U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 399
15 - 21 September 2007


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Hundreds of thousands need urgent aid, says government
SOMALIA: Villages cut off as floods inundate Middle Shabelle
SOMALIA: Families flee violence in Sool region
SUDAN: Darfur settlement elusive as world marks Peace Day

See Also:

SOMALIA-YEMEN: Yemenis take big risks fishing in Somali waters at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74375


SOMALIA: Hundreds of thousands need urgent aid, says government

Somalia's transitional federal government has appealed for urgent
humanitarian assistance for hundreds of thousands of people affected by
drought, floods and displacement.

"We need urgent assistance if we are to avert an impending humanitarian
crisis," Information Minister Madobe Nuunow said on 20 September. "The
government will take any step necessary to support those who come to
help our people."

[Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74426]


SOMALIA: Villages cut off as floods inundate Middle Shabelle

Rain-induced floods in Somalia's Middle Shabelle region have displaced
hundreds of people and destroyed hectares of farmland near the town of
Balad, 30 km north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, officials said. The
flooding occurred when the Shabelle River burst its banks.

"Eleven villages are completely inundated along with their farmland,"
Mohamed Hussein Gudbaye, the Balad district commissioner, told IRIN on
19 September. "Some of the villagers were about to harvest [their crops]
when the river broke its banks - [this is] the third season this is
happening to them. They have lost everything."

[Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74380]


SOMALIA: Families flee violence in Sool region

Scores of families have fled their homes following a clash between
forces from the self-declared republic of Somaliland and the autonomous
region of Puntland in Somalia.

"A heavy exchange of artillery took place around the village of
Abeseoley [22 km north of the regional capital, Las Anod]," said Faisal
Jama, a resident of Las Anod in the Sool region, to which both sides lay
claim.

[Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74356]


SUDAN: Darfur settlement elusive as world marks Peace Day

A settlement to the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur
that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced at least two million
people remained elusive as the world marked the International Day of
Peace on 21 September.

Peace Day coincides with a meeting in New York on Darfur (co-chaired by
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission Chairman
Alpha Oumar Konare) aimed at assessing plans to deploy a joint UN-AU
force of 26,000 in Darfur and putting the final touches to preparations
for peace talks next month between Darfur rebels and Khartoum.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74425]


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