United Nations, July 24 (Xinhua) Repeated attempts to overthrow the transitional Somali government are a source of deep concern, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, calling on the global community to help the volatile African nation.
The increase in attacks by insurgents comes “at a time when the government is making concrete progress towards fulfilling its transitional agenda, which the population has increasingly welcomed”, Ban said in a report on the situation in Somalia, released Thursday.
“The attempts by elements opposed to peace and stability to seize power by force from the legally constituted and internationally recognised government must not be allowed to succeed,” he said, adding that the authorities must be enabled to “exercise its authority countrywide for the sake of the Somali people”.
Insurgent groups, such as Al-Shabaab, have stepped up their strategy to intimidate the Somali people, including through methods such as “high gain” assassinations and arrests of clan elders, some of whom have been murdered.
On June 19, Omar Hashi Aden, the Somali minister of national security, was killed in a suicide car bomb attack in the Beletweyne area in central Somalia.
The Somali militants have also raided two UN compounds Monday, stealing equipments and vehicles, forcing one of its offices to close down.
Despite setbacks, “the government has continuously reiterated its readiness to broaden its base by including those opposition groups that renounce violence”, the secretary-general said.
Ban has appealed to the international community not to back down on its support for Somalia in the face of the recent increase in violence in Somalia. He urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) to encourage the opposition groups to work toward peace.
“For the government to increase its legitimacy and to broaden its base, we must invest in building the capacity of the security institutions and improve its capability to deliver public services and employment opportunities,” the secretary-general said in the report.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 200,000 people have fled the capital Mogadishu since early May, after the fighting between the government soldiers and Islamist militants intensified. In the past fortnight alone, about 20,000 people have fled Mogadishu.
