Thursday February 1, 2024

Ethiopian rebel group Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has burnt vehicles that ignored its call for a transport strike in the populous Oromia region, local media report.

Reports say many businesses, including banks and government offices have been closed since the strike was declared on Monday.

Several trucks were destroyed in various parts of Oromia during the strike that also left some civilians injured, privately-owned Wazema Radio news website reported.

“Unknown number of people were also reportedly injured in a grenade attack in Nekemt town, East Wollega Zone,” it added.

The OLA claims to fight for self-determination of the Oromo people – Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

It was designated a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian federal parliament in May 2021.

The national army continues to conduct operations against the rebel

Thursday February 1, 2024

Maritime security analysts are concerned that the disruption in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden may be creating new opportunities for Somali pirates, who had been quasi-dormant since 2012 but have recently picked up the pace.

EUNAVFOR assesses that there are at least two pirate action groups now operating in the Eastern Indian Ocean, and they may be equipped with mother ships (hijacked dhows) to increase their range. This aligns with a substantial uptick in pirate activity: Neptune P2P, a piracy consultancy, counts 16 incidents (of varying severity) since late November.

The first sign of trouble came on Nov. 22, when Somali pirates hijacked the Iranian fishing vessel Al Miraj 1 off the coast of Puntland. Neptune’s local sources reported that the vessel had been stolen by a local gang for duty as a pirate mothership. This working method was used often during the peak years of Somali piracy.

On January 4, suspected Somali pirates boarded and attempted to hijack the bulker Lila Norfolk off Eyl, Somalia. The attack was unsuccessful and the assailants fled.

Multiple smaller fishing vessels have been hijacked over the course of the month (seven more, by Neptune’s count); at least three have been rescued by the Indian Navy.

At the same time that pirate action groups have been gearing up again, the foreign naval forces that have protected shipping against Somali piracy have had a portion of their capacity diverted to deal with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. It is likely that Somali criminals see a window of opportunity for piracy now that the Houthis are creating a distraction, according to Neptune.

At the same time, the Houthis’ attacks have made the Red Sea less attractive, and have forced hundreds more ships to take the route around the Cape of Good Hope. Depending on the point of departure, the route around the Cape can include a transit through waters nearer to Somalia. “This presents a significant increase in the number of ‘targets’ for pirates to exploit, especially vessels transiting to and from the Persian Gulf,” assessed Neptune P2P.

Dr. Ian Ralby, of maritime security consultancy IR Consilium, agrees that the ship diversions also come with a risk of exposure to Somali piracy – and that the pirate action groups have been keeping ready.

“[Somali] skills for piracy were not lost over the last decade, they were transferred. A lot of the attacks by Somali pirates were against vessels that were engaged in illicit trafficking. The reporting just hasn’t been there,” he said in testimony in Congress this week.

Thursday February 1, 2024

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA — The United Nations and the Somali government have launched a $1.6 billion appeal to address humanitarian challenges in Somalia. The 2024 Humanitarian Needs Action Plan seeks to provide life-saving support to over 5 million Somalis this year.

The U.N. says climate shocks, conflict, widespread poverty and disease outbreaks continue to drive humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa country.

The appeal comes as Somalia struggles to deal with long dry spells followed by heavy rains and deadly flash floods.

“In terms of the overall humanitarian situation in Somalia for 2024, World Vision sees humanitarian needs remaining high in 2024 due to recurrent shocks induced by climate change and underlying factors such as conflict and insecurity,” says Suganya Kimbrough, program development and quality assurance director for World Vision Somalia.

But “the number of people needing humanitarian assistance in 2024 has decreased to 6.9 million from 8.2 million people in 2023, according to the latest draft of the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan,” she added.

Kimbrough says funding for the U.N.’s Somalia Humanitarian Fund currently stands at only $56.6 million, leaving a significant gap between resources available and the need.

She added that most of the funding goes to life-saving interventions because Somalia remains fragile.

However, Kimbrough said, humanitarian organizations, including World Vision, are gradually charting long-term sustainable solutions.

“Over the last few years, World Vision Somalia has seen a gradual shift in funding, focusing more on longer-term resilience linked to the humanitarian development peace nexus and away from short-term humanitarian responses,” she said.

“Continued investments in disaster risk management, system strengthening, social cohesion and livelihood adaptation, and including mechanisms such as crisis modifiers are all key to foster resilience and build the capacity of communities to cope with recurrent shocks,” she added.

Close to three million Somalis are living in internally displaced persons camps and largely depend on support from the government and aid agencies.

Marya Ahmed, a mother of seven based in a camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, says, she has have been living with all children in the camp for the last five years. She said they get just a little food and medical support, and that she really wants to leave the camp one day and start a new life. Right now, she added, she doesn’t have the means.

Analysts say whereas the annual call for international support has been critical in staving off humanitarian suffering, it hardly resolves Somalia’s food security problems.

Ali Mohamed, a food security expert and researcher in Mogadishu, says the appeal by the Somali government and aid agencies is critical for millions of Somalis who are starving. But, he adds, we’re dealing with cyclical problems and we’re yet to find a lasting solution that will enable populations to develop the capacity to respond to shocks and sustainably generate their food.

Studies indicate that Somalia contributes only a tiny percentage of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming but suffers more than most countries from adverse climate change conditions.

Mohamed says the situation could get worse because of dwindling global resources and dire humanitarian situations elsewhere.

“I am worried that donors are increasingly getting fatigued with Somalia as we have witnessed recently. There have to be deliberate efforts by the government to seriously invest in food systems and fully exploit the local resources to gradually reduce foreign dependence.”

According to the humanitarian agency OCHA, the 2023 appeal was only 43% funded, raising concerns about a similar scenario this year.

By DinahMatengo
Thursday February 1, 2024

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) handed over nine military bases to the Somali government, marking the completion of the second phase of the troop withdrawal from the country.

“The drawdown of 3,000 troops, and handover of the seven military bases which conclude Bio Cadale, Raga Ceel, Parliament, State House, Qorillow, Burahache, and Kismayo Old Airport ENDF mark a watershed moment in the ongoing Somalia security transition process,” ATMIS said in a statement.

Speaking during the official handover ceremony, African Union Commission official, Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, said the drawdown marked a significant milestone in Somalia’s positive trajectory.

According to Bah, Somalia’s security forces have demonstrated incredible courage and resilience in degrading al-Shabaab as part of sustaining security sector development.

“Our collective efforts have enabled us to carry out an orderly and smooth transition of 2,000 troops last year and, this month 3,000 ATMIS troops through the handing over of seven key forward operating bases.

The African Union wants to start the phase 3 drawdown of 4,000 additional ATMIS troops by June 30.

Established in 2007, the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), previously known as the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), gradually drew an estimated 22,000 troops from Uganda, Burundi and neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The AU peacekeeping forces aimed to assist Somalia’s federal government in its conflict against al-Shabab.

When peacekeepers were first deployed, the al-Qaeda-linked armed group controlled nearly all territories in south-central Somalia.

Working with Somali security forces, the AU soldiers pushed the fighters into rural areas, which currently, are under al-Shabab control.

(Story compiled with assistance from Xinhua News Agency)