BBC July 20, 2011 An estimated 10 million people have been affected by the drought in east Africa The United Nations has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region suffers the worst drought in more than half a century. The UN said the humanitarian situation in southern Bakool and Lower [...]
Category Archives: AU
Young Eritreans in Ethiopia face future in limbo
July 23, 2011 – 5:13 am
UNHCR July 21, 2011 Kisut Gebre Egziabher © UNHCR/K.Gebre Egziabher Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller and UNHCR Ethiopia Representative Moses Okello with a group of Eritrean unaccompanied minors in northern Ethiopia. . SHIRE, Ethiopia – As the world focuses on the impact of the severe drought in East Africa, a silent crisis is brewing in [...]
Somali rebels say UN food agency still banned, despite pledge
July 23, 2011 – 5:05 am
Reuters July 22, 2011 * Rebels had said aid groups now free to work * UN says will take initial promise at face value * Al Shabaab group threatens more expulsions MOGADISHU – Islamist rebels in Somalia — who control the parts of the country where famine was declared this week — have said aid [...]
US urges Eritrea to reveal scope of drought
July 23, 2011 – 5:02 am
AFP/Terra Daily, Australia July 19, 2011 The United States on Tuesday urged Eritrea to reveal how severely it has been hit by the Horn of Africa’s drought, warning that people may be at risk inside the authoritarian country. Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said the United States presumed that Eritrea [...]
Somali rebels say famine label used for politics
July 23, 2011 – 5:01 am
Reuters July 22, 2011 Ibrahim Mohamed MOGADISHU Somali Islamist rebels accused the United Nations on Thursday of exaggerating the severity of the drought gripping the south of the country and of politicizing the humanitarian crisis. The United Nations has declared famine in two pockets of southern Somalia, said that 3.7 million people risk starvation and [...]
US man pleads guilty to aiding Somali militants
July 20, 2011 – 6:19 am
Reuters July 19, 2011 MINNEAPOLIS – A U.S. man pleaded guilty on Monday to providing material support to a militant group that recruited young men of Somali descent to fight in Somalia, at least two of whom blew themselves up in attacks. Omer Abdi Mohamed, 26, faces up to 15 years in prison after admitting [...]
WHO Has Growing Fear Of Disease Outbreaks In Horn Of Africa
July 19, 2011 – 9:08 pm
VOA July 15, 2011 Lisa Schlein Photo AP Thousands of people have arrived in Mogadishu over the past two weeks seeking assistance and the number is increasing by the day, due to lack of water and food, July 12, 2011.The World Health Organization is warning of an increased risk of disease outbreaks in the Horn [...]
Ethiopia begins deploying troops to disputed Abyei region
July 15, 2011 – 10:12 am
Sudan Tribune July 14, 2011 Tesfa-Alem Tekle (ADDIS ABABA) –The Ethiopian government has begun deploying its troops to monitor the troubled North – South Sudan frontier of Abyei region, a military official said on Wednesday. Citizens of Abyei flee during the conflict (AFP)The decision to deploy peace keepers to the volatile region was reached after [...]
America’s Expanding Presence in Somalia
July 15, 2011 – 10:07 am
The Atlantic Wire, Atlantic Magazine, US July 13, 2011 Uri Friedman On Monday, the U.S. pledged $5 million to assist Somalis battered by a severe drought that has, in the words of U.N. refugee agency chief Antonio Guterres, precipitated the “worst humanitarian disaster” in the world right now. But over the last couple weeks we’ve [...]
Piracy attacks bigger, bolder, more violent: report
July 14, 2011 – 11:30 am
Reuters July 14, 2011 LONDON – Piracy attacks on the world’s shipping rose by a third in the first half of this year and became increasingly violent, with pirates using machineguns, grenade launchers and other weapons, a maritime watchdog said on Thursday. Despite the increase of such attacks off Somalia in the Horn of Africa, [...]