Charcoal stockpile in Somalia
Al-Shabaab continues to reap substantial revenues from charcoal smuggling in southern Somalia despite the presence of African Union military bases in the area, a United Nations report has revealed.
The UN team noted in an earlier report that the installations at Kismayo and Buur Gabo ports are maintained by Kenyan forces operating under the auspices of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
The new report indicates that UN monitors were “not assisted by Amisom” when they attempted to inspect charcoal stockpiles and port facilities at Kismayo in July of this year.
According to the analysis by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, Shabaab earns at least Sh774 million ($7.5 million) from “taxation” at checkpoints in the Middle Juba and Lower Juba regions.
The monitors say that, partly due to these charcoal-related profits, Shabaab “generates more than enough revenue to sustain its insurgency.”
Al Shabab illegal charcoal trade in Somalia
JUBALAND TAXES
The Security Council reviewed a report on Wednesday that accuses the regional administration of Jubaland in Somalia of benefiting from the prohibited charcoal trade as per UN Security Council resolutions. The report, prepared by the UN Group, uncovered that the Jubaland administration taxes illicit charcoal exports at an average rate of over Sh516 ($5) per bag, generating an annual revenue of more than Sh1.6 billion ($15 million). The UN Group further estimates that criminal networks in Dubai, the UAE, and Kismayo make a significant portion of the Sh15.5 billion ($150 million) estimated to be the total value of this illicit trade annually based on a wholesale price of Sh5165 ($50) per bag in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
BRIBERY CLAIMS
One section of the 156-page report recounts Kenyan authorities’ interception near the Somalia border last February of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device “intended for a complex attack in Nairobi.”
While that operation by Kenyan police counts as a significant success, statements by two Shabaab members arrested in connection with the bomb plot “show that they were able to pass with little interference back and forth across the porous Kenya-Somalia border, facilitated by bribes to various security forces officials on both sides,” the UN report shows.
US airstrikes that have reportedly killed hundreds of Shabaab fighters as well as a few of its leaders are doing little to diminish the group’s capacities, the UN team adds.
Shabaab’s continued potency may in part reflect “extensive infiltration” by the militants of the Somali government’s Intelligence and Security Agency.”
Unpaid or poorly compensated Somali national army soldiers have also assisted Shabaab, the report observes.
“Since October 2017, Al-Shabaab operatives have worn uniforms likely donated for use by the Somali security forces in at least five attacks,” the UN team says.
While corruption and military ineffectiveness continue to plague Somalia’s national forces, the report observes that Amisom has made progress in reducing civilian casualties.
However, the UN team suggests that this development may be partly a result of “the continuing ebb in major Amisom offensive operations” in recent months.
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By KEVIN J. KELLEY
https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Inside-Shabaab-s-Sh770m-illicit-charcoal-business/1056-4854186-4q053xz/index.html
