Civilian Deaths in Somalia: Number crunching

[Somalina]

Aug 6th 2010, 13:33 by J.L. | KIGALI

 

THE most serious failure of the aid industry is arguably its dishonest use of figures. Charities are often tempted to exploit the understandable reluctance of the general public to ask impolitic questions such as, how many people really died in the Congo wars. The threat of mass mortality often never materialises. Hungry children sometimes suffer the indignity of being counted twice and then having ghost children added in famished companionship with them, in order sufficiently to bolster numbers for a television broadcaster to take notice.

 

But sometimes the numbers are stark enough that they need no dressing up. The French medical charity, Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF), has gathered data on casualties it has treated in the fighting in Somalia. It claims that most of those wounded in recent fighting in the capital city of Mogadishu have been civilians.

 

MSF surgeons at the Daynile Hospital in Mogadishu have treated 1370 war-wounded patients this year (the International Committee of the Red Cross also has hospitals in Mogadishu so casualty numbers are likely to be even higher). 520 of them have been woman and children. "People are arriving at the hospital with serious blast wounds and high-velocity gunshot injuries," says Dr Naidu Uday Raj, MSF's medical chief for Somalia. Many of those hurt, he says, have sustained "catastrophic" injuries from mortars fired into residential areas. Those with severe head injuries or ruptured arteries do not make it to the operating table.

 

The fighting in Mogadishu comes in spasms, but appears to be getting worse. The latest battle between the jihadists on one side and the Somali transitional government and African Union peacekeepers on the other, last week, saw dozens of civilians brought to Daynile Hospital. MSF says it has treated 6500 war-wounded at Daynile since the return of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists in 2008. The hospital has 84 beds and the most basic facilities.

Source

[BOB]

Even if the figures are over exxagerrated, one thing is for certain Innocent Somali Civilians keep on getting caught in the crossfire with fatal consequences and nobody seems to care.

 

 

I hate watching news and I don't even remember the last time I've bought a newspaper simply because it breaks my heart to read another dozen somali lives lost through another senseless and pointless war.

 

 

Allah hanagasoo gaaro dhibkan or else we're all doomed.

 

 

Peace, Love & Unity.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

I don't know why they are using Dayniile isbitaal's figure, instead of the much bigger Isbitaal Madiino. Most dhaawacyo iyo dadka badanaa ku dhinto isbitaalada isbitaalkaas la geeyaa, hence more accurate figures. Then I guess, Red Crescent, not MSF, partially supports that Isbitaal Madiino.

 

Ar Eebba ha u sahlo Soomaalideena ku rafaadsan dalkeena iyo dibadiisaba.

[Somalina]

Aamiin to your du'as gentlemen!

 

Ramadan Kariim!

[Tuujiye]

^^^ Red karooska maa shaqo ka heshay?

 

 

Wareer Badanaa!!!

[cynical lady]

WORLD MUST BOOST EFFORTS TO PROTECT SOMALI CIVILIANS, UN EXPERT SAYS

New York, Aug 10 2010 2:10PM

An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on the

international community to step up efforts to protect civilians in

Somalia, where the world body is hoping to boost its presence in a bid

to advance the peace process in the war-torn country.

 

“I am deeply disturbed by the continuing endless reports of civilian

casualties – many of them women and children – caused by ongoing

fighting in [the] south-central region and in [the capital]

Mogadishu,” Shamsul Bari, the UN Independent Expert on the situation

of human rights, said in a news release.

 

One hospital alone in Mogadishu has reported 1,400 war-wounded people

in the first half of this year, said Mr. Bari, who has just wrapped up

visits to Somalia, Kenya and Uganda.

 

“Many children and young people risk being recruited by armed groups

and used in the front lines and there are generations who have known

nothing but violence and conflict,” he warned.

 

The death toll in the first seven months of this year is higher than

of the same period last year, with reports of nearly 1,000 civilians

having died and more than 2,500 others having been injured. Most of

the casualties resulted from shelling by warring groups in the

capital.

 

Somalia is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world

today, with one in every seven Somali children dying before the age of

five and one in very five children in the south-central region being

malnourished, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR).

 

The Independent Expert called on the international community to

“explore all possible means” to stop many scourges: summary

executions, including the beheadings of innocent people; amputations;

flogging; whipping; forcible marriage of young girls to militiamen;

use of civilians as human shields; the imposition of strict dress

codes on women; prohibition on the use of public mass media; and bans

on listening to music and public gatherings.

 

For his part, Augustine Mahiga, the top UN envoy to the Horn of Africa

nation, voiced hope today that the increased representation of the UN

Political Office in Somalia (UNPOS)

will help to further the peace process in the country.

The Office, which is headed by Mr. Mahiga, has been based in Nairobi

due to security concerns.

 

Within the next few months, UNPOS will have increased numbers of both

international and national staff in Garowe and Hargeisa in the

self-declared autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland,

respectively, to join national staff already on the ground, he said.

 

“After this, UNPOS will crucially need to be in Mogadishu although for

security reasons we will have to take a cautious approach,” noted Mr.

Mahiga, who is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative.

 

He noted that there are many tasks, including collecting information

and interacting with the Somali Government, the African Union’s

peacekeeping mission

(AMISOM)

and other partners, which can only be done on the ground.

 

Currently, there are more than 60 international UN staff based inside

Somalia’s borders, as well as nearly 800 national staff from various

UN agencies delivering humanitarian aid and implementing recovery and

development schemes.

 

The world body has continued to deliver relief – including health and

nutrition activities – to 3.2 million people in the country. Although

the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has

temporarily suspended its distributions in parts of southern Somalia,

it continues to feed 340,000 people in Mogadishu.

 

“The UN works hard to be as close to those suffering the effects of

the conflict as possible,” Mr. Mahiga stressed.

Aug 10 2010 2:10PM