The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army (SNA) are putting in place measures to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers in armed conflict, due to increasing cases that are becoming a security challenge in the horn of Africa country, like reported by reliefweb.int.

In conjunction with the British Peace Support Team- East Africa (BPST-EA) and the Dallaire Initiative (DI), AMISOM is conducting a ten-day Training of Trainers (TOT) course for members of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and selected AMISOM officials, to equip them with requisite skills to become rescuers of child soldiers in Somalia.

“We support and underscore our belief that the security sector actors have a particularly important role to play in protection of children because they are frequently the first point of contact not only with child soldiers but with all children in the operation areas,” said Darin Reeves, the Training Director at Dallaire Initiative.

The AU deputy Special Representative for Somalia Hon. Lydia Wanyoto recommended going beyond international instruments of law, to save Somalia’s children from armed conflict.

“It’s not just about Somali children. It’s about humanity. It’s about an African child given a chance to grow up as a child to fulfil their rightful potential in life,” she said in her remarks, during the official opening of the Training of Trainers course, in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, on Monday.

According to Musa Gbow, AMISOM’s Child Protection Advisor, participants will be equipped with skills to train their colleagues back in Somalia, on how to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

Col. Richard Leakey, the Commandant at British Peace Support Team -East Africa (BPST -EA), noted that AMISOM had a critical role in preventing future recruitment of child soldiers.

“For representing your country in AMISOM, you also have a personal opportunity to make a difference to individuals and communities in areas in which you serve,” Col. Leakey stated.

“In the field, you will become key advocates to promote children’s rights. The reason for these are two fold, not only do you bear a heavy, moral responsibility to protect the innocent as AU peacekeepers, but also by breaking the cycle of conflict that continues due to recruitment and use of child soldiers, you will directly contribute to mission’s success,” he told the participants at the training workshop.

Globally, various international instruments criminalize the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.

According to the United Nations Security Council Report on Children and Armed Conflict in Somalia, which was published in January 2017, a total of 5,933 boys and 230 girls were recruited as child soldiers between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2016.

Statistics show an improvement between 2012 and 2014, but the figures sharply rise in 2016, where 1092 children were used as child soldiers, in the first half of 2016.

Available statistics also show that 70-percent of the children in armed conflict in Somalia are recruited by Al-Shabaab.

“Al-Shabaab used child soldiers to reinforce and replenish their ranks following successful AMISOM and SNA operations against them,” Col. Leakey explains.

He said children as young as 9 years of age, are taught how to use weapons and sent to the frontline to use explosives, carry ammunition and to perform domestic chores.

“This means two things for you,” Col. Leakey cautions.

“Firstly, by preventing child soldiers, you will help drain the recruitment pool for Al-Shabaab,” he says.

“And secondly, you are likely to encounter child soldiers at some point during your deployment and you’ll need to know how to handle them humanely and with dignity, respect and professionalism.”

Troops from five Sahel countries plan to set up a new counter-terror force in the region, where alarm over the jihadist threat is mounting, leaders said Monday in Mali’s capital

The announcement came as leaders of the Sahel G5 states – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – that describe themselves as “in the frontline against terrorism”, met to discuss the desert zone’s perilous security situation, like reported by france24.com.

The gathering took place barely three weeks after the worst attack in the region for years, the January 18 suicide bombing in the northern Malian city of Gao that left almost 80 people dead.

“To better combat terrorism in G5 countries, we have decided to implement the creation of a G5 force,” President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger told a press conference.

There was no word on the number of troops the force would have or where they would be stationed.

Issoufou said a United Nations resolution and Security Council approval would be requested before the force could be formed.

Chad’s President Idriss Deby said European nations would be asked for aid for the transnational project.

“What we want is for European countries to give us the means. We are going to be on the front line ourselves in the fight against terrorism,” said Deby, speaking as current G5 chief.

Some 3,500 French troops are already stationed in the Sahel region as part of counter-terror efforts against an increasingly nimble array of Islamist groups, some of which are aligned with Al-Qaeda.

