UN chief condemns killing of aid worker in Somalia
October 20, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon today condemned the killing of an aid worker in Somalia and voiced alarm at the increasing number of attacks against humanitarian staff in conflict countries.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead Muktar Mohammed Hassan, a local man working for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in the southern town of Hudur on Sunday. The killing came just two days after a WFP official was killed in a similar attack as he left a mosque in the central town of Merka.
In a statement issued Tuesday by his spokesperson, the UN. Secretary general deplored “acts of deliberate violence against those who are making every effort to alleviate the dire suffering of Somali” citizens
Staffs of UN aid agencies and NGOs have come under increasing deliberate attack in Somalia in recent months, as well as in other countries and regions plagued by conflict, such as the Darfur region of western Sudan and Afghanistan
A regional official in Somalia accused Islamist rebels on Monday of killing a U.N. employee in the latest assassination targeting aid workers.
Mohamed Maalim, the chairman of Hudur, said Islamist insurgents from the al Shabaab group were controlling the town. He further accused the Islamist insurgents of looting the property of the International Medical Corps and also killed other aid workers in the region
In a report released earlier this month on staff security, Mr. Ban called for collective responsibility and closer collaboration between the UN and its Member States to better protect UN staff and other humanitarian workers.
The report found there were 490 attacks against UN offices, convoys and premises between July 2007 and June this year, leading to 26 deaths of UN staff. At least 63 workers with NGOs were murdered during the same period.
(ST)