Report of the Secretary-General on Somalia

[A_Khadar]

Report of the Secretary-General on Somalia

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 29 of Security Council resolution 2010 (2011), in which the Council requested me to report on all aspects of the resolution every four months. The report provides an update on major developments that occurred in Somalia on the three major tracks of the United Nations approach — (i) political; (ii) security; and (iii) humanitarian, recovery and development, and human rights — in the period from 16 August 2012 to 15 January 2013. In pursuance of the implementation of resolution 2067 (2012), it also provides options and recommendations for the future United Nations presence in Somalia.

 

 

II. Political and security developments

 

Security situation

 

11. The security situation remained unpredictable in Mogadishu. While the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Security Forces maintained their hold on the city, Al-Shabaab attacks occurred frequently, including targeted killings and hand grenade attacks, with an increase in outlying districts. While there were fewer incidents of the use of improvised explosive devices, periodic suicide attacks, such as those carried out on 12 September against the Jazeera Hotel while President Mohamud was present, and at the Village Restaurant on 20 September, demonstrated the group’s persistent infiltration of the

city. Increasing abuses by undisciplined elements within the Somali Government forces against civilians and each other reflected the lack of a centralized command. This indirect threat left a United Nations employee wounded by a stray bullet from a

likely intra-militia clash in October.

 

12. In southern Somalia, the capture of Marka (Shabelle Hoose) and Kismaayo (Juba Hoose) by AMISOM and the Somali National Security Forces were the most significant territorial gains during the reporting period. These increased the pressure on Al-Shabaab and reduced its income sources. However, the withdrawal of Al-Shabaab from Kismaayo left a political vacuum in the city, leading to the reignition of complex clan dynamics. Guerrilla and terrorist tactics were frequently used in the recovered areas, including weekly in Baidoa (Bay) and Kismaayo and almost daily in the Afgooye and Merka areas. Al-Shabaab killed a United Nations

employee on 27 August in Marka and issued threats against and harassed other aid workers in southern Somalia. Continued abuses by undisciplined elements of theGovernment forces in Shabelle Hoose were reported. During the night of 11 January

and on 12 January, the French military launched a failed operation to rescue a French hostage held by Al-Shabaab in Bulomarer, resulting in the death of two French soldiers and reportedly of 17 Al-Shabaab militants and eight civilians.

 

13. In central Somalia, AMISOM and Government forces took over Jowhar, the capital of Shabelle Dhexe, in early December. Local antipathy to Al-Shabaab meant that Shabelle Dhexe suffered relatively few attacks. Attacks also decreased in Beledweyne (Hiraan), though they still occurred weekly, and there were continued reports of harassment of civilians and aid agencies in southern Hiraan. Al-Shabaab kept a low profile in Galguduud. Recurring clashes between clan militias in Beledweyne sometimes disrupted aid activities, as did infighting among factions of Ahlu Sunna wal Jama in Galguduud.

 

14. Al-Shabaab became more active in Puntland from late November onwards, undertaking several attacks. Killings and arrests of suspects, discoveries of ordnance and continued reports of troop movements demonstrated the insurgents’ enduring presence in the region and neighbouring Galmudug. Puntland and Galmudug also suffered from crime that, in Puntland, was partly linked to undisciplined troops brought in to fight the insurgents.

 

15. While local elections in “Somaliland” resulted in multiple incidents of civil disturbance and politically motivated violence, the dispute over Sool, Sanag and Cayn remained the main destabilizing factor in “Somaliland”. Despite the August peace agreement with a former leader of Sool, Sanag and Cayn, Suleiman Haglatosiye, ambushes, shootings and attacks involving improvised explosive devices continued to occur in the disputed area of “Khatumo”. Related tensions with Puntland also spiked periodically.

 

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