The attack occurred on Friday and left more than 10 people injured at the beachside hotel in Somalia’s capital, the UN health agency reported.
Media reports indicated that the incident took place over several hours and involved armed perpetrators.
“We condemn all attacks on innocent civilians and humanitarian aid workers and express our deepest condolences to the family members of all those who were killed in this attack,” said Malik Mamunur, WHO representative in Somalia.
WHO is committed to continuing efforts to preserve health and respond to emergencies in Somalia, and affirms that the safety and security of its staff is a paramount factor in ensuring ongoing life-saving response operations, he said.
“We are appalled by the tragic loss of life in this senseless attack, including the death of Nasra Hassan, a WHO national female staff member,” said Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
“We condemn in the strongest terms this heinous attack on a hotel that claimed so many lives, including the precious life of one of our dearest colleague,” he said, noting that Ms. Hassan, 27, had joined the WHO country office in Somalia to support the drought emergency response operations in Jubaland.
In this feature, part of a series exploring the fight against trafficking in the Sahel, UN News focuses on the illegal arms trade that is fuelling conflict and terrorism.
In the Sahel, home to 300 million people, it’s a buyer’s market for guns. Insurgency and banditry plague the region, rooted in, among other things, endemic intercommunal tensions, clashes between farmers and herders, a spread of violent religious extremism, and competition over such scarce resources as water and arable land amid extreme climate shocks.
“Non-State groups are fighting among themselves for supremacy, pushing States to the margin, and causing untold misery to millions of people who had to flee their communities to seek safety,” Giovanie Biha, Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), told the UN Security Council, presenting the Secretary-General’s report on the region.
‘We bought more rifles’
Behind the chaos and misery simmers a thriving illicit arms trade.
Many arms trafficking hubs in the Sahel rim borders or transportation routes where multiple criminal activities take place, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Illegal markets – often hidden in plain sight in towns and villages along strategic corridors – lay unhampered by the presence of authorities.
All the groups involved in clashes are now dealing with firearms and ammunition, according to a recent UNODC report on firearms trafficking. As the numbers of group members multiply, so too do business opportunities for traffickers.
The report tracks cases with a view to better understand the phenomenon and its drivers. When Nigerian authorities asked a suspect how his group had spent the $100,000 ransom paid to free the schoolgirls they had kidnapped, he said “we bought more rifles”, according to the report.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Fleeing her village in northern Cameroon after armed insurgents seized control, Mamma Hamidou (centre) received income-generating funding from UNDP and, with her earnings, built a small house and sends her children to school. (February 2019)
Cascade of consequences
A cascade of consequences spilled across the region over the past decade, destabilizing nations and spreading a tide of trafficked weapons into villages, towns, and cities. In Nigeria, Boko Haram expanded its area of control and spidered into Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
MINUSMA/Marco Dormino
Small arms ammunition at the unexploded ordnance pit at the Malian Army Camp in Timbuktu, Mali.
In the first of the Trafficking in the Sahel features, we described the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya as a pivotal moment. Tuareg soldiers serving in the Libyan army looted weapons, returning to Mali, where a series of rebellions created a dangerous, chaotic security vacuum.
Extremist groups captured Malian military and police bases, adding fresh stockades of weapons to their expanding arsenals. The Liptako-Gourma transborder area became a battlefield and bartering ground for a burgeoning illegal arms trade.
The chronic violence has killed thousands and displaced more than two million Sahelians, as of December 2022.
Meanwhile, the ongoing conflict in Sudan has caused further disruptions, said Mar Dieye, who heads the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS).
“Soldiers are selling their guns to get food, and this will add fuel to fire,” he told UN News. “This is extremely serious, and we are calling for all international actors to scale up their support.”
Women care for a market garden in Tillaberi. Niger, located in the Liptako-Gourma area, which has felt a heavy impact from local conflicts and the spillover of fighting in Mali and Burkina Faso.