Hundreds of Europeans too are serving with the 12,000-strong UN peacekeeper force stationed in Mali, which has become the UN’s most dangerous operation in two decades with 70 lives lost.

‘A space for terrorists’

The new G5 deployment would “save the lives of (European) soldiers”, Deby added.

The Chadian leader said earlier in the day that the Sahel region risked becoming “a space for terrorists” unless immediate, co-ordinated action was taken.

“The multiplication of terrorist attacks in the Sahel” shows the threat “has new proportions”, Deby warned.

Chad and Niger are currently battling Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, while jihadists in late 2015 and early 2016 struck tourist spots in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Experts say attacks mounted by jihadists and armed groups are on the rise and are increasingly targeting civilians in the largely desert zone.

January’s deadly attack in the northern Malian city of Gao was claimed by Algerian jihadist and Al-Qaeda ally Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

Northern Mali was described as a “known hideout for terrorists” in an internal G5 document seen by AFP.

“It is also a launchpad for attacks against other countries,” the document said.

“We need to co-ordinate our efforts to rise up to the challenge,” said Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, whose nation is struggling with jihadists who use its vast northern stretches as a launchpad for attacks.

Mauritania was once plagued by Islamist attacks within its borders, but has made significant security gains.

More British troops are being sent to South Sudan, where they may face the task of ensuring humanitarian aid is not stolen

The al Qaeda-linked group confirmed the executions, which took place on Sunday after the men were found guilty by an al Shabaab court in Jamame district of lower Jubba region, 43 miles north of Kismayu, according to express.co.uk .

“The court ruled on their cases and four of the men were executed publicly in Jamame District according to the Sharia this [Sunday] afternoon,” Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al Shabaab’s governor for the Jubba region, said, without elaborating on the method of execution.

“The four men admitted they were spies.”

In areas under its control, al Shabaab has carried out executions, floggings and amputations after summary trials in cases ranging from espionage to theft.

Al Shabaab has been fighting for years to drive out African Union peacekeepers, topple the central government and impose its own harsh interpretation of Sharia in the country.

The governor of Borno State, Mr. Kashim Shettima, has attributed the rise in the number of children used as suicide bombers in the Northeastern part of the country on hard drugs given to them by the Boko Haram sect. Mr. Shettima made this known at a press conference he addressed on Friday. The governor also warned that the celebrated capture of the infamous Sambisa Forest does not indicate an end to the insurgency that has troubled the zone since 2009, like reported by saharareporters.com.

“In this criminal endeavor, they resort to the use of teenagers and children as young as seven years.

“More recently, they even strap babies on the back of their recruits in order to slip through our security dragnets.

“They also use hard drugs on these innocent children, who do not know what they are doing when they kill their own parents, relations, and fellow countrymen and women.  Many precious lives have been lost, hundreds of citizens, including school girls, were abducted. Many more people have suffered serious injuries as a result of these senseless acts of bloodthirsty enemies of peace,” said Mr. Shettima.

“It is regrettable that this upsurge in cowardly suicide attacks came not long after the patriotic military forces of this country recaptured Sambisa Forest, which used to be the operational zone of the Boko Haram terrorists.

“However, we must remind ourselves that the recapture of Sambisa Forest and the flushing out of the terrorists from most of their former enclaves does not mean that our struggle is over.

“Instead, the terrorists have resorted, in their usual cowardly fashion, to stepping up attacks on soft targets,” he observed.

Mr. Shettima expressed condolence to the families of all victims and acknowledged the support the state has received from local and international humanitarian bodies and development partners.

He assured indigenes and residents of Borno State that the government would continue to protect them, adding that they should not yield to the desire of the terrorists to make them live in fear.

“As we know, the intention of terrorists is to demoralize us, make us live in fear and prevent us from going about our normal lives and worshipping our God in ways that differ from their ungodly violence.

“We will not allow them to succeed in their wish to make us live in the permanent slavery of fear,” he stated.

