Den Afrikanske Unions Mission i Somalia (AMISOM) og Somalias hær indledte i månedens begyndelse den største offensiv mod islamistiske Al-Shabaab siden 2007. Seks byer er tilbageerobret, men konsekvenserne er flere fordrevne, ødelagt infrastruktur og stigende fødevarepriser.
MOGADISHU, 21. March 2014 (IRIN): The Somali National Armed Forces (SNAF) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), are engaged, with UN backing, in what UN envoy Nicholas Kay has described as “the most significant and geographically extensive military advance since AMISOM started” in 2007.
Since the offensive began in early March, six towns in the regions of Hiraan, Bay and Bakool have been captured from the Al-Shabaab insurgency: Hudur, Rabdhure, Ted, Weel Dheyn, Burdhubow and Buule Burde.
“Buule Burde in Hiraan region was a strategic town for the Al-Shabaab. It was their supply nerve centre and home to hundreds of the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists,” said AU envoy and AMISOM head Mahamat Saleh Annadif in a recent statement.
He added that the town’s capture “provides a major boost to our efforts to bring peace and stability to Somalia”.
Temporary instability
A major military offensive by Somali and African Union (AU) forces against insurgents may well contribute to Somalia’s long-term stability, but in the short-term the military action has led to the displacement of around 40,000 civilians, price hikes and the destruction of some basic infrastructure.
According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “most of the humanitarian needs which have arisen so far [as a result of the operation] are related to population movements, either people moving out of towns affected by the military operation, or people previously displaced moving back to newly recovered areas.”
“Some displacements are expected to be short-term in nature as people usually leave towns to go to outlying villages as a pre-emptive measure to avoid conflict zones… People who could afford transport have travelled to larger towns already in the hands of government-aligned forces, as these are deemed safer. However, households who could not afford transport reportedly relocated to villages around the main towns affected by the military operations,” the report explained.
Læs artiklen i den fulde længde via kildelinket.