African-tailored terrorism
Against this backdrop sits the ever-present threat of terrorism, according the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Executive Directorate (CTED).
In a bid to appeal to local audiences, Islamic State (ISIL) affiliates have, since 2017, attempted to “Africanize” references and languages, using African literature to justify the terrorist group’s views, CTED said in its report ISIL in Africa: Key Trends and Developments.
In the background, the illicit weapons trade perpetuates the chaos. The UNODC report showed that flows of illegal arms from Libya since 2019 have expanded to include newly manufactured assault rifles.
Reflecting this sinister trend, weapons seizures increased by 105 per cent between 2017 and 2021, and sting operations continue, said Amado Philip de Andrès, UNODC’s regional representative for West and Central Africa.
Joint investigations and cross-border cooperation are a winning combination, he said. One such operation crushed a terrorist network’s firearms supply route in December, and new partnerships are flourishing, including Niger’s military cooperation agreements with Benin and Burkina Faso.
UNODC/INTERPOL
Firearms, ammunition and explosives were seized by INTERPOL across the Sahel.
To fight terrorism and violent extremism, concerned nations in the region launched the Accra Initiative in 2017, deploying joint operations, initiating confidence-building efforts in hotspot areas, and calling for operationalizing a multinational joint task force comprising 10,000 soldiers.
For its part, the UN and the region’s countries work to strengthen the resilience of border communities and facilitate the return of displaced persons. Traction in advancing the African Union’s ground-breaking Silencing the Guns initiative is also under way, with a UN task force supporting an annual amnesty month and lending technical assistance on small arms control.
To build on these successes, UNODC recommended that Sahel countries reinforce efforts to collect data on firearms trafficking to improve understanding of and stop national and transnational flows.
But, political and operational support of partners remains essential to stabilize the region, said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa.
“Decisive progress in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism, and organized crime in the Sahel must be made desperately,” she said. “Without significant gains, it will become increasingly difficult to reverse the security trajectory in the Sahel and the continued expansion of insecurity to coastal countries in West Africa.”
UN Photo/Ky Chung
A UN peacekeeper with firearms collected from militias in Côte d’Ivoire.
‘We are all Burkinabes’
The backlash of the illicit arms trade is felt strongest on the ground. In the village of Bolle, Burkina Faso, a fragile security landscape crumbled frighteningly in 2019, when fierce fighting among heavily armed groups along the Malian border drove more than 100,000 people into the area to seek safety.
Sahelians like Chief Diambendi Madiega have worked together to welcome as many as they could.
“The concern I had was how to take care of the displaced people,” he said, upon receiving a UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, award in 2021 for hosting more than 2,500 people.
“The responsibility is mine,” he explained. “Anything I can to do help them, I will. I am happy for what this community has done. This shows that we are all Burkinabes.”
UN in action
The UN, partners, and Sahelians themselves working for peace in the Sahel are making inroads and introducing new efforts, including these:
UN Peacekeeping adopted a strategy for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants.
The UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), in a joint project, assisted nine Sahelian countries in adopting a regional action plan to combat the illicit arms trade.
UNDP facilitated the voluntary surrender of over 40,000 small arms and light weapons in West Africa, built more than 300 houses, nearly 300 market stalls, and clinics and schools in northeastern Nigeria, and provided livelihoods for youth to protect them from sliding into poverty or being recruited into violent extremism.
The UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) supports the regional G5 Sahel Force in a project focused on criminal justice, border security management, and preventing radicalization and violent extremism.
A UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) programme helps adolescents learn about the danger of small arms, combining basic gun safety education with leadership development, vocational training, and conflict resolution techniques.
UN regional directors and UNOWAS approved in November the launch of a revamped “peace and security offer” for the Sahel and works with the Timbuktu Institute and the non-governmental organization Dialogue sans frontières on an initiative aimed at strengthening traditional dialogue and trust-building platforms between communities in the border regions of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
Speaking to journalists from Bilozerka, a town on the Dnipro River about 20 kilometres west of Kherson and five kilometres from the frontline, Ms. Brown, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said that on Friday, the UN brought in a five-truck convoy to the affected areas, with desperately needed drinking water, food and equipment to help repair damaged homes.