The governor equally promised that his government would continue to support military and security agencies and volunteers in their effort to restore peace and security. Towards the restoration of peace, Mr. Shettima commended the people of the state, adding that there are still contributions required of them.

“We all have roles to play. I know that majority of you, the good people of Borno State, have remained sincerely committed to fighting this insurgency.

“I have met parents who exposed their insurgent biological children and handed them over to security forces to face justice.

“I know that insurgents and their allies often hide their identity so well that good citizens may innocently associate with them.

“But the bold patriotism of parents who turn in their children has always strengthened our resolve. Support for insurgents is a crime against humanity.

“I have met parents, who encouraged their children to join the Civilian JTF and risk their lives to fight insurgents.

“I have even met parents who remained contented and proud even after their sons died fighting under the Civilian JTF.

“I have seen elderly men and young girls organize themselves to join the fight as vigilantes and the Civilian JTF,” said Mr. Shettima.

‘Seychelles will host the Regional Maritime Centre for Operational Coordination, which is the response mechanism for the East and southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Region under the Maritime Security Programme which targets all forms of maritime threats‘ said President Danny Faure at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa as he appreciated how his peers from across Africa had taken notice of the Seychelles contribution to ocean security and safety for shipping.

Seychelles was the first country taking the fight to the Somali ocean terrorists when they become the scourge of the Indian Ocean and successfully staged several rescue missions after the pirates had taken Seychellois fishing vessels. It was also the Seychelles government at the time which proposed and later implemented that both commercial vessels and cruise ships carry a contingent of armed guards which proved successful in repelling raids by the terrorists at the time.

Seychelles is well equipped to continue dealing with maritime threats across the country’s vast economic exclusion zone through surveillance aircraft and a strengthened coast guards and navy as as such ideally placed to host the new institution in the capital Victoria.

Speaking at the 28th Ordinary Session of the African union (AU) President Danny Faure described the implementation of the Lusaka Master Roadmap as an enabler of the economic integration of Africa.

The Seychelles President made the remark this yesterday January 31st on the last day of the 28th AU Summit when commenting on the report of the President of the Peace and Security Council and that of the Commissioner for Peace and Security.

These two reports laid out the multiple challenges Africa face with regards to peace and security along with the various initiatives taken to surmount these. The Lusaka Master Roadmap for Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2020 and the Africa Special Fund on Prevention and Combating Violent Extremism and Terrorism are two examples of these collective efforts.

In his intervention, President Faure noted that as a mechanism geared at making Africa conflict-free, the Lusaka Master Roadmap offers the Africa continent the opportunity to lock-in its economic integration. He underlined the critical importance of peace and security for development by describing it as the bedrock of the latter.

 

 

 

 

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A Boko Haram bomber has reportedly attacked a group of Muslims having their early morning prayers at a mosque opposite the University of Maiduguri, like reported by sunnewsonline.com.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday, just days after an earlier incident happened inside the university that ended the life of a professor of veterinary medicine, Professor Aliyu Mani, and others.

the male suicide bomber reportedly entered the mosque, located in Dalori quarters, opposite the university, and detonated the improvised explosive device while the congregation observed their prayers.

The report said an unspecified number of people were killed in the attack which was confirmed by the spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sani Datti.

In the words of Datti, “There was a reported case of explosions at Dalori quarters, Maiduguri, Borno State. Our Search and Rescue officers are already on their way to the scene, detail later.”

Security agencies are investigating a woman in Umoja, Nairobi, following reports she sends money to her sons who joined Al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia, like reported by standardmedia.co.ke.

The woman, who runs several businesses in Umoja, is on the radar of security agents after it emerged she uses conduits to remit the money to her sons in Somalia. Kenyan Al Shabaab operatives based in Somalia, among them Ahmed Iman Ali aka Abu Zinira, senior Al Shabaab leader in charge of media propaganda Erick Achayo Ogada aka Ibrahim Ogada and Kennedy Yogan Mwok aka Anwar, have been getting their remittances from stalls they own in Gikomba market.

