Somalia: UN aid vehicle under gun attack

Published on Wednesday 9th April 2008

Somalia, Apr 9: Unidentifed gunmen in Somalia's northern Puntland region ambushed a U.N. vehicle at the weekend in an attack highlighting the area's worsening security.

 

"The security situation in Somalia's Puntland region has been deteriorating for the past months, making the delivery of assistance to vulnerable people increasingly difficult," The United Nations' refugee agency said on Tuesday in a statement. UNHCR spokeswoman Catherine Weibel said a foreign aid worker and a Somali driver escaped the attack unhurt, Reuters report said. The agency, which distributed aid to more than 200,00 Somalis last year, is helping thousands who have fled an Islamist-led insurgency in Mogadishu. "The militias seem to be taking more risks because they know that they can get money if they abduct foreigners," Weibel said. UNHCR urged the Puntland authorities to bring the gunmen to justice. "Should impunity prevail, it would gravely affect the continuity of UNHCR's activities in the region and would affect the overall humanitarian response," it said. Puntland and the neighbouring region of Somaliland have enjoyed relative stability compared to southern Somalia where the interim government has been fighting a year-long battle with Islamist insurgents. The north, however, has increasingly become associated with kidnappings for ransom and high-profile acts of piracy