‘Distraught’ population
Ms. Brown has been visiting affected areas and said that people were completely taken by surprise by the flooding, which came in the middle of the night on Tuesday after the dam suffered a massive breach. Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for its destruction.
She stressed that people were “distraught” by the latest catastrophe to hit them, but remained resilient, even though they faced “daily shelling” – including just a day ago.
Rising needs
In many places, the waters haven’t receded yet, which is why the impact remained hard to assess and satellite imagery was “critical”, Ms. Brown said. The UN aid coordination office (OCHA) said on Thursday that flooding would still last “for at least a week”.
For the moment, an estimated 17,000 people were affected in the flooding zone according to Ms. Brown. UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, added that this number could rise to 40,000 as the situation evolved.
‘Doing my darndest’
Asked to comment on earlier criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the UN’s relief effort, Ms. Brown said that the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) had been bringing in supplies “from day one” with commercial vehicles and that UNHCR and the UN migration agency (IOM) were also on the ground.
“I have asked that question to the Ukrainian authorities, ‘Did we get here on time?’ And the answer was yes,” she said.
Ms. Brown explained that the current situation was very difficult and fast-moving, and that the fact that UN agencies brought in relief with commercial transporters may have made them less visible to the authorities.
She also recalled her conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday, focused on “what more we can do together”.
“I am doing my darndest to ensure that we do our job,” she insisted.
Call for access to Russian-occupied areas
OCHA said on Thursday that the UN was “extremely concerned” about the plight of civilians in areas under Russian military control and that it had no access to those areas in the Kherson region.
UN rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Jeremy Laurence, told reporters on Friday that just like humanitarian actors, human rights monitors cannot enter the Russian-occupied territories, as Russia had denied the Office’s repeated requests on the issue.
He reiterated the urgent call for access, along with an appeal for an independent investigation into the exact circumstances of the Kakhovka dam destruction.
Waterborne diseases on the rise
Humanitarians insisted that stagnant water in the flooded was a “major” health concern, carrying risks of cholera and diarrhoea.
UNHCR also pointed out that sewage, heavy oil and pesticides were mixing with the floodwaters and creating additional health hazards.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday about the impacts of the flooding on sanitation systems and public health services. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that WHO is supporting the authorities to prevent waterborne diseases and to improve disease surveillance.
WHO teams are on the ground, performing health needs assessments, and the agency’s Ukraine office said that in the coming days, additional supplies to strengthen access to health services will be delivered.
Landmines threat
With landmines floating downstream with the floodwaters, Ms. Brown said that a UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) mine expert had been deployed to work with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to assess the risks and that a map had been produced of the most heavily mined areas.
On Thursday, Ms. Brown discussed the situation with Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the Government’s focal point on landmines.
She said that the UN was asked to work closely with Ms. Svyrydenko to communicate the risks from unexploded ordnance in the floodwaters to the population and specifically involve UNICEF in spreading the word in schools.
Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (centre), visits Bilozerka, one of the communities worst-affected by the floods caused by the Kakhovka Dam.
Fresh concerns for the future
While the immediate impact of the dam’s destruction is staggering, Ms. Brown expressed her concerns about “what the future holds”, amid the destruction of homes, farmland and livestock, the dramatic impact on water and energy supplies and the serious risk of environmental contamination.
To plan for the long-term effects of the disaster, the veteran aid official said that on Thursday, the UN team met with representatives of the Ukrainian Government, the European Union and the Kyiv School of Economics to look at the available satellite imagery and continue the needs assessment.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents that the decision to send the unit home had been made by the Secretariat in New York, following consultations with the peacekeeping mission in CAR, MINUSCA.
