News DeskSeptember 8, 2011 07:46

The letter was handed over by Latifa Abu Hmeid, a 70-year-old woman who lost one son in fighting with Israel and has seven other sons in Israeli prisons because of alleged militant activities.

United Nations chief says climate change key issue in world's future

News DeskSeptember 8, 2011 07:14

Syria: Homs under siege in fresh attacks

News DeskSeptember 6, 2011 07:51

A U.S. cable released by Wikileaks has revealed that diplomats in 2009 described Syrian diplomats as brutal liars.

Turkey suspends defense trade with Israel

News DeskSeptember 6, 2011 07:18

"Trade ties, military ties, regarding defence industry ties, we are completely suspending them," says Turkish PM.

Annasofie FlamandSeptember 6, 2011 06:55

Somali mercenaries in Yemen

As the armed battle against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen continues there are stubborn rumours of Somali mercenaries involved in the fighting.

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Islamist fighters from the hard-line Shabab movement taking part in a military drill at a camp in the nothern outskirts of Mogadishu. Rumours persist that Somali mercenaries are involved in the fighting in Yemen. (AFP/Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

Desperate to earn money for their impoverished families, some Somali refugees have turned to fighting alongside the militants and tribal supporters of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as they battle government forces in south Yemen, a tribal fighter has told GlobalPost.

“We buried a couple of Somalis over the last week. We can tell they were Somalis by their facial features. There are not many, but, there are some fighting alongside al-Qaeda in Abyan,” said Mohammed Abu Mansoor, a tribesman, who has been fighting for the government against AQAP-affiliated militants trying to gain control over the southern Abyan province.

While Yemen offer precious little for its 170,000 mainly Somali refugees, an increasing number of Somalis are making the perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden fleeing the war and drought, which are devastating their homeland.

Rumours of Somalis fighting for the highest bidder have been stubborn in Yemen. During the six-year war between government troops and the Houthi rebels in north Yemen, Somalis were reported in local media as having fought alongside the Houthis.

Sheikh Ali Mohammed Raage, spokesman for al-Shabab, the extremist al-Qaeda-linked Islamic group in Somalia, said al-Shabab has been sending forces to Yemen and receiving fighters in return because of its close links with the country.

U.N. declares famine in new Somalia region

News DeskSeptember 5, 2011 05:52

Somalia's Bay region is a stronghold of al Qaeda-linked rebel group al-Shabab, which has blocked aid agencies from delivering assistance in areas under its control.

Israel used excessive force on Gaza flotilla

News DeskSeptember 1, 2011 20:14

Report also says that the flotilla organizers had been reckless and Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal.

Nigerian police investigate Boko Haram sect after UN bombing

News DeskAugust 29, 2011 15:59

The attack on the UN building in Abuja was said to be one of the deadliest targeting the world body.

Mutant bird flu strain hits China, Vietnam, UN warns

News DeskAugust 29, 2011 12:22

The UN is calling for countries to adopt "heightened readiness and surveillance" against a resurgence of the bird flu virus

Annasofie FlamandAugust 26, 2011 12:01

Somalis flee famine for malnourished Yemen

As the famine grinds on in the Horn of Africa, Somalis are seeking refuge in one of the world’s hungriest countries.

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Aden, a three-year-old Somali refugee with his father Abdille, recovers at the stabilisation centre at Hagadere refugee area. An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia - around a third of the population - are on the brink of starvation and aid agencies are stretched in trying to cope with a daily influx of Somalis escaping not only drought but the al-Shabab extremists. (TONY KARUMBA/Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

A sharp increase has been recorded in the numbers of desperate Somali refugees risking their lives in often overcrowded and unseaworthy boats to cross the treacherous Gulf of Aden to Yemen fleeing violence and famine back home.

They arrive in one of the hungriest countries, with the third highest rates of malnutrition in the world.

Read: Yemen's silent emergency

Already 3,700 Somali refugees have reached the coast of Yemen so far in August alone making it the highest monthly arrival rate this year, according to the UN agency for refugees, UNHCR.

The arrivals also mark an earlier than normal start to the traditional peak season for smugglers' boats to arrive from the coastal town of Bossaso in northern Somalia.

The refugees are crossing what aid agencies have termed “the world’s most dangerous refugee route”, fleeing “the unstable security situation, severe drought, high food prices and lack of job opportunities,” they tell UNHCR.

“It is testament to the refugees' desperation that they have chosen to flee to Yemen, which is itself affected by serious unrest,” said UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards on Friday. “They cross the Gulf of Aden on what are often unseaworthy and overcrowded boats. Many do not survive the dangerous crossing. On Monday, two Somalis drowned when their boat capsized.”