Galkayo, Somalia, December 19, 2009 (SL Times) – Three southern refugees were killed in Puntland’s town of Galkayo. Two of the victims were beheaded while the third was shot. The men are southern refugees from the Bay and Bakool region who came to Puntland to escape the war in their region.

According to Ahmad Muhammad Ali, the BBC Somali Service’s correspondent in Puntland (Dec 16, 2009), the murders took place inside Galkayo and on its outskirts.

Many Puntlanders have been angry with southerners whom they accuse of being behind a series of bombings and assassinations in Puntland. There have been anti-southern demonstrations in Puntland’s cities of Galkayo, Bosaso and Garowe. The murders and attacks on southerners and the ransacking of their properties have created a climate of fear among the southern refugees in Puntland.

Puntland’s elders have condemned the anti-southern attacks, but there have also been statements by Puntland officials blaming southerners for the deteriorating security situation.

Women refugees have been especially vulnerable to violence in Puntland. In an interview with the BBC Somali Service, the Director of WAWA, a Puntland women’s organization confirmed that rape of refugee women is common in Puntland. She estimated that 29-30 rapes of refugee women take place each month in Puntland with girls as young as 7 years old being raped. The UN newsletter IRIN recently published an article entitled “SOMALIA: Rape "a major problem" for Bosasso IDPs”. To read the full article click here:

http://hiiraan.com/news2/2009/Dec/somalia_rape_a_major_problem_for_bosasso_idps.aspx

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