‘Credible evidence’
“The decision comes after a preliminary investigation which found credible evidence that 11 members of the unit had allegedly engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse of four victims”, Mr. Dujarric said.
In a statement, MINUSCA said that a rapid response team had been “immediately deployed” to assess the allegations.
Responding on Twitter to the news, UN Peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said that the scourge has no place in any part of his department, adding that the upcoming repatriation “is a robust measure taken to protect victims and demonstrate our resolve to swiftly address these wrongs with the troop-contributing country.”
Victims provided care and support
“The identified victims are being provided with care and support by the Mission’s humanitarian partners. The Mission has also deployed a team to further engage with the community”, he added.
The Spokesperson said the Tanzanian Government had already been formally notified of the decision, and have themselves deployed a national investigation team to CAR.
Tanzania pledges action
“In reaffirming their commitment to zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, the Tanzanian authorities noted the seriousness of the allegations and have committed to taking the necessary action to address these matters.”
Mr. Dujarric added that the unit had been relocated away from the area where the alleged abuse took place are are now confined to barracks “in order to protect victims as well of course, as the integrity of the investigation. The unit will be repatriated once their presence is no longer required in theatre by the investigators.”
Zero tolerance
He noted that the Secretariat’s decision was in accordance with Security Council resolution 2272, which provides clear support for decisions made by the UN Secretary-General to repatriate peacekeeping personnel, of “a particular military unit or formed police unit of a contingent, when there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic sexual exploitation and abuse by that unit.”
The UN chief António Guterres announced a firm and robust policy early in his tenure of ‘zero tolerance’ towards sexual abuse by UN personnel, calling on Member States to sign a voluntary compact on preventing and addressing the scourge, in 2017.
Mr. Dujarric stressed that the UN remains committed to “robustly implementing” the zero tolerance policy at all levels.
In a statement, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSMA), El-Ghassim WANE, described the attack on the security patrol in Ber town, in the Timbuktu region, as a “cowardly act”.
“This tragic loss is a stark reminder of the risks that our peacekeepers face while working tirelessly to bring stability and peace to the people of Mali”, he added.
The mission said the patrol was targeted in an attack that involved an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), followed by direct fire.
Tribute to ‘brother in arms’
Mr. WANE extended his “heartfelt condolences to the government, brother in arms, and family of the fallen colleague” and wished a speedy recovery to the injured ones.
The safety and security of our peacekeepers remain a priority, and every effort will be made to enhance their protection in the face of evolving security challenges in Mali, MINUSMA said.
“MINUSMA reaffirms its commitment to the people of Mali and its determination to continue its mission in supporting peace and stability in the country. The Mission will work closely with the Malian authorities to investigate the incident and bring the responsible individuals to justice.”
Briefing correspondents in New York on Friday, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric echoed Mr. WANE’s condemnation of the attack, and tribute to the fallen peacekeeper, adding that the death marked the ninth just this year, in Mali – which has long been the most dangerous place to serve as a peacekeeper.
The head of UN Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, also joined the condemnation over the deadly attack, praising the tireless commitment of those who serve in the mission.
History of insecurity
MINUSMA was established a decade ago, following rampant insecurity in the north of Mali, and a failed military coup by extremist militants, which led to the signing of a peace deal between the government of the day and armed group coalitions, in 2015.
Mr. WANE briefed the Security Council in April, warning that extremist groups had been forced into regions like Timbuktu and Gao after successful Malian military operations, and begun increasingly to use IEDs to hamper ground movements of defence and security forces. MINUSMA is assisting with a three year stabilization strategy for the centre of the country, which relies on closer coordination between the mission and Malian forces, he told the Council.
The military led Government is due to facilitate elections and the restoration of full constitutional order by a deadline of March 2024.
“We need to focus on an emergency response right now”, he said, highlighting a three-step plan to provide humanitarian assistance to all Ukrainians impacted, who have faced more than one year of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. “We need to save people and get them to places where they are safe and can eat, and get safe drinking water.”
