Violence soars in Somalia
2008-06-30 20:15
Geneva - Attacks on Somalia's government officials, journalists and aid workers have risen to an "incredible" level in the Horn of Africa nation, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday.
But Pascal Hundt, the ICRC's outgoing head of delegation for Somalia, said the neutral agency is taking enough precautions to be able to continue providing food, drinking water, medical services and other help to hundreds of thousands of Somalis.
"Since the beginning of this year, the number of incidents targeting either Somali journalists, civil servants, prominent local leaders, government officials (or) humanitarian actors ... has just increased in an incredible proportion," Hundt told reporters.
In addition Somali insurgents have begun adopting tactics used in Iraq and Afghanistan - suicide attacks and roadside bombs, Hundt said.
"This is extremely worrying for our operation," he said.
"It's not at a very large scale for the time being, but this is a new phenomenon," Hundt said.
Threats
There are other threats as well, including kidnapping.
So far this year nine aid workers have been abducted, according to a report by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
A Somali employee of the UN refugee agency was seized on June 21 outside the capital, Mogadishu.
Five people kidnapped last week alone are still being held.
Earlier this year, Medecins Sans Frontieres pulled out its foreign staff from Somalia after three of its aid workers were killed by a land mine.
And pirates off the coast have been capturing aid shipments.
ICRC tries to avoid being a target by talking to all parties to a conflict to make sure they are respected.
But Hundt said this is very difficult in Somalia because there are so many different sides and animosity among them is so great.
Fragile economy
The ICRC has around 20 foreign staff based in Nairobi, Kenya, who conduct regular visits to Somalia.
Insecurity has made it difficult to plan the journeys, which are carried out discreetly without the agency's flag, he said. The ICRC also has taken the unusual step of using military escorts.
"We can still go there, but for much shorter periods," Hundt said, adding that what was a three-week visit a couple of years ago, today is a three-day journey on short notice.
In May the ICRC started distributing food to around 500 000 people in central Somalia where droughts and the fragile economic situation are threatening the lives of many rural communities and displaced people, he said.
Many of those who fled violence in the capital have been living under open skies or in makeshift camps, lacking basic services, Hundt said.
- AP