Six independent UN experts have condemned the recent public execution, by firing squad, of two teenage girls in central Somalia, saying the executions are the latest manifestation of the 'appalling human rights crisis that is plaguing the country'. The six experts called on the parties to the conflict 'to immediately refrain from committing acts of extrajudicial executions, torture, stonings, decapitation, amputations and floggings as well as other human rights violations, including with regard to freedom of religion'.

Fighting between two sub-clans over grazing pasture and water has left 20 dead and thousands of families displaced from several villages in central Somalia, say locals. 'In my own town of Galinsor, about 1,300 families [7,800 people] have been displaced, out of a total population of 5,500 families,' Osman Abdi, an elder, told IRIN on 9 November. 'Many of the families have fled to surrounding villages and are living in the open or sheltering under trees.'

Radio Horseed Media FM director Abdifatah Jama Mire has been released after 86 days of detention in Bosaso, in the semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland. Sentenced to six years in prison for broadcasting an interview with the head of a rebel group linked to Al-Qaeda, he was pardoned by Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia are keeping ahead of attempts by international authorities to stop them, capturing ever more hostages and bounty, a UN official has said. B Lynn Pascoe, the UN undersecretary-general for political affairs, said on Tuesday that more viable economic alternatives are needed to prevent the migration of young Somalis into piracy. More than 438 crew and passengers and 20 ships are currently being held hostage at sea near Somalia, according to latest International Maritime Organisation figures.

The United Nations envoy for children and armed conflict has condemned the increasing number of children being recruited as soldiers by various armed groups in Somalia. Speaking on Monday, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict, also highlighted the growing practice of forcing young girls into marriage and other forms of gender-based violence.

'We, the undersigned journalists and freedom of expression organisations, express to you and your administration our deepest concern at the worsening media freedom situation in the north-eastern regions of Somalia that are controlled by Puntland. Since you assumed the office of Puntland President on 11 January 2009, journalists have been arrested, physically assaulted, suspended, censored and even killed, and the operations of news media organisations have been threatened, closed or restricted.'

Kenya is forcing Somalis fleeing conflict back across the border in violation of international law, the United Nations' refugee agency said on Wednesday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said some of the 8,300 Somalis stranded at a border post in north eastern Kenya had already begun crossing the frontier into no-man's land. It said most were women, children and elderly people.

The African Union (AU) has asked the United Nations Security Council to approve a no-fly zone and naval blockade of Somalia. Ramtane Lamamra, the AU's commissioner for peace and security, said the move would deter pirates operating off the country's coast and prevent fighters and shipments from reaching the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group, and other groups fighting to topple the largely powerless UN-backed government.

Western policies are contributing to a sense among some Yemenis and Somalis of being 'under attack' and are drawing them towards radicalisation and militancy, says a new briefing paper from Chatham House. This threat of radicalisation, says the paper, extends throughout the far-flung diasporas of Somalia and Yemen, defying efforts at containment within the two countries and requiring new thinking about stemming the appeal of radicalism at source.

At least 20,000 Somalis displaced by fighting from the border town of Bulo Hawo are facing an uncertain future in camps in the Kenyan town of Mandera, locals told IRIN on 27 October. 'The entire town [Bulo Hawo] has almost been emptied by the fighting; most have fled to the interior, but at least 3,500 families [21,000 people] have crossed into Kenya,' said Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, an elder.

Somalis from south-central Somalia and those in the diaspora have taken advantage of the stable environment in the self-declared republic of Somaliland to put their children through school there, boosting enrolment in private and public education institutions in the region, officials said. 'About 10 percent of 200,000 primary-school children are from south-central Somalia,' Ali Mohamed Ali, the director-general of Somaliland's Education Ministry, told IRIN.

Civil society and local officials in Somalia's Afgoye Corridor - home to an estimated 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) - are worried about the deteriorating situation, especially for women and children. 'The situation...is worse today than a year ago; there are more of them [IDPs], the needs are greater and there is no help in terms of aid agencies,' said Amina Aden Mahamed, a doctor and director of Hawo Abdi Foundation, one of the most active groups helping IDPs in the camps outside the capital, Mogadishu.

On Thursday October 14, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the president of Somalia, appointed Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed 'Farmajo' as his new prime minister. Mohamed, a Somali - American and a member of the Somali diaspora, is a relative unknown in the Somalian political scene. Systemically, institutional divergence prevents Somalia from establishing a strong system of national governance. The appointment came after the September 21 resignation of former prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab said on Monday it would ban all mobile phone cash transfers in Somalia. The rebels released a statement ordering three local mobile phone companies which have developed the popular service in the country to stop mobile money transfers within three months. Al-Shabab argued that the transfers were 'unIslamic'.

omali government troops and allied forces retook the south-eastern town of Bulo Hawo near the Kenyan border on Sunday after defeating al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shebaab Islamists, officials and witnesses said. The Shebaab control large swathes of southern and central Somalia and have wrested control of much of the capital Mogadishu, where they have relentlessly attacked government and African Union forces.

European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR) justifies its presence in the Horn of Africa with claims that is has reduced piracy in the region, yet according to ECOTERRA Intl, since the launch of EU NAVFOR operations in 2008, not only has there been an increase in cases of piracy, but also an escalation in the use of violence and arms. So what purpose do multi-national naval forces in Somalian waters actually serve?

The UN refugee chief has called on countries to stop sending refugees back to the war-torn Somali capital Mogadishu and the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Antonio Guterres also said it was time rich countries shared the global refugee burden more fairly with developing countries and revealed tentative plans to set up an enlarged EU-wide resettlement programme. Some Somalis have even been deported to Mogadishu - a city under nearly continual shelling, from which more than 200,000 people have fled this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.

A minister kidnapped by pirates in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland has been freed. Ports Minister Said Mohamed Rageh was ambushed last Friday and held in the remote pirate stronghold of Jariban. His release came after negotiations between the pirates and Somali elders.

Poor education among women and lack of access to health facilities in many rural areas of war-torn Somalia have increased risks surrounding child birth, according to health officials. 'Home delivery and hospital maternity is not the same; when women deliver at home, some traditional midwives use unclean knives, increasing the risk of death even in cases where the process gets completed successfully,' said Habiba Isack Adan Hurmo, a doctor in Galkayo, Mudug Region, central Somalia.

Five months after Islamist militia took over a hospital and camp hosting thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia's Afgoye corridor, living conditions have deteriorated, with malnutrition, food shortages and shelter emerging as the key concerns. 'I live in the Hawa Abdi area; in my camp alone, there are 550 families [3,300 people] with little or no food, no medical help and almost non-existent shelter,' Hussein Abi, an elder, told IRIN.