Nairobi, 26 January 2010 – The UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, condemns yesterday's attack by extremists on a hospital behind Mogadishu's Airport run by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), killing in particular innocent Somali patients.

This is the second attack on this health center devoted to treating Somali civilians by African doctors. Open few days a week, the hospital treats 3,200 Somalis monthly, including children and women. With other health centers, it is a refuge to civilians who are wounded as a result of blind violence in Mogadishu.

This cowardly act will only add more to the suffering of the Somali people. Those who attacked the hospital clearly have no intention of contributing to the peace process. This act will neither advance a political cause nor is it acceptable to those with humanity at heart. It is everything but heroic.