Aid activities suspended after murder of UNICEF doctor

UN agencies on Monday suspended operations in central and southern Somalia in protest at the armed ambush on the road between Jowhar and Afgoi on 15 September of a UNICEF doctor, Ayoub Sheikh Yerow, and five travelling companions in which all the passengers were injured and after which Dr Ayoub died from gunshot wounds. While preliminary investigations suggested the attack was the work of bandits, the communities of Benadir, Bay, Bakool, Middle and Lower Shabelle, Middle and Lower Juba, and Gedo "must understand that such incidents undermine the UN's capacity to provide assistance", a UN press release stated. The UN said its agencies and other humanitarian organisations would discontinue their activities until local authorities took urgent steps to apprehend those responsible, communities in central and southern Somalia showed a "visible commitment" to the security of humanitarian workers, and agencies had a chance to review the security conditions in which staff worked. The Somalia Aid Coordination Body (SACB), comprising UN agencies, donors and international NGOs, on Tuesday issued a statement saying it was "appalled" by the murder and recommending the discontinuance of aid activities "in the area where the murder took place" until the same three issues were addressed.