However, following sustained Government operations inhibiting financing from Majengo and Gikomba stalls, some Kenyan terror operatives based in Somalia are now using their families and relatives as conduits of money transfer to Somalia, police said.

“Police have also been following up on their associates and investigations reveal the group based in Somalia has revived old networks by relying on financial facilitation from their relatives in Kenya,” said a police officer pursuing the matter.

The woman is said to be sending money to her son Ogada and some of his kin who are in Somalia. She allegedly manages several properties owned by her sons and herself from which she has been collecting rent and remitting to Somalia to facilitate their terror operations. “The properties, which are registered under her son’s name, include a residential house in Umoja and a one-storey commercial building at Nasra area in Nairobi,” said a police report seen by The Standard.

According to the report, the woman has sent over Sh4 million to her son in Somalia since 2013. She is also believed to own a residential house in Kamulu and a  lorry whose proceeds she uses to complement the remittances from her son’s properties. “Such facilitation has enabled Anwar to participate in previous gruesome attacks within the country, including the June 2014 Mpeketoni attacks and June 2015 attacks in Baure against innocent Kenyans.

In mid-2016, Anwar also participated in an attack on a security facility in Lamu that led to the death of his close associate from Umoja, Omar Patroba Juma, with whom they had travelled together to Somalia,” adds the report. Another kin of Anwar is also on the radar for facilitating financial transfer of funds to Somalia and acting as the main conduit.

She allegedly uses third parties mostly based in Mombasa and Liboi to transmit money to Anwar and her daughter Dorcas Ndombolo Kilingo. Dorcas, who is also a Kenyan Al Shabaab operative based in Somalia, is the wife of Anwar. Some of the money is sent to individuals within Ifo refugee camp or Eastleigh, which is later sent to Somalia. “This has enabled Ogada to stay comfortably in Somalia while engaging in recruitment of Kenyans to join Al Shabaab and planning attacks against innocent civilians.” Another man on the radar allegedly operates an electronics shop in Kitui village (Kinyago Gwang’a) behind Biafra Mosque.

Previously, he used to operate an electronics shop at the junction between Lamu and Digo road in Majengo but later moved to Gwang’a. He is also a clothes trader in Gikomba market.

A team has since been formed to track all the properties owned by terrorists’ kin in Kenya.

 

Germany’s parliament (Bundestag) voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to extend and massively expand the German army’s intervention in the West African country of Mali, like reported by axisoflogic.com.

According to the motion, which was approved by parliament in its third reading, the upper limit for the number of soldiers deployed as part the UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, is to be increased by 350 to more than 1,000. The limit was increased just last year from 150 to 650. The deployment is also to be extended by a year.

An additional 300 German soldiers are deployed in Mali as part of the European Union’s (EU) training mission EUTM. This means that more German soldiers will soon be stationed in the West African country than in any other country outside Germany. The largest intervention to date was limited to 960 soldiers in Afghanistan. In Kosovo, where the German army has been operating for 18 years, 517 soldiers are currently deployed.

The army began on Friday with the shifting of NH90 combat and Tiger transport helicopters from Leipzig-Halle airport to Mali. According to the German army, they will be used to transport and rescue injured people. In addition, operations to escort convoys and conduct surveillance are also planned.

Next Tuesday, Colonel Oliver Walter, commander of the Friesland air force regiment, will send the first new contingent into action with a military order at the former Upjever airfield. The first soldiers will be deployed on February 15. The entire contingent is then to arrive in Gao, in the dangerous and restive northern region of the country, on March 1.

The German government is seeking to sell the mission as a humanitarian peacekeeping operation. In the government’s justification of the new mandate for the army, it states, “The stabilisation of Mali is a key focus of German engagement in the Sahel region and an important part of the German government’s Africa policy. The issue at stake is to help Mali towards a peaceful future and overcome the causes of flight and persecution.”

