Somalia

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the parties to the Syrian conflict to allow badly needed food and medical supplies to get into Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, where at least 350,000 civilians remain besieged.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is increasingly concerned by escalating displacement in several key regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 3.9 million people are internally displaced and the challenges of getting aid to people in need are growing fast.

Irina Bokova, Executive Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, condemned today the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta yesterday.  She welcomed the Prime Minister’s pledge to ensure justice in the crime against the right of free expression.

The Secretary-General, expressing his solidarity with the people of Somalia after the brutal attacks in Mogadishu, said he was disgusted by the unprecedented violence.  He urged all Somalis to unite in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism and work together in building a functional and inclusive federal State.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President François Delattre (France):

The number of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar and arrived in Bangladesh in the past month has reached 436,000.  Aid agencies have reached more than 80 per cent of these people with food aid and are scaling up their support.

Hard-won Gains in Somalia could be swept away without predictable funding to ensure continued support for joint efforts to stamp out the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, as well as corruption and instability, the Security Council heard today.

The Security Council today extended its authorization of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 31 May 2018, approving a reduction of its uniformed personnel to a maximum 21,626 by 31 December 2017 amid a transition of responsibilities to Somali security forces.

The United Nations Human Rights Office confirmed that 33 civilians in Yemen were killed and 25 injured in the 23 August air strike by coalition forces that hit a hotel in Sana’a Governorate, one of several coalition air strikes that day, which resulted in deaths.  Witnesses said there had been no warnings of an attack.