnamed eyewitness told Reuters that the aircraft flew in at high speed from Somalia before crash-landing, and reports have suggested that the helicopter had met with anti-aircraft fire. With all passengers killed, definitive answers are not available but the lack of clarity is concerning.
At Kenya's first military press briefing in history on Saturday, the Chief of Defence, General Julius Waweru Karangi, said that this military operation was not premeditated.
"We were able to have done what we have done so far within 10 days," he said. "At no time did we plan to enter Somalia at all." Does such haste explain the catalogue of errors we see unfolding? And if so, as Kenyan forces approach their greatest trial yet in the battle for Kismayo, an Al-Shabaab coastal stronghold, what will Kenya's allies, those with money and the resources to help, do about it?
Alliances and proxy warfare
On Monday, Kenya and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government jointly appealed to the “big countries and big organisations” to support a naval blockade on the port of Kismayo. It is thought that without the control of Kismayo, al-Shabaab funding will dry up. Last week, Kenya's Chief of Defence described Britain and the U.S. amongst other nations as "friends” from whom they received both logistical and financial support.
Last Thursday the Washington Post revealed that the US has been flying drones over Somalia from a remote airport in southern Ethiopia. When asked to clarify this, the Air Force underlined the temporary status of their personnel in Ethiopia, but confirmed they are working on "a range of regional security missions, including surveillance, counter-terrorism, and bilateral security engagements".
Reports suggest Britain is involved in similarly proxy warfare. There are unconfirmed reports of SAS and SBS activity in south-central Somalia. The Ministry of Defence confirmed "a range of support across the territory of Somalia". The British government has committed to an average spend of $100 million per year in Somalia until 2015. This is especially significant given that Britain only announced its first aid package to Somalia in March 2010, pledging $8.7 million in response to evidence that Somalia could become a safe-haven for al-Qaeda militants.
Somalia on the international agenda
Somalia's security status and its impact on the West is now a high priority for Britain. This follows the attempted bombing of London's underground train network in 2005 by four bombers, two of whom were of Somali origin, the suicide bomb attack in Baidoa, southern Somalia, in 2009, carried out by a former UK university student, which killed 20 Ethiopian soldiers, and the arrest last month of two British teenagers by a Kenyan anti-terrorist unit attempting to enter Somalia “to join the holy war”, according to the father of one of the boys.
Training African Union troops to fight in Somalia is a focal point for Britain. Last week it was revealed in the British press that Royal Marine Commandos visited the northern province of Somaliland to facilitate talks with a senior member of the community. This was billed as the first time British troops have touched Somali soil in 40 years.
The British Army has in fact sent two groups into Somalia in the last year. The second was a small team from the Joint Forces Head Quarters, a specialist unit prepared for quick deployment, that went to Uganda in the summer of 2011.
"The team made a brief visit to Somalia is to gain crucial awareness of the situation on the ground in order to provide the most appropriate form of training to the UPDF,” said a Ministry of Defence spokesperson.
Speaking on Saturday at Kenya's press briefing, an official from the Kenya government said that they have “a great deal of intelligence” on the whereabouts of al-Shabaab operatives, both in Kenya and in Somalia. However, if the bombing of IDP camps is the outcome of this intelligence then the statement should be heeded with caution. Speaking off the record, the official confirmed that much of Kenya's intelligence is sourced from her foreign “friends”. How those friends respond to Kenya's latest appeal for support and whether their intelligence can be trusted remains to be seen.
At least eighteen civilians have been killed after a powerful explosion ripped through the capital of the Bay region in south-central Somalia, Press TV reported.
The victims, among them five children, died on Wednesday morning after an improvised explosive device, which had been buried under the ground, exploded in Baidoa city, situated 256 kilometers (159 miles) northwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world.
Ethiopian Military Crosses the Border (ShabelleMedia)
Guri El — Forces of Ethiopian military on Tuesday crossed the border into Somalia at the side of Galgudud region of country's center.
Witnesses told Shabelle Media Network that eight military wagons carrying Ethiopian forces could been seen the villages Qeydar and Marodile which situate between the districts of Guri El and Banbal in central horn Africa nation.
Sheikh Ismail, one of the residents in Galgudud region, confirmed to Shabelle that they entered the region.He said the Ethiopians told the locals they have came to observe the overall atmosphere in the area.
Forces from Ethiopia routinely cross into southern and central Somalia because it fears Islamists whose numbers are growing, experts said.
