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 407
10 - 16 NOvember 2007


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: IDP influx from Mogadishu overwhelms southern town
SOMALIA: Government shuts down media groups
SOMALIA: UN envoy calls for international justice to stem violence
SOMALIA: Mounting bloodshed prompts pleas for help from Mogadishu
SUDAN: Ceasefire fails to quell Darfur violence
SUDAN: UN agency sounds alarm over locust infestation
SUDAN: Do more to contain Rift Valley Fever - WHO


SOMALIA: IDP influx from Mogadishu overwhelms southern town

Hungry, exhausted and traumatised, thousands of civilians have been 
pouring into Afmadow, a Somalian town near the Kenyan border, having 
fled the "hell on earth" of their embattled capital, some 630 kilometres 
to the north.

Among them was Hawo Ali, who arrived in Afmadow on 15 November, five 
days after escaping Mogadishu with 20 of her relatives and neighbours, 
including a 10-month-old baby. Ali said she saw troops in the city 
killing 21 people, including women and children.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75324


SOMALIA: Government shuts down media groups

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has shut down Shabelle 
Media Network, Banadir Radio and Radio Simba, media officials told IRIN.

Mustaf Haji, editor at Radio Simba, said a group of armed men arrived at 
the station at 11am local time on 13 November and "ordered us to shut 
down and cease our operations immediately. We have been off the air ever 
since, and we don't know if will be back any time soon," he said.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75298


SOMALIA: UN envoy calls for international justice to stem violence

The UN envoy for Somalia has urged the international community to 
consider using international justice to curb the violence in Somalia, 
saying that civil strife had precipitated the worst humanitarian crisis 
in Africa.

"The international community is trying hard, but it is not giving the 
appropriate attention to the population," UN Special Representative for 
Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, told reporters in the Kenyan capital, 
Nairobi, on 13 November.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75294


SOMALIA: Mounting bloodshed prompts pleas for help from Mogadishu

Local elders and civil society leaders have urged the international 
community to help stop the carnage in Mogadishu as heavy fighting in the 
Somali capital continued, leaving hospitals overwhelmed and many streets 
littered with bodies.

The clashes pit government forces backed by Ethiopian troops against 
insurgent remnants of the ousted Union of Islamic Courts and allied clan 
militias.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75256


SUDAN: Ceasefire fails to quell Darfur violence

A unilateral ceasefire announced by Khartoum in late October has failed 
to improve security in Darfur, where armed groups continue to do battle, 
according to humanitarian and civil society officials.

"Conditions on the ground remain the same; there is a lot of 
insecurity," an aid worker, who requested anonymity, told IRIN.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75277


SUDAN: UN agency sounds alarm over locust infestation

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that a 
dangerous infestation of locusts could emerge along the Red Sea in 
November and December following an outbreak of the insects in northern 
Sudan.

"Recent field reports indicate that locust numbers have increased in the 
summer breeding areas in Sudan, primarily north and east of Khartoum 
where ground surveys could be conducted," FAO said in a statement on 12 
November.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75317


SUDAN: Do more to contain Rift Valley Fever - WHO

The UN World Health Organization has urged Sudan to step up its efforts 
to halt the spread of Rift Valley Fever in the east of the country, 
where the viral disease has claimed almost 100 lives over recent weeks.

Sudan's acting health minister Al-Fateh Mohammed Saeed, however, said 
his ministry had been on alert for signs of the disease three weeks 
before an outbreak was declared and that the situation was now "quite 
stable".

According to a 14 November WHO update, 12 people died over a seven-day 
period in While Nile, Sinnar and Gezira States, and the number of 
reported cases of the disease increased to 329 from 228 a week before.

Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75346


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