Mogadishu is once again calm. |
NAIROBI, 12 Jul 2006 (IRIN) – The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the Somali capital Mogadishu, has appealed for humanitarian aid for the people affected by recent fighting in the city as hundreds of displaced families begin returning to their homes.
“We are appealing for immediate assistance for the thousands of people affected by the fighting,” Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the UIC chairman, said on Wednesday in Mogadishu.
He said priority “should be given to providing shelter material, food and medicines” to the displaced and “those whose homes were destroyed” in the fighting between the UIC and faction leaders.
Many of the warlords and freelance militias made their living by setting up checkpoints around business areas to intercept and extort money from people coming or going to the markets.
The UIC has now removed most of the checkpoints in and around the city, according to residents.
“My family is back home and most of my neighbours have also returned,” said Dahir Muhammad, a resident in the Buulo Hubey area of Medina district, southwest of Mogadishu. “We had a wonderfully quiet night last night.”
People have also started returning to the K6 area, the epicentre of Monday’s fighting, according to an eye witness.
“There were a lot of people in K6 this morning carrying the few belongings they took on their backs,” Osman said. “Many are counting their losses.” He added that K6, which used to be one of the most exclusive parts of the city, “is like waste land. It looks as if not a single house has escaped the devastation.”
Sheikh Ahmed said the UIC would provide “any assistance to any organisation willing to help our people”, adding that “they will be able to go anywhere they want and have as much access as they need”.
He said the security situation in the city was “much better than it has been in a long time, and we [the UIC] are doubling our efforts to make sure we will be able to guarantee the safety and security of all”.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Emergency Coordinator Jan Egeland said on Monday in New York that a UN team had met UIC officials on Sunday and agreed on opening a dialogue that would allow for access to Mogadishu, “the only capital on earth with no presence from international organisations”.
“The Islamic Courts asked humanitarian organisations to step up their operations and said they would not restrict our freedom of movement and our access to the civilian population,” Egeland told a news conference. He said such access was essential since Somalia had the world’s highest rate of child mortality and lowest rate of school enrolment.
ah/mw/eo
[ENDS]
Source: IRIN, July 12, 2006