In reality, the German army is not leading Mali toward a peaceful future but increasingly towards terrorism and chaos. A few days ago, a fatal suicide bomb attack near a military base in Gao killed 70 people and many more were injured. “The hospital is overcrowded. There are decomposing bodies everywhere,” Arboncana Maiga, a resident of the city by telephone, told Deutsche Welle. “We have not experienced this before in Gao.”

The deterioration of the security situation in the area is so dramatic that the German army has increased its so-called risk payment to €110 per day. This corresponds to level six, the highest danger level. This only previously applied to the military intervention in Afghanistan.

All of this sheds light on the true character of the German military intervention in Mali and its background.

Germany is waging war and collaborating with an authoritarian and corrupt government to keep refugees away from Europe by detaining them in Africa. Above all it is using the unrest and refugee crisis as an excuse for enforcing its economic and geo-strategic interests on the continent, which has a large population and is rich in natural resources.

Africa was at the heart of Germany’s foreign policy shift from the outset. Just weeks after President Joachim Gauck and other leading politicians announced the end of military restraint at the 2014 Munich Security Conference, the cabinet adopted the guidelines for an Africa policy. These guidelines read like a blueprint for the exploitation of Africa by German imperialism in the 21st century.

The guidelines speak of a “growing relevance of Africa for Germany and Europe,” and this means, “The potential of Africa arises out of a demographic development with a future market with high growth rates, rich natural resources, potential for agricultural production and food security under its own control … African markets are developing dynamically and will—in the raw materials market and beyond—be for the German economy … increasingly interesting.”

The goal of the German government is therefore to increase “the political, security policy and development policy engagement of Germany.” The aim being pursued was “to act based on interests, early quickly, decisively and substantially,” which includes military interventions. The German government intended “to deploy the full spectrum of its available methods … cross-departmentally, political, security policy, development policy, regional policy, economic, academic and cultural.”

Since the publication of the guidelines, German imperialism has stepped up its efforts to impose its interests in Africa under the guise of the war on terror or combatting the “causes of flight.”

Already at the beginning of 2013, the German parliament agreed to support the French intervention in Mali and to station German soldiers in the country. Additional German interventions are currently under way in Senegal, Western Sahara, Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia.

The latest expansion of the Mali operation introduces a new stage in the return of German militarism to Africa. It is directly connected with the geopolitical shifts and mounting conflicts between the imperialist powers following the election of US President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Handelsblatt, German Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen demanded the “clear political will” to reach the NATO-mandated figure of 2 percent of GDP for defence spending and not lose any time with military rearmament. “Ships, helicopters, armoured vehicles, personnel—even when the money is there, they still need to be built or recruited and trained.”

At the same time, Von der Leyen explained that European governments had to readjust their foreign policy and “ensure security in our region as Europeans.” With reference to Africa that meant “supporting African states to bring the growing population in correspondence with the expanding economy and stabilise them against terrorism.” The “cooperation with Africa” was thus “a task for NATO. I see us Europeans assuming much more responsibility.”

The Left Party, which was the only parliamentary group to vote against the expansion of the mission, supports the offensive of German imperialism like all the other parliamentary parties and has fulfilled its “duty” in Africa for some time.

In December, the defence policy spokeswoman of the Left Party, Christine Buchholz, made her second trip to Mali to visit the troops, she went there for the first time in 2014.

In her speech in parliament, Buchholz did not oppose the deployment in principle, but merely warned of the growing danger for German soldiers. “With the capability of carrying out rescue missions, the action radius of the German army will be expanded and thus also the risk of becoming the targets of attacks,” she said.

Buchholz and the Left Party fear above all sparking an uprising of the Malian masses against the foreign occupiers. “The German soldiers are operating in Gao as foreigners, cut-off from the population. The more insecure the situation, the more isolated will be the German troops,” Buchholz told the deputies.

Loyal, the magazine of the German military reserves association, recently reported “how a German patrol in Gao not only had to struggle with the extreme heat, but also a cool response from the population. A stone was thrown at the armoured and armed vehicle of the German army.”