Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – SOMALIA

Situation Report # 5 – 8 February, 2008

Main Developments

In a statement issued by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNHCR Representative for Somalia Guillermo Bettocchi, expressed profound shock and sadness by the brutal attack on Ethiopian civilians and said. “These people had come to Bossaso only to escape a life of hardship and were harmless. I fail to understand who would be willing to add to their suffering. I urge the authorities to investigate and bring the culprits to justice“.

Immediately following the incident, humanitarian organizations assisted the affected families with medicine, emergency health kits, blankets and mats while the host communities provided food and clothes.

In response to the increasing number of Somalis who are attempting to flee the conflict by crossing the Gulf of Aden, World Food Programme (WFP) announced it was expanding its operation in Yemen. WFP is appealing for US$ 4.4 million for a three-year operation to provide a total of 5,000 metric tons of food to 43,500 refugees.  In 2007, close to 30,000 people crossed the sea from Bossaso to Yemen and so far in 2008, around 3,000 more have crossed in only a month.  Somalis now make up the majority of the potential migrants.

On the night of 7 February, a massive fire outbreak razed one of the largest Internally Displaced People (IDP) settlements in Bossaso destroying many dwellings. It is estimated that 800-900 IDPs have been affected. The cause of the fire has not been identified.

A commercial cargo ship was hijacked near the Somali cost of Puntland on Friday 1 February headed south near Mogadishu port.  The ship is said to have originated from St. Petersburg heading to Singapore.  This is the second ship to be hijacked in two weeks since the beginning of the year.  However, ships carrying WFP food supplies have been protected by a military escort. The French Navy, which has been escorting the ships since November 2007, handed this duty over to the Danish Navy on 1 February.

South/Central

The ‘wet feeding’ programme was for the first time hit by the violence in Mogadishu when a staff member at Dharkeynley kitchen site was shot and killed instantly by an unknown assassin on 6 February.  Following investigations, the NGO SAACID, which is running the programme, concluded that the incident was targeting the individual and not the programme hence. The operations of feeding 50,000 people daily were able to continue.

Meanwhile, various security incidents took place in the city. About 12 civilians died on Sunday 3 February Waaberi district when a bus they were traveling hit a landmine.  Eight of the occupants of the bus, mostly women khat traders on their way to the airport died on the spot. Four others died in hospital.  Dozens others on the street were wounded.  The scene of the incident is around the area that has been relatively calm last week following the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces.

In January, 372 war wounded were admitted to the two main hospitals in Mogadishu, Medina and Kaysaney.

According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of displaced by the ongoing fighting in Mogadishu during the past week reached around 3,000 people, bringing the total  number of displaced this year to 36,000.

 Further Information, contact:

Rita Maingi on +254 734 800 120 – [email protected]

Muna Mohamed on + 254 733 643 737 - [email protected]