US cautious over plans to blockade Somali port (AFP)
The United States reacted cautiously Wednesday to an appeal from Kenya and Somalia for international support to impose a blockade on the rebel-held Somali port of Kismayo.
"Blockades are generally difficult to enforce and may have unintended consequences in the midst of a humanitarian crisis," the State Department said in a statement.The United States reacted cautiously Wednesday to an appeal from Kenya and Somalia for international support to impose a blockade on the rebel-held Somali port of Kismayo.
"This proposal must be discussed with international partners, particularly the African Union and UN Security Council and carefully considered in the context of the overall strategy for restoring peace and stability in Somalia."
Kenya and Somalia made the proposal after Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the prime minister of Somalia's Western-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG), met in Nairobi on Monday.
The two governments said the Shebab group of Somali rebels linked to Al-Qaeda was a common enemy, as Kenya pursued a two-week offensive against the rebels across the border inside southern Somalia.
"The Somalia government supports the activities of the Kenyan forces, which are being fully coordinated with the TFG of Somalia and being carried out in the spirit of good neighborliness and African unity," they said.
"This threat must be fought jointly by the two nations with support from the international community," they added, calling for international "logistical and financial support" to blockade Kismayo, a strategic rebel-held port.
COMMENT (to the blurb by Pieter Tesch below): Nonsense Analysis doesn't help
In a far cry from reality, long-distance "analysts" get it completely wrong.
a) The alarm about the illegal exploitation of the Somali Seas and the impact it had on the impoverishment of the coastal population was sounded massively already in 1994, when robber and rogue nations alike pounded with massive illegal fishing operations and proven toxic waste dumping actions on Somalia's waters - not only when phony IMO and the their NGO lapdog, the International Chamber of Commerce's IMB finally woke up.
b) Attacks on non-fishing vessels started only in 2005 and really kicked off with trans-national organized crime networks and their white-collar counterparts of London as well as their white and blue dressed naval friends in 2008 - turning the whole show into a criminal business circus.
c) Mauritania has become the classic example where industrialized overfishing imposed by EU arm-twisting and executed by European fleets has completely ruined the fish stock and the marine environment and in Namibia similar tendencies are observed. Both are certainly the best examples hownot to manage the waters and the fish-stock of an African nation for the benefit of its people.
d) The Atlantic Council is known for its flawed "studies" - especially concerning Somalia - and seems to follow a simple strategy of disinformation with an ulterior motive and the aim of natural resource robbing by industrialized nations.
e) While traditionally the Somalis could be described at the beginning of the century as based on a transient or nomadic livestock-based economy, especially after the big drought of 1973 (DabaDheere) many Somalis found their means of survival in fishing and the harvesting of other marine resources. A vibrant, foreign and government sponsored Somali owned fishing industry kicked off, and did provide the major income to many coastal communities, who had lost their livestock. In addition the traditional, artisanal fishing communities of the Somali Bajuni people especially in the South must not be forgotten.
f) Piracy is and has been first and outmost triggered by the existence of absolute desperate people, whose natural resources and the peace of a decent live were robbed by outsiders. In the Caribbeans, in Somalia, around the Malacca Strait and in West Africa it is the same picture, it varies only in nuances and based on the ingenuity of the local gangs as well as on the level of foreign, criminal support.
g) The richness of the Somali waters - not only in living marine resources but also in oil and other seabed treasures is the only resource, which is left for the Somalis to sustain their own future as a country and as a people - and that is what the present water-wars are all about: People with the mark of Cain on their foreheads simply want to not allow the Somalis to enjoy these means of not only survival but prosperity and - like in Libya - are engaged in trying to find ways and means to rob these assets - by warfare supported by brainwashing propaganda based on false analysis.
LEAVE THE SOMALIS AND THEIR WATERS AND LANDS IN PEACE AND GIVE BACK WHAT YOU GRABBED ALREADY!
Is Pirate Fishing the Cause of Piracy and Will the Gulf of Guinea Become the New Somalia? By Pieter Tesch
analysis
Last year London based international maritime organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Maritime Bureau (IMB) began to sound the alarm about the increasing threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, suggesting that the region could, if no action was taken, become a 'second Somalia.'More recently there were reports of attacks and attempted attacks on large merchant vessels in the Blight of Benin, where there is already a tradition of low intensity piracy linked to the unrest in Nigeria's Niger Delta. This has lead the governments of Nigeria and Benin to initiate joint naval patrols to combat piracy, and further northwest off Guinea Conakry, where there has been no real tradition of organised maritime robbery.
