The capture and consolidation of Baidoa by the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA), reportedly backed by Ethiopian army forces, has allowed international humanitarian staff to return to the town for the first time since 1995, and the UNICEF Baidoa office is now fully operational, an agency report stated. Landmines remain a major threat to programme implementation in the area, it added.
The UN's Common Air Services (UNCAS) flights into the self declared state of Puntland in northeast Somalia have resumed. They were suspended on 12 June following an incident in which a plane was held at Garowe by airport security guards, a UN report received by IRIN on Wednesday stated. Also in Puntland, the editors of `Sahan' (Pioneer) and `Riyaaq' (Happiness) newspapers, published in Bosasso, were on Tuesday reported to have been arrested for writing unflattering reports about officials. The editors would soon appear in court to answer the charges, the 'Qaran' newspaper in Mogadishu reported. It added that the arrests highlighted the problems facing journalists in dealing with Somali faction leaders.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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