NAIROBI, 10 August 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Five police stations attacked overnight in Mogadishu SOMALIA: Food distribution underway west of Mogadishu SUDAN: Darfur rebels pledge to allow aid delivery SUDAN: Darfur's people need more protection - Special Rapporteur SUDAN: More flooding predicted as death toll exceeds 70 SUDAN-CHAD: Give Chadian arrivals refugee status, Sudan urged SUDAN: Campaign to immunise millions of children against polio

SOMALIA: Five police stations attacked overnight in Mogadishu

Armed opponents of Somalia's transitional government attacked the police in the capital, Mogadishu, on 9 August, carrying out raids on five stations overnight before being repulsed, police said.

Two police officers were wounded in the fighting during which five suspected insurgents were killed, according to a senior police officer who asked not to be named.

"They [insurgents] carried out one of their most deadly attacks last night. They attacked five locations, including Howlwadag police station, a former military base where police officers are stationed, and three other compounds where the police are camped," the officer told IRIN. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73672

SOMALIA: Food distribution underway west of Mogadishu

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing food to civilians, who fled violence in Mogadishu and are living in the area around Afgoye town, about 30km west of the Somali capital, a spokesperson said.

The food distribution, which began on 6 August, follows a health assessment by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) among the internally displaced people (IDPs), which indicated a global malnutrition rate of 21.5 percent among children under the age of five and a severe acute malnutrition rate of 3 percent - a nutritional emergency, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Monica Rull, the doctor who carried out the health survey, said 6 percent of families in the 393 households assessed reported having had nothing to eat the day before. More than 60 percent of families had no source of income while 93 percent of IDPs interviewed had either already run out of food or had just a little left. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73619

SUDAN: Darfur rebels pledge to allow aid delivery

Rebel leaders from Darfur have ended a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, with a commitment to allow free access by humanitarian agencies to people affected by the western Sudanese conflict.

They also pledged to stop hostilities against aid organisations and African Union (AU) peacekeepers deployed in the volatile region, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the four days of talks on 6 August.

The meeting, which aimed to forge unity among the fragmented groups, brought together leading personalities from the rebel movements who took a common position on power and wealth sharing, security arrangements, land and humanitarian issues. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73599

SUDAN: Darfur's people need more protection - Special Rapporteur

More action is needed to protect civilians in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, who continue to suffer serious human rights violations in the ongoing conflict, a UN Special Rapporteur said.

In a preliminary report, Sima Samar, Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council, said Darfur remained a region where gross violations of human rights have been perpetrated by all parties to the conflict.

"I have recently received allegations of serious violations of human rights in areas under SLA/M [Sudan Liberation Army/Movement] control," she said on 6 August. "In particular, harassment, extortion, torture and sexual violence in Tawila and Shangil Tobayi, north Darfur. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73609

SUDAN: More flooding predicted as death toll exceeds 70

Sudanese authorities have said forecasts show the level of the Blue Nile River will continue to rise and the situation remains critical in many of the country's states after weeks of torrential rains and flooding that have left more than 70 people dead.

The level of the river, which runs through eastern and southeastern Sudan, has been rising steadily over the past weeks, forcing hundreds of families living along its path to abandon their homes.

Blue Nile State has ordered the closure of all schools as a precautionary measure and the International Organization for Migration and Sudanese officials have announced the suspension of returning internally displaced persons (IDPs) by barge to southern Sudan. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73633

SUDAN-CHAD: Give Chadian arrivals refugee status, Sudan urged

Thousands of Chadians who have fled violence in their country and crossed into the western Sudanese region of Darfur should be granted refugee status, two agencies said.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Sudanese Commission of Refugees (COR) recommended giving this status to the whole group rather than to individuals, with the exception of active or former combatants.

An estimated 30,000 people have left Chad for Darfur in a steady flow since early this year, they said. Most of the new arrivals were Arab nomadic or semi-nomadic communities, although there were also some non-Arabs. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73656  

SUDAN: Campaign to immunise millions of children against polio

Sudan has launched a three-day campaign in the north of the country to immunise an estimated five million children against polio after reports of cases in neighbouring Chad.

The campaign, led by the federal health ministry, supported by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), entered its second day on 7 August as health officials carried out door-to-door innoculations.

The immunisation drive was expected to cover all 15 states in the north of Sudan and organisers hoped to reach at least 82 percent of children under the age of five during the three-day effort. Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73616

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