The narrative put forward by many Somali representatives, including in the Diaspora and supported by advocacy and marine environmentalist campaigners against so called 'illegal, unreported and unregulated' fishing (IUU,) is that the origins of Somali piracy lie in Somali coastal communities defending themselves against pirate fishing or poaching by 'unscrupulous' international trawler firms and equally unscrupulous 'flag of convenience' nations, or against illegal dumping of toxic waste following the collapse of the Barre regime in 1991.
This narrative is challenged by a number of analysts, for instance Dr Martin Murphy of the Washington DC based Atlantic Council who has made a study of piracy and counter piracy, not only off Somalia, but also in South East Asia, off Bangladesh and in the Gulf of Guinea.
While most pirates could be described as (ex) fishermen in the above mentioned regions, this was not true for Somalia, where piracy should be seen as an extension of land based warlord predation - attacking non fishing vessel from the onset with focus on ransoms for crews and vessels.While there is a Somali maritime tradition dating back to pre-colonial trading along the Swahili corridor, there is no large scale Somali tradition of artisanal fishing as for instance along the Guinea littoral. Somalis as nomads and pastoralist don't by and large like fish or to fish, though their waters are probably as rich as those off Namibia in the South Atlantic and to the north off Mauritania in the central eastern Atlantic.
Today both Namibia and Mauritania have become the most successful and well managed African fishing nations by selling and managing fishing licences within economic exclusive zones (EEZ).
Mauritania is set apart from its Atlantic neighbours to the south, with possibly its immediate southerly neighbour Senegal as the exception, as from Guinea Bissau to Cameroon fisheries management and enforcement in their EEZs is virtually absent.
In Mauritania, however, the licences for the seagoing mainly wooden canoes with outboard motors and mostly owned and crewed by Senegalese are held by Mauritanians. Under Mauritanian law only Mauritanian flagged vessels under 29 metres can fish in the internationally recognised 12 inshore fishing limit.
Most of the Mauritanian catches, whether caught by foreign licensed trawlers or the artisanal sector, are exported, not only to Europe and Asia for its low volume but high value demersal (bottom water) species such as octopus, prawns and tropical round and whitefish, but also to its African neighbours for mainly its high volume but low value small pelagic (mid water) species such as mackerel, horse mackerel, sardines and sardinella. These are consumed not only by coastal communities, but are estimated to constitute up 50 percent of total animal protein intake of the populations of some Ecowas countries.Most coastal Ecowas countries seem to regard their fisheries either as a source of revenue from selling licences in the 200 EEZs, and the artisanal coastal fisheries as a subsistence buffer for coastal communities when, due to natural causes and/or civil unrest, local populations have reduced access to land based food resources.
But why would any reputable international trawler firm want to buy a licence and fish, under for instance the recently renewed EU Guinea Bissau fisheries treaty, if fisheries management and enforcement are lacking, let alone if security cannot be guaranteed?
Should it therefore be a surprise that the waters and coastline of the Guinea littoral seem to have become a 'safe haven' not only for drugs and human trafficking, gun running, large scale fish poaching or 'pirate' fishing (and last but not least for piracy)?
Analysts like Dr Murphy stress that the solution for combating piracy lies not with the gunboats of foreign navies at sea but in creating conditions for stability on land.
IUU is not the root cause of piracy in Africa but it is, like piracy, caused by failing or failed state structures that cannot guarantee stability on land and on sea. Anti IUU activists hold too romantic view of the artisanal fishermen in their canoes, creating a narrative and imagery of them being 'good guy' victims of the 'bad guy' international industrial fishermen.
Large pelagic freezer trawlers pioneered the targeting of small pelagic species off Africa when there were no onshore processing plants available. The time has probably come for them to leave the EEZs, rationalise the international fleet and concentrate on the High Seas outside the 200 mile zones, but they should be replaced within Africa's EEZs by other types of trawlers that can fish and land fish from outside the 12 mile inshore zone. Within this zone the artisanal fleet should be rationalised and modernised as well so that it can supply proper onshore processing plants.
That would, however, not only demand onshore stability and reliable state structures, but also the will among the political elite of Ecowas countries to regard fisheries not just as a purely revenue creating resource by selling licences. But as a sustainable resource that should be properly managed to feed not only their own people but also to generate revenues from value added processed fish.
If the situation remains the same, and certainly if there is more instability in West Africa, IUU will continue to exist, and piracy to increase with the offshore waters of the Gulf of Guinea.