Latest situation report
Four days since the destruction of the dam in southern Ukraine by Russian forces, flooding has started to recede, although the disaster is still causing displacement and rising humanitarian needs, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which Mr. Griffiths heads.
In the Kherson region which is under Ukrainian control, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 320 people have been displaced over the past 24 hours, increasing the total number who had to leave their homes, to more than 2,500.
Across the Ukrainian-controlled areas of Kherson, nearly 40 villages and towns have been severely affected by the flood, with more than 3,620 houses recorded as damaged to date OCHA said, in its latest situation report released late Friday afternoon.
Three-phase response plan
Highlighting the UN’s three-phase response plan, The UN relief chief said emergency actions include getting people to safety, delivery life-saving supplies, and assessing the longer-term consequences. An appeal for emergency assistance is also in the works, he said.
Responding to media reports referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s comments on the slow reaction by aid agencies, Mr. Griffiths said an immediate response had always been the priority
“I understand the President’s frustration,” he said. “What we focused on was trying to get the response moving as quickly as possible.”
Providing an update on recent efforts, he said two convoys departing on Thursday had reached 30,000 people in Kherson along with another delivery made on Friday, adding that “the engine is moving”.
Phase one priorities in the coming days will be to continue to both rescue people and deliver medical supplies and food aid, including via boats operated by the World Food Programme (WFP), he said.
The next phase will aim at reaching those in need, including the 700,000 people who currently lack safe drinking water, and providing livelihood assistance.
Examining the environmental and economic consequences will make up part of phase three, he said. This may be the most “awful shock” to the people of Ukraine and the global South, because it is bound to have an effect on food security as the “bread basket” of Ukraine is most certainly going to be affected, he warned.
Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (second right), visits Bilozerka, one of the communities worst-affected by the floods caused by the Kakhovka Dam.
Reaching out to Russian authorities
“We have been in touch with the Russian authorities in the last half hour,” he said, noting that his Office is seeking permission to have safe access across lines.
Turning to the ongoing mis- and disinformation campaign over responsibility and circumstances surrounding the dam disaster, he said “our obligation is to tell the truth about needs and to deliver on that.”
“Our message to the region is one of solidarity and sympathy,” he said. “The idea that you would go through more than a year of war… and then suddenly to be woken up in the middle of the night by this blast and that torrent, which takes away any future that you might have known before…under these circumstances, the message from the world is very simple: we stand by you in this time of need.”
Crisis in Sudan
Turning to the crisis in Sudan, where fierce fighting continues since rival military forces clashed in mid-April, Mr. Griffiths expressed hope that the latest imminent ceasefire, set to begin on Saturday, will work and “give us a window of opportunity”.
“We’ve agreed on cross-border operation from Chad into Western Darfur so that we can actually begin to see the level of needs,” he said.
“What is fundamentally important is the beginning of a process which brings an end to this war, which deals with the reasons it started, and which returns it to civilian rule and the proper embrace of its people by government,” he said.
“That’s what all humanitarians want: to be driven out of business by the resolution of the conflict,” he added.
Denise Brown, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, offered reassurance to Dmytro Kuleba that UN agencies and other humanitarian partners have been delivering water, food and cash to those displaced or suffering the impact of the dam breach, and collapse of the crucial hydroelectric plant in the southeast region near the city of Kherson.
Expanding support
“Plans are now being made, also in partnership with oblast authorities, to reach the wider flood affected areas as soon as possible, once the military deems it safe, given the risks as fast moving water shifts mines and unexploded ordinance to areas previously assures as cleared”, said a press release from her office.
The meeting came off the back of widely reported and critical comments directed towards the UN and other major humanitarian organisations operating in Ukraine, by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, who said the initial relief effort had been insufficient.
“The UN is committed to reaching all Ukrainians in need, on both sides of the riverbank”, said the UN Ukraine release, referring to the Dnipro River which serves as the frontline between Russian occupiers on the left bank, and Ukrainian Government held territory opposite.
