from SAAD MUSE in Mogadishu, Somalia
MOGADISHU, (CAJ News) – REBEL groups, mainly the Al-Shabaab, have killed 14 humanitarian workers and forcibly recruited 1 269 children in Somalia over the past year.
The killings have been documented from 249 attacks against the aid workers between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020.
In those incidents, 28 humanitarian workers were injured, 25 were abducted, 17 were arbitrarily arrested and temporarily detained and two were expelled by authorities.
The United Nations mission in the East African country disclosed the figures.
Meanwhile, child recruitment remains a major concern and a cause for displacement in Somalia.
During the reporting period, among those recruited by the armed groups were 61 girls.
Of the total number of those abducted, Al-Shabaab accounted for 987 recruitments (77 per cent).
Clan militias and security forces account for the remainder.
Somalia, which has a population of slightly over 15 million, has suffered instability for decades.
An estimated 1,3 million people are living within territory controlled by Al-Shabaab and remain largely out of reach of humanitarian agencies.
The Islamist terror group has been carrying out attacks since 2006.
– CAJ News