Fleeing families stuck near closed border

One week after Kenya closed its border with Somalia, hundreds of Somali families who fled fighting between the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and the Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces are still trapped in an area that cannot be reached by aid agencies, sources said on Wednesday.

Unconfirmed reports from civil-society groups in Somalia said between 4,000 and 7,000 asylum-seekers have gathered around the town of Dobley, close to the border, in the hope of entering Kenya. "The people are fleeing the fighting. Some are going to other parts of the country, while many are going to the Kenyan border in the hope of finding safety there," said an aid worker with a local NGO, who requested anonymity.

Many families also left Dobley when Ethiopian and Somali government forces entered the town, "for fear of being accused of being pro-Islamic Courts", the aid worker said. Dobley is close to the area where fighting continues between UIC remnants and government soldiers, who have been pursuing them since the UIC was forced out of Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia in mid-December. It is also close to an area that American warplanes have bombarded since Monday.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was discussing with the Kenyan government allowing genuine Somali asylum-seekers to cross the border into Kenya, which already hosts more than 160,000 Somali refugees. It closed its border on 3 January, citing security concerns.

"We still do not have access [to asylum-seekers] but we are in consultations with the government, taking into consideration the security concerns," Emmanuel Nyabera, spokesman for UNHCR's Kenya office, said. "We are optimistic that a solution will be found."

The Kenyan government, however, instituted further security measures in areas near the border on Wednesday. The Northeastern provincial commissioner, Kiritu Wamae, said the government had ordered pastoralists living along the border to leave the vast area to avoid unnecessary loss of life.

Wamae told a public meeting in the provincial capital of Garissa that all civilians living along the border in Garissa, Mandera, Wajir and Ijara should keep more than 18 kilometres away from the frontier. "It is a security order and everybody along the border must [obey]," he explained.

An aid worker in the area said air strikes had continued, with reports of high casualties and nomadic families fleeing the area. "They [the nomads] are escaping with their animals to villages that have not been targets," the aid worker said. "Our reports indicate that more people have been killed by the bombing. The exact figures are not available but the numbers are much higher than the initial 22 reported on Tuesday." Large numbers of livestock have been killed in the bombing.

Among the dead was a group of people attending a wedding near the village of Hayo, 30 km west of the town of Afamdow and close to the Kenyan border, he said, adding that if UIC forces were in Hayo, they were moving around in small numbers. "The only concentrations of people in that area are nomads bringing their livestock to a good pasture area," he added.

International media reported that the American air strikes were targeting suspected al-Qaeda operatives. News reports put the death toll at 70.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern over the US air strikes, particularly their humanitarian impact. His spokesperson said the world body was seeking more information about the attacks while also considering extra emergency assistance for the strife-torn country and the thousands who need help at the border with Kenya.

In an update on Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Somalia said at least 4,700 internally displaced persons (IDPs), "including some 420 that were deported by Kenyan authorities from Liboi, Kenya, last week, remain in and around Dobley with no access to humanitarian assistance". Many of the IDPs from Dobley, who "claimed they were suffering harassment from Ethiopian troops", had gone to neighbouring villages.

Meanwhile, "unidentified gunmen attacked Ethiopian and government forces’ compounds on Tuesday, in the K4 area of Mogadishu at around 7:30 pm [local time]", a local resident said. "There was a heavy exchange of fire for about 10 minutes. The attackers used two technicals [battlewagons] and then disappeared into the night."

He said the attack had heightened tensions in the city and that "the K4 area remains a no-go area today [Wednesday]. I am like a prisoner in my home all day," the resident said. "They [Ethiopian and government forces] are not allowing women to go to the market."

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