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SOMALIA: Attacks on aid workers "intolerable" - top UN official

NAIROBI, 15 July 2008 (IRIN) - The UN has expressed grave concern over the rapidly deteriorating security situation for humanitarian workers in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

“It is intolerable and incomprehensible that humanitarian workers striving to save lives and alleviate human suffering in one of the most difficult environments in the world are being targeted and killed,” Mark Bowden, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement on 15 July.

Bowden was reacting to the latest killing of aid workers in Somalia. Two Somali nationals working for a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) were murdered on 11 July, less than a week after unidentified gunmen shot and killed Osman Ali Ahmed, officer-in-charge of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) office in Mogadishu.

The latest killings bring the number of aid workers killed in the country this year to 19, according to Bowden.

"Aid workers, have no political agenda, and should not be targeted. Their only agenda is to help those who need help the most," Asha Shaur, a local aid worker in Mogadishu, told IRIN.

"All we want to do is bring much needed assistance to those that are most in need," she said. "How can anyone find anything wrong with that?"

In his statement, Bowden also expressed "deep concern" over the unacceptable level of violence against civilians. He said the general level of violence in parts of the country was "very worrying".

Violence “constantly rising”

He said the violence "has been constantly rising this year and has reached unacceptable levels of civilian casualties”.

Bowden added that the UN was taking measures to protect its staff "while at the same time allowing them to carry on with their vital humanitarian work".

He called on the Somali people to help get assistance to those who need it.

"Somali communities have been very supportive of humanitarian work in the past. We ask them to redouble their efforts to provide an environment in which aid and services can be delivered”, said Bowden.

Shaur said all sides in the Somali conflict must understand that aid workers are "not the enemy. They are trying to keep people alive. They need and deserve everybody's support."

Conflict, drought and hyperinflation have combined to create a humanitarian crisis. Aid workers estimate 2.6 million Somalis need assistance - a number that is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year if the humanitarian situation does not improve, according to the UN.

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Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Human Rights

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Copyright © IRIN 2008
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.