(*) Pieter Tesch is a historian and business man who specialises on Sahelian Africa.
Turkey to build East Africa’s largest children’s hospital in Mogadishu (Today'sZaman)
Turkey plans to build the largest children’s hospital in East Africa in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, the Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.
The children’s hospital will be funded and constructed by Yardım Eli Aid Association and will contain 100 beds. The facility in which the hospital will be located will also include an education center, a mosque and a guest house.
Mehmet Çitil, the coordinator for the association’s activities in Somalia, told Anatolia that the infant mortality rate in the country has reached as high as 60 percent and that two-thirds of deaths are due to various infectious diseases and that one-third are due to starvation.
Stating that the country’s health system has been completely devastated, Çitil explained, “The children’s hospital that we are about to construct will be the biggest in East Africa, as Somali Health Ministry officials have also confirmed.”
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ, who is scheduled to visit Mogadishu on Nov. 17, will attend a ground-breaking ceremony for the hospital, which we will be constructed as part of a campaign titled “Don’t Let Somali Children Die.”
Stating that an education center, a mosque and a guest house are also included in the plan for the facility, Çitil added that Turkish doctors and nurses associated with Yardım Eli will work in the hospital. Yardım Eli is also providing food aid in Somalia and operates an orphanage in the country.
COMPUTER-BASED DISTANCE LEARNING THE ONLY CHANCE IN SOMALIA
200 Free Outstanding Online Classes by Rhiannon
Take classes online from Yale, MIT, Tufts and other respected institutions for free.
UPDATE: Some of the schools have moved the pages for some of the courses, and the OEDb hasn't updated them on their site yet.
I checked every link listed. The majority still point to the proper course.
Some have moved and provide a link to the new page. The links all led to the the new URL of the same class.
Some have error messages. In the case of error messages, check the home page of the University's Open Course section.
I've listed the links to each University's Open Course site. They have the current class listings.
Some of the links (all at Utah State University) wanted a name and a password. If you run across one of those, check the the Open Course home page. END UPDATE
The Online Education Database has put together 200 online classes from these and other institutions.
You can take as many as you like that interest you - there seems to be no limit and I couldn't find any strings attached in any of the material I've looked at.
Topics cover a very wide range - everything from Natural Science to Law and Politics.
If you want to learn three-dimensional modeling and animation using the Open Source software Blender, there's a course for that.
Learning and applying HTML, Network Security, Flash, Quantum Mechanics, First Year Chinese, Modern Poetry, and Implant Dentistry are some titles of other classes being offered.
The Visual Arts seem to be missing. I would like to see classes in that area appear in the catalog.
Aside from the missing Visual Arts, if you are a life long learner (of any age) there is a lot to keep you busy.
The Beginning Online Learning page has some wonderful articles and resources. Geared specifically towards learning, there are some gems that anyone can use.
The site is geared towards helping people find financial aid for college and is a bit on the commercial side in places. The class listings segment is relatively free of advertising and worth a few ads.
200 Free, Quality Online Classes
University Open Course Home Pages:
Tufts Open Course
UMass Boston Open Course
MIT Open Course
Utah State University Open Course
Yale Open Course
Notre Dame Open Course
UCIrvine Johns Hopkins Open Course
Signing off,
Rhiannon
N.B.: While the above courses are APPLE trough iTunes has embarked on a ridiculous concept to bind free lectures and courses too their iTunes software and shops, which must be seen as an aggressive move AGAINST free learning.
- FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD (with an influence on Somalia and the water wars) :
"We're fighting terrorists, pirates, and militias. What happened to the days when we fought uniformed armies?"
SEE ALL THE ARTICLES BELOW LIKE A PICTURE, A COLLAGE AND LET THE MAIN COLOUR SINK IN. THEN LISTEN TO THE FINE TUNES AND DETAILS AND COME TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSION. WE TRY TO BALANCE THE FALSE PICTURE IMPLANTED INTO YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS BY THE MAINSTREAM'S RULERS - THE POWERS THAT BE. .- / .- / .- .- .=
Better than the Kenyan Comedian RediCulAss
CHIRCHIR CHIRPS ON TWITTER:
Kenya army tweets: Don't sell donkeys to militants By Katharine Hourheld (AP)
Kenya's military spokesman is using Twitter to warn people not to help al-Qaida-linked militants by selling them an old-world transportation tool: donkeys.CHIRCHIR CHIRPS ON TWITTER:
Kenya army tweets: Don't sell donkeys to militants By Katharine Hourheld (AP)
File photo of AFP only show civilians with donkey carts laden with their belongings flee from a district in northern Mogadishu, Somalia, while Kenya's military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir is using Twitter to warn people not to help al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants in Somalia by selling them an old-world transportation tool: donkeys.
