United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Maxwell Gaylard has expressed deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation resulting from insecurity in many parts of Somalia. According to a UN humanitarian publication, Gaylard said fighting was preventing UN aid agencies and civil society groups from protecting communities caught in areas of conflict as well as disrupting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to people already suffering from acute poverty, malnutrition and lack of access to the most basic of services.
“Recent fighting in Baidoa, southern Somalia, killed about 20 civilians and an equal number of militia, while fierce clashes in Puntland left over 100 dead and the area effectively cut off from humanitarian access. In Mogadishu, a wave of kidnappings severely curtailed the UN’s ability to assist about 150,000 internationally displaced people and other vulnerable groups,” Gaylard said, “Several hundred thousand people are displaced nationwide, thus compounding their vulnerability.
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The militia loyal to Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the leader of Puntland, has captured the town of Qardho, according to media reports. Ahmed’s fighters entered the town without any resistance from forces loyal to his rival — Jama Ali Jama — for the presidency of Puntland. Qardho was one of Jama’s last remaining strongholds. Some informed sources in the region said that Muhammad Hagi Aden, a well-known politician in the area and supporter of Jama, was captured in the fighting. Jama’s militia was reportedly dispersed into Qardho’s mountains. One source said that his forces may launch another counteroffensive. The presidency of Puntland has been controversial since last year. In 1998 the traditional elders of Puntland elected Ahmed as president for a three-year term which ended in June 2001. He alleged that the regional parliament had extended his mandate. The elders rejected his claim and called elections which elected Jama as Puntland’s president in November 2001.
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According to Mogadishu’s Ayaamaha newspaper, two deputies of the Rahanwein Resistance Army — Sheikh Madobe and Muhammed Habsade — have held talks with Ethiopian officials in Wajid, located near the Ethiopian border in southwest Somalia. The paper said Tuesday that the two men requested military support from the Ethiopian government. The Madobe-Habsade militia has recently been dislodged from Baidoa town by militia loyal to RRA Chairman Hassan Shatiguduud.
