STORY: Normal Life Returns To El Baraf Town

After Liberation from Al Shabaab

DURATION: 4:16
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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CREDIT REQUIRED: AMISOM PUBLIC
INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: SOMALI/FRENCH/NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 12/MARCH/2016, EL BARAF, SOMALIA
SHOTLIST
1. Wide shot, El Baraf town
2. Med shot, AMISOM and SNA troops in town
3. Close up shot, AMISOM soldier walking
4. Wide shot, AMISOM soldiers walking
5. Med shot, children in El Baraf town
6. Close up shot, child in town
7. Med shot, child with a donkey
8. Wide shot, AMISOM and SNA troops in town
9. SOUNDBITE: (FRENCH) COL. MPAWENAYO SERGE,
COMMANDER 33RD BATTALION AMISOM BURUNDI TROOPS
10. The residents were very unhappy because they were required to
pay illegal tax by force to Al Shabaab. Families that did not pay were
even required to give up a child to the militants or be terrorised by Al
Shabaab militants

11. Med shot, resident seated next to his shop

12. Wide shot, residents in town
13. Med shot, items on sale
14. Med shot, items on sale
15. Wide shot, residents next to their shops
16. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) ABDULKADIR YUSUF ALI,
RESIDENT
The situation is getting better and it is different from before and we can now
earn our daily bread.
17. Close up shot, sunglasses on sale
18. Close up shot, woman next to her shop
19. Wide shot, AMISOM and SNA troops in town
20. Wide shot, residents in town
21. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) AHMED HAI MOHAMED, RESIDENT
The district is 100 percent peaceful except for a few attacks that happen in
the outskirts of the town.
22. Med shot, a young girl with a milk pot
23. Wide shot, children talking to AMISOM soldiers

24. Med shot, a resident giving water to his cows

25. Wide shot, a resident with his cows
26. Med shot, water dam
27. Wide shot, a man fetching water for his cows
28. Close up shot, a man fetching water for his cows
29. Wide shot, goats drinking water
30. Close up shot, goats drinking water
31. Wide shot, AMISOM and SNA troops walking in town
32. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) COL. ALI DHERE, SNA
COMMANDER
Here is where they (Alshabaab) used to hang people. They would tie this
turban to the neck of the victim and then suddenly remove the table he is
standing on leaving the victim to hang. The victim would die in a very painful
way. Behind me are the rooms where they locked the prisoners and some
parts they used as administration offices. They used to torture the local people
who refused to pay taxes they imposed and people they accused of being
government informants. Before they captured this town, it (the building) was a
hospital built by the local people. The local people collected money among
themselves and built this place.
33. Wide shot, burnt cars in town
34. Close up shot, burnt cars in town
STORY
Normal Life Returns To El Baraf Town After Liberation from Al Shabaab
Normalcy has finally returned to the sleepy town of El Baraf, following the
collapse of the seven-year-rule by Al-Shabaab militants.
The Somali National Army (SNA) backed by African Union forces late last
month seized the town, situated 26km south of Jalalaqsi in a push aimed at
recovering lost territory and expanding government control and influence in
the horn of Africa country.
In fact, for more than 10 years, the town had remained closed to the outside
world, as Al Shabaab reinforced its stranglehold, imposing illegal tax and
engaging in other draconian acts that violated rights and freedoms of many of
residents.
Col. Serge Mpawenayo, one of the commanders of the Burundi forces serving
under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) who led the takeover
operation, details the misery in which the residents were forced to live in.
The residents were very unhappy because they were forced to pay illegal
taxes to Al-Shabaab. Others who did not pay were even forced to give up their
children or constantly be terrorized by Al-Shabaab militants, explains Col.
Mpawenayo.

As a result, many residents were forced to flee the town after it became
apparent that Al Shabaab militants were not ready to compromise on their
autocratic rule that infringed on basic rights.
However, residents say, since the arrival of SNA and AMISOM troops the
situation is changing for the better. They can now go out and eke a living
without fear of losing their earnings to Al Shabaab.
The situation is getting better and it is different from before. We can now go
out and earn our daily bread, says Abdulkadir Yusuf Ali, thanking AMISOM
and SNA for their intervention.
Unlike before, El-Baraf is now bustling with activity. Traders are back on the
streets selling foodstuffs and other merchandize, and, in the open spaces,
farmers are busy herding their livestock.
Elsewhere in the town, ecstatic children can be seen running to greet
AMISOM forces, a clear testimony that a good relationship is beginning to
thrive between the soldiers and local residents since the towns liberation.
The district is 100 percent peaceful except a few attacks that happen on the
outskirts of town, observes Ahmed Hai Mohamed, who witnessed Al Shabaab
authoritarian rule.
Col. Ali Dhere, a Commander in the Somali National Army (SNA), paints a
gory picture of what life used be in the town under the control of the AlShabaab.
Here is where they (Al Shabaab militants) used to hang people. They would
tie this cloth around the neck of the victim and then suddenly remove the table
he is standing on, leaving the victim to hang. The victim would then die a
painful death, says Col Dhere showing the building that was used by Al
Shabaab as its main office in El-Baraf.
The senior SNA soldier also shows the rooms where prisoners were held and
tortured for trumped-up charges ranging from failure to pay tax to being
Federal Government informants.
Ironically, the building Al Shabaab militants used to torture their victims used
to be a hospital built by the local people. However, after the terrorists took
over the town medical services offered at the facility were stopped.
The local people raised money and built this place but unfortunately it was
turned into a torture chamber, Col. Ali says.
End