The head of the Somali office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was released from captivity on Wednesday, two months after he was abducted.
The UNHCR welcomed the release of Hasan Muhammad ‘Ali, who was kidnapped by at gunpoint by an unknown group near his home on June 21. He was said to have been released in good health.
It is estimated that up to one million Somalis have been displaced within the war-torn country, which has not had a stable government since 1991.
Meanwhile, there is still no information concerning two foreign journalists who were kidnapped last Saturday.
Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were taken along with a local fixer and a driver as they traveled to a refugee camp northeast of the capital Mogadishu.
The kidnappings are part of an ongoing trend in Somalia where local rebels, perhaps with outside help, are targeting foreigners, including aid workers, further exacerbating the dire food and economic crises in the country.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) has announced it is closing a clinic in Mogadishu because of the deteriorating security situation in the area of the clinic.
The clinic provided essential healthcare to hundreds of civilians but the organization said the risk to its staff and patients was too high.
MSF said there had been a “notable increase in violence, including mortars landing close to the clinic.”