UN SUSPENDS OPERATIONS IN SOMALIA FOLLOWING ATTACKS

UN SUSPENDS OPERATIONS IN SOMALIA FOLLOWING ATTACKS New York, Feb 11 2008 7:00PM The United Nations today announced a suspension of its operations in Somalia following attacks on its compound in Mogadishu, the capital.

Although there were no casualties in the attacks, the world body said it was forced to suspend operations in Mogadishu as well as the major towns of Afgooye and Kismayo for the remainder of this week.

A number of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have also temporarily suspended staff travel to the countryside, where similar attacks have taken place in the past week, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/News/tabid/1080/Default.aspx">OCHA).

The new constraints compound other obstacles to aid deliveries, including roadblocks, shelling and violence as well as rising threats against aid workers, who are at times directly targeted in Somalia.

Last month, a roadside bomb near the southern Somali town of Kismayo killed three humanitarian workers serving with the international NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The worsening security situation has also led to an increase in the vulnerable population. Over the past two months, some 40,000 people have fled Mogadishu. The UN refugee agency (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR) puts the total number of those displaced by the ongoing fighting since the end of last October at over 294,000.
2008-02-11 00:00:00.000

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