Thousands of people affected by a severe drought in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, are in desperate need of assistance, with officials describing the situation as “very critical”. "We are at a critical stage and if help does not come within weeks the situation could develop into a catastrophe,” Abdullahi Abdirahman Ahmed, head of the Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency of Puntland (HADMA), said.

Though political instability, violence and chaos surround them, surgeons and backup teams dedicated to ending the misery of obstetric fistula continue their work in the failed state of Somalia. The gratitude of their patients keeps them going in the most desperate of situations.

UN Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah has told the UN Security Council that the Somali transitional government is on its heels trying to thwart repeated attempts by extremist groups to overthrow it. "Despite multiple constraints, the government is resisting and repelling multip le attempts to overthrow it and seize power illegally by force," the UN envoy said, adding: "Repeated attacks by Al-Shabaa b and Hizbul-Islam militants have sent the Horn of Africa nation into chaos, with refugees fleeing by the thousands."

Clashes in central Somalia and the capital have killed at least 46 people, officials and peace groups have said, while a newly-appointed security minister pledged to build strong national security forces. Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) said it was investigating a mystery illness that had killed three Burundian peacekeepers based in Somalia. Eighteen more were in a Kenyan hospital with the same symptoms, an AU official said.

Aid workers are finding it increasingly difficult to gain access and provide assistance to residents of the Somali capital because of the worsening conflict there, the United Nations refugee agency has reported. This week’s scheduled distribution of 4,000 aid kits in Mogadishu and surrounding areas had to be postponed because of security concerns, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond told journalists in Geneva.

Aid agencies in Somalia are appealing for $11 million to provide the hundreds of people displaced by fighting in the capital with emergency water and sanitation programmes, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported. Over 200,000 people have fled Mogadishu since fighting broke out between the Government and the opposition Al-Shabab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups in early May, in what the UN refugee agency has described as the biggest exodus from the capital since Ethiopian forces intervened in Somalia in 2007.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has reiterated its request for an emergency international action to put an end to the assassinations of journalists in Somalia, after the murder of Mohamud Mohamed Yusuf of the Radio Holy Quran (IQK), who was killed on Saturday July 4 in central Mogadishu.

Another journalist has been killed in violence-ridden Mogadishu, report the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Mohamud Mohamed Yusuf, a journalist for the private station Radio Holy Quran, was shot in the stomach twice as he was covering the fighting on 4 July in the neighbourhoods surrounding the station, says NUSOJ.

Women's groups in embattled Mogadishu are stepping into the aid vacuum to assist thousands more displaced by fighting in the capital, civil society activists said. "We have been helping in the past but now the situation is even worse so we have had to assume an even bigger role," said Asha Sha'ur, a civil society member and activist.

More than 200,000 people have now been forced to flee the Somali capital Mogadishu since fighting broke out between the Government and opposition groups in early May, in the biggest exodus from the troubled city since Ethiopian forces intervened in the Horn of Africa nation in 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said. By July 6, the eight-week offensive led by the Al-Shabab and Hisb-ul-Islam militia against the Government had driven a “staggering” 204,000 people from the capital, agency spokesperson Ron Redmond said.

More than 170,000 people have been displaced from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, since early May when fresh fighting broke out began between Government forces and insurgents, the United Nations humanitarian wing has reported. In addition to those uprooted from their homes, the fighting between Government forces and the Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups have also led to some 250 deaths, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

he United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and IOM are joining forces to tap into key technical expertise among the Somali diaspora in a bid to help rebuild key governance foundations in parts of the country. Somalis with professional expertise in policy and legislation, human resources management and public financial management living in North America, the UK and Scandinavia will be targeted for temporary return for an average period of six months to provide on-the-job peer-to-peer training in their respective fields in northern Somalia initially, including Somaliland and Puntland.

Ongoing clashes between Government forces and insurgents have uprooted another 26,000 people from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in the past five days, the United Nations refugee agency has reported. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that there are now 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) resulting from the fighting that has been taking place since early May between Government troops and the opposition Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups.

The United Nations refugee agency has voiced its grave concern over the escalating violence and worsening displacement crisis in the Somali capital, where local hospitals report that over 250 civilians have been killed and nearly 1,000 others wounded since fighting erupted last month.

Eighteen people drowned and another 29 are missing and presumed dead after a smuggling boat capsized in the Gulf of Aden due to strong winds and rough seas this week off the coast of Yemen. The boat, which departed June 11 from the Somali village of Marera, east of the northern port of Bossaso, sailed for four days across the Gulf of Aden prior to reaching the shore of Yemen's Hadramout region Monday morning.

Five more people have died of their injuries after a suicide attack on the Somali security minister, bringing the total number of dead to 35. Omar Hashi Aden was buried hours after the blast at a hotel in Beledweyne, north of the capital, Mogadishu. The funerals for some of the other victims, who included Somali diplomats, are being held on Friday.

The UN refugee agency has condemned the victimization of Somali civilians in Mogadishu after a weekend spike in the fighting in the capital sent thousands more people fleeing the city. This latest exodus pushed the number of displaced from the capital past the 100,000-mark to 117,000 since street battles erupted on May 8.

Somali Coalition for Freedom of Expression (SOCFEX) has condemned the killing of the director of radio Shabelle Muqtar Mohamed Hirabe who was murdered in Bakare market, Mogadishu by two unknown gunmen. And the journalist Ahmed Omar Hashi who was with Hirabe has been injured and took him to the hospital.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the kidnapping of Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, also known as Jeekey, the director of Universal television channel based in Garasbaley, Somalia. “We firmly condemn this act of violence which confirms our concern for the safety of our colleagues in Somalia. This climate of terror against the journalists is unacceptable,” declared Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office. “Remedial measures are needed urgently to address the situation in this country where journalists continue to pay a heavy price only for doing their work”.

The number of Somalis forced from their homes in Mogadishu has now topped 96,000 since the start of fighting between government forces and armed opposition groups on May 8. Out of this latest total of displaced, an estimated 35,000 are still in the city, looking for shelter in more secure areas because they have no means to leave.