Repeated requests for aid access
The UN has “repeatedly requested access and safety guarantees”, especially from Russian commanders currently in control of the areas which are reportedly suffering the worst impact of the flooding.
“We have not received that access, nor the necessary safety guarantees for humanitarian staff and the people they would help there”, the statement continued.
In a tweet issued on Thursday, UN aid coordination office in Ukraine, OCHA, highlighted that food for 18,000 people had been supplied by the UN and partners; more than 100,000 bottles of water, cash for 5,000 people in need; thousands of hygiene kits, including special supplies for older persons; and mobile health and psychosocial support.
In data released later in the day, OCHA reported that Russian-installed authorities had said at least 4,000 civilians had been evacuated from territory under their control. The agency added that flooding would likely last at least a week, as water slowly recedes.
More than 18,000 people in total received aid over the past 24 hours from the UN and partners.
Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant concerns remain: IAEA
Europe’s largest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhya, located relatively close to the destroyed dam site and the vast reservoir which is now emptying into the river, relies on water from there for its cooling system.
The UN atomic energy agency, IAEA, said there was still cause for concern that the water level for its reserves could fall to such a level, that it could no longer be pumped to the site to keep reactors cool.
“As the full extent of the dam’s damage remains unknown, it is not possible to predict if and when this might happen. If the current drop rate were to continue, however, the 12.7 metre level could be reached within the next two days”, said IAEA in a statement.
Building reserves
Preparing for such a possibility, the agency said it was “continuously replenishing its water reserves – including the large cooling pond next to the plant as well as its smaller sprinkler cooling ponds and the adjacent channels – by fully utilizing the water of the Kakhovka reservoir while this still remains possible.”
“It is essential that the integrity of both the ZNPP cooling pond and of the ZTPP discharge channel is maintained. This is critical so the plant has sufficient water to provide essential cooling to the site for the months ahead,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
He plans to travel to the plant next week to assess the situation there following the damage to the dam and to monitor compliance with the five basic principles for protecting the ZNPP that he presented to the United Nations Security Council on 30 May.
He also pledged to strengthen the IAEA’s presence at the site, which is currently Russian occupied, but locally staffed, replacing the current team with a larger group travelling with him across the frontline.
“Together we can achieve what neither organization can achieve on its own,” she said, presenting the UN Secretary-General’s latest report on the important collaboration.
Recent strains on multilateralism have seen trust in institutions and processes sorely tested, most recently by the uneven response to the COVID-19 crisis, she said.
“Defiance of international law and the norms that bind us is making international and regional cooperation to maintain peace and security ever more difficult,” she said. “In such a fraught context, it is heartening that the relationship between the UN and the League remains robust.”
Sudan: ‘This is not enough’
Highlighting recent developments in the region, she raised issues of common concern, including the continuing crisis in Sudan, where the national army and a powerful rival paramilitary group continue to battle each other in streets.
It is critical that the parties in Sudan remain committed to the ceasefire agreement brokered in May in Saudi Arabia – since stalled – but “this is not enough”, she said, adding that a longer-term plan for peace must unfold.
“The role of the region will be key to end the conflict,” she said.
Common goal: Two-State solution
Turning to the situation in Israel and Palestine, she said tensions continue to simmer and boil over in the occupied West Bank, and such unilateral actions as Israeli settlement expansion continue to undermine collective efforts to realize a two-State solution.
In addition, the lack of progress in holding Palestinian elections across the West Bank, Gaza and other occupied territories, must be addressed, she said, emphasizing the critical role the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNWRA) plays in stabilizing the region.
“We share a common goal with the League of Arab States: a two-State solution,” she said. “This is the only path to sustainable peace between the two peoples.”
Finding political solutions
Welcoming progress in Libya, she commended the League’s expression of support for UN efforts to find a political solution. Ahead of planned elections, she said Libyans want to elect their leaders and end the cycle of endless political transitions.
