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HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 406 for 3-9 November 2007

09 Nov 2007 12:39:11 GMT
Source: IRIN

NAIROBI, 9 November 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Relief agencies bolster operations in Somali region SOMALIA: Fatal flash floods destroy hundreds of homes in Puntland SOMALIA: Mogadishu residents trapped by violence - MSF SOMALIA: Thousands more leave capital as troops converge SUDAN: OCHA concerned over official's expulsion from South Darfur SUDAN: Team arrives to probe deadly JIU attack in Yambio SUDAN: Veteran Darfur leader blames conflict on marginalisation

ETHIOPIA: Relief agencies bolster operations in Somali region

UN agencies have begun to deploy staff in Ethiopia's Somali region in an effort to step up humanitarian aid delivery to the area, officials said.

Paul Hebert, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia, said several UN agencies had set up offices in Kebridehar and Degehabur. These include the UN World Food Programme, UN Children's Fund, OCHA and the Food and Agriculture Organisation. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75207]

SOMALIA: Fatal flash floods destroy hundreds of homes in Puntland

Heavy rains have wreaked havoc in Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, with floods killing three people and leaving thousands homeless, according to local officials.

Alula district mayor Hareed Isse Omar said that hundreds of families in the area were evacuated to safer grounds in the mountains on 4 November. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75206]

SOMALIA: Mogadishu residents trapped by violence - MSF

Increasing violence in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu has trapped many residents, leaving them with no safe place to go, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on 7 November.

"People are terrified but most have little choice except to wait and hope that the violence does not come to them," Colin McIlreavy, the MSF head of mission for Somalia, said in a statement. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75188]

SOMALIA: Thousands more leave capital as troops converge

Fears of a major military offensive have sparked a further civilian exodus from the Somali capital Mogadishu, local sources told IRIN on 5 November.

"Thousands of people are leaving the city as we speak," said Mohamed Hassan Haad, the chairman of the Hawiye [the predominant clan] elders' council. "They are worried that the arrival of thousands of Ethiopian troops will lead to a major attack on the city." [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75155]

SUDAN: OCHA concerned over official's expulsion from South Darfur

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan is holding talks with government officials over the expulsion of its South Darfur head of office, an official said on 8 November.

"We are extremely concerned at the expulsion and meetings are going on at the highest levels with the government to resolve the issue," said Orla Clinton, the OCHA Public Information Officer in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75213]

SUDAN: Team arrives to probe deadly JIU attack in Yambio

Southern Sudan's government has sent a team to Yambio in Western Equatoria State to investigate a weekend attack on a police station which left three senior officers dead, local officials said on 7 November.

"Tension has been high since the killings but we are slowly returning to normalcy after the team from Juba [capital of Southern Sudan] arrested a key suspect yesterday," Andrew Mbugo Elisa, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sudan, in Yambio, told IRIN on 7 November. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75185]

SUDAN: Veteran Darfur leader blames conflict on marginalization

Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige is a man who has experienced a world of change in his home Darfur. Now in his 70s, he has seen the tribal chiefdom system give way to a Khartoum-based government that he holds responsible for the neglect of the region and the subsequent slide into conflict.

Diraige is the son of a paramount chief and became a chief himself at the age of 11 when his father died. Effectively leader of the Fur community, the largest in Darfur, he abdicated from the post in 1953 – handing it to a cousin - and opted to continue his studies in the United Kingdom. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75170]

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Last updated:Fri Nov 9 12:42:00 2007