On Thursday, he warned unidentified planes to stay out of the region for fear they are transporting weapons to al-Shabab. Chirchir said in an interview that Kenya would shoot down any planes that officials suspect are full of weapons.
But his commentary also carries the kind of military warnings not usually issued by the Pentagon or NATO: Southern Somalia is getting heavy rains that vehicles can't move through. Accordingly the price of animal transport has shot up.
"Kenyans dealing in donkey trade along the Kenya-Somali border are advised not to sell their animals to Al Shabaab," Chirchir tweeted, adding: "Selling Donkeys to Al Shabaab will undermine our efforts in Somalia."
"In addition we are also reliably informed that the cost of donkeys has risen from $150 to $200 for a donkey. Thus, any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys will be considered as Al Shabaab activity," Chirchir said.
Chirchir said that Twitter is an easy way to quickly and easily communicate the military's message, and that many Somalis are online. Earlier this week, Chirchir tweeted a list of 10 Somali towns it warned would soon be attacked, prompting residents to flee after Somali media picked up the story.
"When you do something on Twitter it goes onto the Internet and people who see it can even call those who can't see it," he said. "We're getting good feedback that Somalis are moving away from al-Shabab camps. It is heard in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa."
Chirchir says that the Kenyan military has informants who say three flights carrying weapons for al-Shabab have landed in Baidoa, Somalia in the past week. Residents and a Somali legislator say that al-Shabab fighters had blocked off the access to the airport in the central Somali town of Baidoa.
"All aircrafts are hereby warned not to land in BAIDOA. Anyone violating this will be doing so at their peril," Chirchir tweeted.
Unexplained flights would be challenged by radio and asked to detail their flight path and cargo, Chirchir said by phone. He said if the Kenyan military was not satisfied with the explanation and the plane landed in areas held by the al-Shabab militia, the plane risked being shot down or destroyed.
"Before any engagement, in the air, if it is flying, we will ask them what they are doing," he said. "If it cannot explain what they are doing, it will be destroyed in the landing strip."
He said planes also risked being shot down mid-air.
Kenya has Jordanian jets but parliamentarians have raised questions about how flight-worthy they are.
In other developments, Chirchir said the Kenyan navy had sunk a boat with 18 al-Shabab fighters onboard south of the Somali port city of Kismayo late Wednesday. The information could not be independently verified. Chirchir said all 18 died, and he said on Twitter that a video of the skirmish would soon be uploaded to YouTube.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia last month after a string of kidnappings on Kenyan soil that the Kenyans blamed on Somali militants.
Kenya hosts more than 600,000 Somali refugees displaced by the Somalia's 20-year-old civil war. It been discussing creating a stable buffer zone inside Somalia for the past two years, and has recruited, armed and financed a Somali militia that is currently fighting alongside Kenyan forces.
(*) Also Houreld can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/khoureld
We must not tolerate prejudice in any form editorial (DailyNation)
The incident in which a senior pilot with a private aviation company is said to have been harassed by security agents on accusations that he has ties with Al-Shabaab terrorists should be extremely worrying.
At a time when tensions are running high because the Kenya military is waging war with the terror militia in Somalia, which has vowed revenge by attacking targets in Kenya, it is unconscionable for sections of the security agencies to harass fellow Kenyans purely on account of their ethnic origin.The matter is with the authorities, and we expect that, if, indeed, some individuals were trying to extort money from Captain H. A. Farah, then the issue will be handled most expediently and the culprits held to account.
But there is a bigger picture to all this. At a time like this, it is most convenient for the weak-minded to pick on members of a specific community, in this case, Somalis, and label them all members or sympathisers of Al-Shabaab without any iota of proof.
Kenyans of Somali origin have, for a considerable number of years, been crying foul, claiming their human rights have been trampled upon.
It is also true that members of the Islamic faith have been complaining of being discriminated against and dubbed terrorists.
We cannot expect the authorities or courts of law to right such wrongs; it is a question of individual Kenyans changing such attitudes as negative tribalism, racism and xenophobia.
