UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday condemned the looting of two United Nations offices in southern Somalia and pledged to continue to help the war-ravaged country emerge from decades of violence.
The U.N. refugee agency said the looting had paralyzed its aid operations in the region.
The United Nations said Islamic insurgents had stolen emergency communication equipment from its compound in Baidoa city on Monday, forcing the world body to suspend operations there. But the U.N. said operations would continue in the town of Wajid, which serves as its hub for humanitarian aid in the region, following the theft of two cars and some furniture.
“The secretary-general condemns the looting,” U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said.
“The U.N. is providing lifesaving support to people in need throughout Somalia, and will continue to do all it can to help the country emerge from decades of violence,” Haq said. “Such acts target the whole gamut of U.N. peace and humanitarian operations in Somalia.”
The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that as a result of the lootings in Baidoa and Wajid, “our assistance efforts in the adjacent region have virtually ground to a halt.”
Al-Shabab militants are battling to overthrow Somalia’s government, and already control large areas of Mogadishu, the capital, and southern Somalia. The U.S. State Department says the group has links with al-Qaida, but al-Shabab denies that.
Al-Shabab announced Monday it was banning three U.N. agencies — the U.N. Political Office for Somalia, the Development Program, and the Department for Safety and Security — for allegedly working against the Somali Muslim population and against the establishment of an Islamic state. The U.N. says it has not received any official announcement of the ban.
Somalia has not had a functioning government for 18 years since clan warlords overthrew a brutal dictator and then turned on each other, plunging the Horn of Africa nation into chaos and anarchy. Poverty is widespread, and the country’s civilians rely heavily on the food, drinking water and medical treatment that relief agencies provide.
The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said continued fighting and the worsening security situation in Somalia were hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid from the port of Mogadishu, exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Source: The Associated Press
By EDITH M. LEDERER (AP)
