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SOMALIA / DJIBOUTI TROOPS
STORY: SOMALIA / DJIBOUTI TROOPS
TRT: 2.28
SOURCE: AU / UN IST
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SOMALI / NATS
DATELINE: 21 FEBRUARY 2013, BELETWEYNE, HIRAAN REGION, SOMALIA
1. Pan right, IDP camp and AMISOM vehicles
2. Med shot, makeshift houses in IDP camp
3. Med shot, soldier watching over camp from top of vehicle
4. Med shot, women and children gathered in the IDP camp
5. Close up, soldier’s boots
6. Wide shot, AMISOM soldiers walking past vegetables that are being sold
7. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Arda Ahmed Hirsi, Internally Displaced Person:
“The international community and our Somali brothers and sisters should do whatever they can to help us. We’ve got lots of problems here, for example we need water and shelter, let them come and give whatever they can.”
8. Wide shot, traders and animals in livestock market
9. Med shot, livestock traders
10. Med shot, herd of goats
11. Close up, livestock trader’s face
12. Med shot, traders driving away goats
13. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Adawe Elmi Nur, Deputy Governor, Hiiran:
“We have good security now. If security was bad, there would have been no one here. If it wasn’t safe, this market would not be bustling the way it is now.”
14. Pan right, Humvee driving down Beletweyne’s main street
15. Med shot, children watching the soldiers
16. Wide shot, women walking past female soldier
17. Close up, Djibouti patch on AMISOM soldier’s uniform
18. Med shot, soldier on guard in street
19. Close up, watermelon trader’s face
20. Med shot, watermelon trader attending to a customer
21. Wide shot, AMISOM camp
22. Close up, Col. Osman Dubad, the Djibouti Contingent Commander
23. Med shot, Dubad and other officers checking text messages on their phones
24. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Col. Osman Dubad, Djibouti Contingent Commander:
“As AMISOM, we appealed to the local population to place their trust in us. They did, and it has made our job easier and helped us to interact well with the communities here, which is very important and we’ve managed to integrate really well with all levels of society.”
25. Wide shot, Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers marching
26. Wide shot, sun setting over Beletweyne
27. Various shots, AMISOM soldiers praying in tent
In September last year, most of the people here at the Eljalley IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camp lost their homes when heavy rains led to severe floods in and around Beletweyne in the Hiraan Region.
Djiboutian soldiers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) helped evacuate affected families to dry land and have since been providing security and clean water to approximately 400 people camped at Eljalley.
The troops also regularly donate food and other supplies to the IDPs from their own stores.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Arda Ahmed Hirsi, Internally Displaced Person:
“The international community and our Somali brothers and sisters should do whatever they can to help us. We’ve got lots of problems here, for example we need water and shelter, let them come and give whatever they can.”
Located some 300 kilometres from the capital Mogadishu, Beletweyne was under the control of extremist group al Shabaab until December 31, 2011, when members of the Ethiopian Defence Force working with the then Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and pro-government militia groups ousted the al Shabaab.
In September 2012, soldiers from Djibouti serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), arrived in Beletweyne and took over security operations.
Beletweyne, located in the fertile Hiraan region, is a not only Somalia’s fifth largest city, but also a critical trading hub for the entire country. Animals from the Beletweyne Livestock Market are shipped to Mogadishu, Bosaso and Berbera for domestic consumption and export to the Gulf States.
AMISOM’s presence in the area, and support to the Somali National Army, have made it possible now for entrepreneurs to resume their business activities after years of brutality and unlawful taxation by al Shabaab scared them off.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Adawe Elmi Nur, Deputy Governor, Hiiran:
“We have good security now. If security was bad, there would have been no one here. If it wasn’t safe, this market would not be bustling the way it is now.”
Somalia has seen major changes over the last 22 months as large swathes of territory and major towns and cities were liberated from the once-feared al Shabaab by government forces backed by AMISOM troops.
The Djiboutian contingent are fondly referred to as ‘hiil walaal‘ which means ‘brother, supporter or helpmeet’ by Beletweyne’s residents, for their role in repulsing sporadic attacks by al Shabaab, resolving clan disputes, providing humanitarian assistance and promoting commercial activity.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Col. Osman Dubad, Djibouti Contingent Commander:
“As AMISOM, we appealed to the local population to place their trust in us. They did, and it has made our job easier and helped us to interact well with the communities here, which is very important and we’ve managed to integrate really well with all levels of society.”
AMISOM is also training over 500 former pro-government militia fighters - that have now been integrated into the Somali National Army - in IED detection and demining, first aid and quick response, tactical driving as well as communications.
AMISOM’s goal is that eventually the Somali National Security Forces will be sufficiently trained and equipped to protect the population from the al-Qaeda associated al Shabaab.
In the meantime, Beletweyne’s people are gaining more and more confidence every day that their dreams and prayers for hope and prosperity in their city and country are becoming a reality.
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