HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 356 for 23-29
December 2006
29 Dec 2006 11:36:09 GMT Source: IRIN
NAIROBI, 29 December (IRIN) - CONTENTS: ERITREA: Locust outbreak threatens agriculture ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: More people flee as fighting spreads
SOMALIA: Mogadishu in chaos as Islamic militia leave
SOMALIA: UN warns of humanitarian crisis as aid flights suspended
SOMALIA: All-out war
"catastrophic" for southern Somalia - famine watchdog
SUDAN: Violence displaces more civilians in Darfur ERITREA: Locust outbreak threatens agriculture An outbreak of locusts along the central
Red Sea coast of Eritrea could spell disaster for local crop produce. However, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that it is still too early to estimate the potential
damage to crops in the Horn of Africa. Recent heavy rainfalls and an increase in vegetation in the region have allowed adults to lay eggs, and small groups of young locusts to form. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56867] ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: More people flee as fighting spreads For the first time, air attacks have been reported in Somalia's escalating conflict
between forces of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), backed by Ethiopian troops, while ground conflict was reported from previously unaffected areas in
Central Somalia. An international NGO official told IRIN that population displacement was expected in the conflict areas, and that news of aerial bombardment might cause people to move due to fear
of further air attacks. Organizations will be trying to "scope out" where displaced populations are moving to, but, the official said that at the moment, "where they're going to go, people don't
know... a lot of people may move out of the way". [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56835] SOMALIA: Mogadishu in chaos as Islamic militia leave NAIROBI, 28 Dec 2006
(IRIN) - Thousands of people have fled their homes, and at least 13 people have been killed and dozens injured, as rival militias clashed in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, residents told IRIN on
Thursday. Medical sources added that at least 20 people have been wounded and taken to hospitals within the city which was abandoned by the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) militia on Wednesday. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56861] SOMALIA: UN warns of humanitarian crisis as aid flights suspended A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Somalia where fighting has
forced the suspension of relief air food operations for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday. "Close to half a million
flood-affected people needed urgent humanitarian assistance and the current insecurity will further complicate the humanitarian situation in Southern Somalia," WFP deputy Country Director for Somalia,
Leo van der Velden, said. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56855] SOMALIA: All-out war "catastrophic" for southern Somalia - famine watchdog The Famine Early Warning
Systems Network (FEWS NET) has warned of potentially "catastrophic" effects of all-out war in Somalia. In an emergency alert issued on Friday as the conflict began to escalate, the analysis service
highlighted the food security threat to southern Somalia, where 1.1 million people are already facing a humanitarian crisis while half a million are seriously affected by floods. The brewing
conflict had already had a "serious impact" in disrupting farming which had led to higher prices. Since October, food prices rose by 17 percent in Beletweyne, even before recent fighting.[Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56842] SUDAN: Violence displaces more civilians in Darfur Thousands of people have gone into hiding in hills near the North Darfur village of Abu
Sakin after Arab militias continued their destructive rampage across parts of the western Sudanese region, aid workers said. A United Nations assessment mission on Saturday found the village of Abu
Sakin completely deserted and looted. More than 50 houses had been burnt to the ground to discourage the villagers from returning there.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56851]