Taking note of recent regional meetings on the 12-year-old conflict in Syria, she said that if this renewed momentum translates into action, a negotiated political solution to the conflict can be found. In this vein, she called on parties to support such efforts as addressing the matter of missing persons.
“We will continue to work with all, but we cannot do this alone,” she said, noting that regional support is essential.
‘Immense potential’
More broadly, she said the region possesses immense potential, including that 60 per cent of its population is under age 30. As such, the UN supports a range of efforts, include a joint initiative reaching out to Arab youth, she said.
Encouraging the League’s members to take action in line with relevant Security Council resolutions, including those related to youth and women, she said the UN continues to work with partners ahead of the 2024 review of the peace, security, and development nexus and the Organization’s partnership with the League of Arab States.
For more details on this and other meetings occurring throughout the UN system on a daily basis, visit our dedicated UN Meetings Coverage page.
Senior officials with the UN Investigative Team promoting accountability for ISIL crimes, UNITAD, presented some of their findings to Member States meeting at UN Headquarters in New York.
For the past five years, UNITAD has been gathering evidence of crimes committed during ISIL’s self-proclaimed caliphate from June 2014 to December 2017, which could be used to prosecute the extremists in national or foreign courts.
Prosecution is rare
Christian Ritscher, Special Adviser and Head of UNITAD, recalled that chemical weapons use is outlawed internationally and could constitute a crime against humanity, war crime or even contribute to genocide, if a specific group is targeted.
“To the best of my knowledge, the use of chemical weapons by non-State actors has rarely been adjudicated, if at all, in any court – whether national or international – around the world. As UNITAD, we would like to play our part and aim to change this,” he said.
The investigations into ISIL’s development and use of chemical and biological weapons began two years ago, looking into the March 2016 attack on the town of Taza Khurmatu and whether other incidents had taken place elsewhere.
‘Sophisticated’ programme
Team Leader Paula Silfverstolpe said ISIL’s operations represent the culmination of nearly two decades of experimentation by Sunni jihadi groups, marking “the most sophisticated programme developed by non-State actors so far”.
The overall manufacturing of weapons and ammunition fell under ISIL’s self-styled Department of Defence, specifically the Committee of Military Development and Manufacturing (CMDM), which had a monthly budget of over a $1 million as well as extrabudgetary funds to purchase raw materials.
More than 1,000 combatants were involved in production, according to ISIL payroll records.
Hundreds were deployed to the chemical weapons programme, and specific job advertisements were placed to recruit scientists and technical experts, including from abroad, drawing people from countries such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
A terrible ‘first’
Specialist research and development teams were located at the then extremist-run University of Mosul in northern Iraq, rural parts of Anbar province, and the city of Hawija, home to ISIL headquarters.
Ms. Silfverstolpe said the militants developed at least eight chemical agents – aluminium phosphide, botulinum toxin, chlorine, cyanide ion, nicotine, ricin, thallium sulfate and sulfur mustard, which is also known as mustard gas.
ISIL was also the first non-State group to develop a banned chemical warfare agent and combine it with a projectile delivery system.
The toxins sulfur mustard, chlorine and aluminium phosphide are banned under the Biological Weapons Convention, and evidence demonstrates that ISIL weaponized their use in mortars, rockets and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The terror group also explored the possibility of acquiring anthrax but there has been no evidence so far that combatants used it, or other biological agents, in any attacks, although investigations continue.
Human testing and bonus payments
UNITAD has also collected evidence which indicates that ISIL tested chemical agents on humans – including ricin, nicotine and thallium sulfate – as well as animals such as rabbits.
ISIL records demonstrate that top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died in 2019, authorized the use of chemical weapons by troops and even approved bonus payments for those soldiers deploying them. “Martyrdom payments” were made if they died.
Al-Baghdadi also personally ordered the attack against Taza Khurmatu “with the purpose of causing as many casualties as possible”. Of the 42 projectiles launched against the town, at least 27 contained sulfur mustard, which causes blisters and painful burns. Two children died and thousands of people, including first responders, were injured.