During World War II, Japanese Americans were quarantined and denied basic human rights just because the US was at war with Japan. Americans have never overcome the stench of that intolerance.
We Kenyans do not want to go that route — ever. Especially not against our brothers and sisters of Somali origin or Islamic faith.
We Kenyans do not want to go that route — ever. Especially not against our brothers and sisters of Somali origin or Islamic faith.
Human trafficking on the rise amid Horn of Africa's drought and famine By Peter Kahare of IPS (TheGuardian)
Women and children, most fleeing drought and conflict in Somalia, are being trafficked into Kenya and sold into prostitution or forced labour.
Women and children, most fleeing drought and conflict in Somalia, are being trafficked into Kenya and sold into prostitution or forced labour.
Somali girls in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya are specifically art risk. According to reports, Somali women and children are being trafficked into Kenya and sold into prostitution.
Amina Shakir (not her real name) fled the drought and famine in Somalia for a better life in Kenya. But she did so illegally, placing her faith in the hands of a criminal network headed by Mukhalis, or agents in Swahili. In the end her faith was misplaced as she was "sold" into employment upon finally reaching Kenya.
But Shakir is not the only one illegally crossing the border into Kenya. Natural disasters, armed conflict and famine devastating the Horn of Africa have caused an increase in human smuggling and trafficking in the region.
Shakir's journey took her from a collection point in Somalia to a transaction point in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. She and several other girls made the over 1,000-kilometre journey in a truck under the guard of five men. "I was not alone," Shakir said. "Other girls were in the truck as well, one man was also there. Our handlers assured us of our safety till we get to our destination … I felt I was in safe hands."
But when she arrived in Eastleigh estate, a Nairobi suburb that has become an international business centre, she was sold into employment. She now works as a shop attendant for her "buyer".
Womankind Kenya, an NGO based in Garissa in Kenya's North Eastern Province, estimates that 50 young girls are trafficked or smuggled to Nairobi each week. "Vehicles that transport miraa [a leafy narcotic] from Kenya to Somalia return loaded with young girls and women who end up in brothels in Nairobi or who are shipped to destinations outside Kenya," says Hubbie Hussein, Womankind Kenya's director.
The deputy provincial police officer in Rift Valley province, Kenya's largest and most populous province, Ephantus Kiura, confirmed this. "Over 200 illegal immigrants enter the province every week from Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia through [Kenya's over 400-kilometre porous boarder section], which it shares with these countries," Kiura says.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that over 10,000 people are trafficked into Kenya's Coast province each year. It says trafficked children from Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda work as domestic labourers, sex workers and cattle herders across Kenya. "As of 28 September there were more than 452,000 refugees, mostly Somalis, at Dadaab camp. The huge influx of refugees has complicated the movement of people in the region; it has increased the vulnerability of people to trafficking, smuggling and other
But Shakir is not the only one illegally crossing the border into Kenya. Natural disasters, armed conflict and famine devastating the Horn of Africa have caused an increase in human smuggling and trafficking in the region.
Shakir's journey took her from a collection point in Somalia to a transaction point in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. She and several other girls made the over 1,000-kilometre journey in a truck under the guard of five men. "I was not alone," Shakir said. "Other girls were in the truck as well, one man was also there. Our handlers assured us of our safety till we get to our destination … I felt I was in safe hands."
But when she arrived in Eastleigh estate, a Nairobi suburb that has become an international business centre, she was sold into employment. She now works as a shop attendant for her "buyer".
Womankind Kenya, an NGO based in Garissa in Kenya's North Eastern Province, estimates that 50 young girls are trafficked or smuggled to Nairobi each week. "Vehicles that transport miraa [a leafy narcotic] from Kenya to Somalia return loaded with young girls and women who end up in brothels in Nairobi or who are shipped to destinations outside Kenya," says Hubbie Hussein, Womankind Kenya's director.
The deputy provincial police officer in Rift Valley province, Kenya's largest and most populous province, Ephantus Kiura, confirmed this. "Over 200 illegal immigrants enter the province every week from Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia through [Kenya's over 400-kilometre porous boarder section], which it shares with these countries," Kiura says.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that over 10,000 people are trafficked into Kenya's Coast province each year. It says trafficked children from Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda work as domestic labourers, sex workers and cattle herders across Kenya. "As of 28 September there were more than 452,000 refugees, mostly Somalis, at Dadaab camp. The huge influx of refugees has complicated the movement of people in the region; it has increased the vulnerability of people to trafficking, smuggling and other
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