UN condemns Somali killing

2008-07-07 17:36

Nairobi - The UN on Monday condemned the killing of one of its top official in Mogadishu as an "outrageous" act aimed at undermining humanitarian work at a time of growing need.

Gunmen shot and killed Osman Ali Ahmed, the head of UN Development Programme in Mogadishu, and wounded his brother and son as they left a mosque on Sunday.

"If this is indeed another example of a targeted killing of UN and non-UN humanitarian and development workers in Somalia, it is particularly outrageous and worrying at this critical time when the need for humanitarian assistance is rapidly increasing," UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden said in a statement.

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

UN officials have repeatedly appealed to the Somali government and Islamist militants, who are fighting for the control of the country, to spare aid workers, many of whom have been killed or kidnapped in the recent months.

Aid groups have scaled down operations in Somalia owing to increased insecurity, largely blamed on Islamist militants who have waged a guerrilla war since they were ousted by joint Somali-Ethiopian forces in early 2007.

The AU Mission to Somalia has deployed 2 600 peacekeepers in Somalia - well short of a promised 8 000 troops. So far it has failed to stem the violence.

- AFP