Somalia

The High Commissioner for Human Rights is extremely worried by reports suggesting the targeting of civilians over the past two weeks amid intense fighting between warring parties in Al Mokha in Taizz Governorate in Yemen.  The United Nations Refugee Agency has mobilized assessment teams and begun delivering emergency aid.

The Security Council called today upon the newly elected President of Somalia to pay urgent attention to the immediate risk of famine, take active steps to prevent it and address the consequences of the severe drought confronting the country.

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

The United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) reports that sporadic arms fire by disgruntled Ivorian Special Forces soldiers seeking bonus payments resumed in Adiaké today after a night of calm.  The western town of Olodio and the northern border town of Tengrela are reported calm after unrest yesterday.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq briefed the Security Council today noting the progress that had been made by Iraqi forces in Mosul.  He said that in the foreseeable future, the liberation operations in Iraq are coming to an end and the days of Da’esh are numbered.

Marking the Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, the Secretary-General said it would be an error to think that the Holocaust was simply the result of the insanity of a group of criminal Nazis.  On the contrary, it was a culmination of millennia of hatred and discrimination targeting the Jews — what we now call anti-Semitism.

Despite repeated delays and instances of malpractice, the election of a new Parliament marked a milestone in Somalia’s post-conflict transformation, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.

The United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) condemned today the coordinated suicide bombing attack at a hotel in Mogadishu.  The attack reportedly killed dozens of Somali civilians and soldiers, while wounding many more.  The Mission reports that Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today that despite the relative tranquillity of the Israel-Palestinian conflict compared to other regional crises, the spectre of violence is always near.  He said that all stakeholders must avoid any unilateral action that would prejudge a negotiated final status solution.