‘Widespread and systematic’ attacks
Judge Ali Noaman Jabbar of the Taza Investigation Court said the re-opening of the case and UNITAD’s interest has motivated numerous victims and their families to provide their testimonies.
“The impact caused by the chemical attack includes various diseases such as cancer, skin diseases, miscarriages, deformities in embryos, chronic diseases, and psychological impact and trauma,” he said in a video message.
The attack on on Taza Khurmatu “was definitely not an isolated case”, according to Ms. Silfverstolpe. Information shows at least 12 other attacks were carried out in other locations, with unconfirmed reports of 35 more.
“It was quite a widespread and systematic phenomena, as far as the information that we have collected so far,” she said.
Honour the victims
UNITAD will continue to work with Iraq and other countries towards building cases in connection with 21 “persons of interest” suspected of involvement in the ISIL chemical weapons programme, who include foreign nationals.
While some are believed to be dead, others have been detained or are living in third countries.
Although the caliphate has been destroyed, Mr. Ritscher warned that the terrorism threat has not disappeared.
“We need to advance criminal accountability in relation to the use of chemical weapons in the name of victims and survivors of ISIL to promote peace and reconciliation in Iraq, but also because it is a responsibility of the entire international community, given that such threats and crimes may present themselves in other countries,” he said.
Homes have been flooded, forcing many to leave, and access to water, specifically clean water, is emerging as a major challenge.
In an interview with UN News, International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokesperson Olivia Headon, speaking from Kyiv, said the agency along with other humanitarian partners, had been rushing clean water supplies to areas that are receiving evacuees, “and also trying to get them to areas in the critical zone, on the banks of the Dnipro River.”
Waterborne disease
Some 17,000 people are in the immediate critical zone at risk of flooding, but only about 1,000 have evacuated far away from the dam, as according to IOM, most people wish to remain close to their homes.
Flooding and the lack of clean water are sparking fears of a surge in waterborne diseases, and humanitarians say that the health response will be “critical” in the coming days.
Addressing an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday night, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said “the sheer magnitude of the catastrophe” in and around the Kherson region, will only be evident in the coming days”.
He said it was already clear that it would have “grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine, on both sides of the frontline, through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods.”
Thousands of lives at risk
The destruction of the dam on Tuesday has put thousands of lives at risk, said IOM Director General António Vitorino, causing “severe environmental damage and led to further serious strain on response services in a country already dealing with the humanitarian fallout of more than a year of war”.
He said public infrastructure “should never be a target. Yet now, innocent civilians are not only living in a deadly flood zone but are set to face major shortages of clean water and critical energy supplies over the coming weeks, as the humanitarian situation worsens”.
UNICEF providing aid
The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, told UN News that the agency on Wednesday had provided up to 25,000 bottles of water, sanitation supplies, and over 10,000 water purification tablets.
They’ve also established teams of skilled aid workers at transit and evacuation points, to provide psychosocial support to children on the move and to support families.
Damian Rance, Chief of Communications and Advocacy UNICEF Ukraine, said the agency would support those displaced with cash transfers for three months, covering up to five people per household, for all those families affected.
Crimea supply threatened
IOM said the dam breach is also expected to affect the water supply to the Russian-occupied region of Crimea and other areas of Ukraine, as well as posing a threat to the cooling systems of the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, although the UN atomic energy agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday there was no “immediate threat”.
Initial assessments by IOM – the largest humanitarian organization operating in Ukraine – indicate that drinking water and food are priority needs, and in coordination with local authorities, the agency plans to expand water and sanitation support, distribute emergency items, support collective centers and provide healthcare.
“Despite the devastation caused by the war and the challenges posed, we must invest in Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. While meeting the emergency needs, we must also keep a sharp focus on Ukraine’s peaceful future,” said Mr. Vitorino.
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