SOMALIA / AFGOOYE CORRIDOR

Less than a week after its troops wrested control of the Afgooye corridor from the Al-Shabaab, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) reports that farm goods from the area, a "breadbasket" for much of the country, are now reaching Mogadishu. AMISOM says Al-Shabaab's extortion of farmers in Afgooye was a major factor in causing famine in Somalia. AMISOM

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:58
• Production Date: 1 June 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: AFRICAN UNION MISSION IN SOMALIA – AMISOM
• Subject Topical: POLITICAL CONDITIONS; POLITICAL MOVEMENTS; INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• Geographic Subject: SOMALIA
• MAMS Id: U120601f

Description

STORY: SOMALIA / AFGOOYE CORRIDOR
TRT: 1.58
SOURCE: AMISOM
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 25 & 28 MAY 2012, AFGOOYE, SOMALIA

Shotlist

25 MAY 2012, AFGOOYE, SOMALIA

1. Med shot, African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops and Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers taking cover during a firefight
2. Med shot, AMISOM soldier shooting at the enemy as he crosses bushland west of Deynile, in an area north-west of the Somali capital Mogadishu
3. Wide shot, AMISOM tank firing at the enemy
4. Med shot, Somali National Army (SNA) soldier holding up an Al-Shabaab flag recovered in the outskirts of Afgooye
5. Various shots, AMISOM armoured vehicles moving towards Shabelle River and secured all the major roads leading into and out of Afgooye town

28 MAY 2012, AFGOOYE, SOMALIA

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt.Col. Paddy Ankunda, AMISOM Spokesman:
“The plan was that our troops would avoid taking the fight into the city, in order to minimize harm onto the population and this worked very, very well. Our forces took the flanks and did not use the roads, and this was meant to create an impression in the minds of Al-Shabaab that we were going to encircle them, and indeed they took heed, they fled the city, and we captured it.”
7. Tracking shot, gun on armoured vehicle
8. Wide shot, ElasheBiyaha town
9. Pan left, van full of farm produce heading for Mogadishu
10. Various shots, fruit and fruit juice sellers
11. Various shots, women at fruit stand
12. Med shot, people returning home with their belongings
13. Pan right, two technicals with Somali National Army soldiers
14. Pan left, women with supplies walking towards Afgooye Bridge

Storyline

Less than a week after its troops wrested control of the area from the Al-Shabaab, the UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) reports that farm goods from Afgooye, a “breadbasket” for much of Somalia, are now reaching Mogadishu.

AU and Somali forces last weekend secured the last town in the critical Afgooye corridor linking the capital Mogadishu and the agricultural town of Afgooye in a joint operation code-named “Free Shabelle”.

The aim was to bring security to the 400,000 people located inside the corridor, a long-time stronghold of Al-Shabaab insurgents and a strategic junction for routes to the north, west and south of Somalia.

AMISOM spokesman Lt.Col. Paddy Ankunda said that the military operation had taken pains to avoid civilian casualties.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lt.Col. Paddy Ankunda, AMISOM Spokesman:
“The plan was that our troops would avoid taking the fight into the city, in order to minimize harm onto the population and this worked very, very well. Our forces took the flanks and did not use the roads, and this was meant to create an impression in the minds of Al-Shabaab that we were going to encircle them, and indeed they took heed, they fled the city, and we captured it.”

In a press release issued yesterday (31 May), AMISOM said that farm produce transported out of Afgooye following the operation had now started filling the markets of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

Somalia has one of the world’s highest malnutrition rates, and according to Deputy AMISOM Force Commander, Brigadier General Audace Nduwumunsi, Afgooye is a breadbasket for much of the country.

He says Al-Shabaab’s extortion of farmers was a major factor in the 2011 famine in which up to 100,000 people starved to death. Before they fled Afgooye in the face of AMISOM’s military operation, the Al-Shabaab used to force farmers to give up half their harvest as an illegal “tax” to the extremists, in addition to being charged for the use of the river’s waters, according to the AMISOM press release.

Nduwumunsi said that the operation to bring Afgooye town and the Afgooye corridor under control allowed the people who live there to now rebuild their lives and livelihood's.

However, he cautioned that terrorists continued to pose a threat to the well being of the people of the corridor. “The attempted attack on the President’s convoy last Tuesday shows that we cannot afford to rest on our laurels,” he said. He applauded the Transitional Federal Government for speedily deploying 300 police officers to Afgooye, noting that this would help root out any remaining terrorist cells in the city.