United Nations operations in the Gedo region of southwestern Somalia have been temporarily closed, a UN spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The closure came after an aircraft carrying the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia came under fire on Monday from local militia while preparing for takeoff on Garbaharey airstrip.a
The spokeswoman told a UN humanitarian publication that the UN was reviewing, gathering information and discussing the length of the closure in light of humanitarian needs in the Gedo region. A report released in July warned that up to 200,000 people in the region were considered vulnerable to food shortage.
“Local militia — hired to guard contracted vehicles — opened fire on the plane operated by the UN Combined Air Services (UNCAS) in what is believed to be a dispute over payment. One militia managed to fire seven shots at the plane and an employee on the airstrip,” the spokeswoman said, “The aircraft took off safely, and the remaining 10 UN employees returned to their compound.”
* * * *
Five officials of a non-governmental organization operating in Puntland have been released, a Mogadishu HornAfrik radio reported on Sunday. The sources said that the militia loyal to the leader of the region, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, detained staff members of a local NGO, Ocean Training Program (OTP), in Bosaso last week. It was also reported that the militia took away computers and other office equipment.
HornAfrik Radio said that the release of the detainees followed after Ahmed had received visiting UN human rights officials. The UN mission has also visited prisons and other institutions in Bosaso. “They voiced concern over the horrible conditions of the prisons in Bosaso, describing them as pathetic and unbearable,” added the radio.
A spokesman for the Puntland administration, however, accused the NGO of involving politics and of destabilizing the region.
* * * *
On Monday the media reported that militia loyal to Puntland leader, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, had attacked and seized a boat carrying weapons and ammunition. The boat was attacked at Qandala seaport, some 112.6 km. to the east of Bosaso. The boat allegedly brought arms from Yemen. The sources said that the weapons belonged to businessmen in the region who wanted them for use against the pirates along Somalia’s Red Sea coast. The coast has recently been a dangerous area where freelance militia groups have attacked and kidnapped commercial vessels and held their crews for ransom. In the past, large amounts of money were paid for the release of vessels and crew. Press reports from Puntland said that the confiscation of the boat and arms resulted from a dispute between Ahmed and businessmen. It was reported that Ahmed suspected the boat was transporting weapons to his rival Jama Ali Jama.
