A/HRC/10/85 page 13 A. Human rights and humanitarian law violations in general 39. The human rights situation in Somalia continues to be characterized by indiscriminate violence and frequent attacks against civilians, including arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings of journalists as well as sexual- and gender-based violence. While a large section of the opposition forces grouped under the ARS has agreed to renounce violence, the remaining opposition groups, those known as ARS-Asmara and the so-called Al Shabab (or youth) have intensified their insurgency. As a result, attacks and counter-attacks between the warring factions, namely the TFG forces and the Ethiopian troops on the one hand, and the Al Shabab insurgents on the other, have been causing increased violence and violations of basic human rights and humanitarian law, in particular since April 2008. 40. A joint statement issued in October 2008 by 52 NGOs involved with Somalia, expressed concern at the impact of increasing violence on the humanitarian crisis. In addition to the large-scale displacement of the civilian population, both internally and externally, particularly from Mogadishu, the statement reported that the number of people requiring emergency aid had increased by 77 per cent since the beginning of 2008, due to the combination of extreme insecurity, drought and steep rise in food prices and was then numbering almost half of Somalia’s population (3.25 million people). The statement further alleged that all parties to the conflict are responsible for indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, and noted that increased attacks on aid workers had further hindered humanitarian efforts, especially in South and Central. 41. In its report “Fatal insecurity, attacks on aid workers and right defenders in Somalia” of October 2008, Amnesty International has reported that at least 3.25 million Somalis, 43 per cent of the population, would require food until the end of 2008 and they were at a greater risk of malnutrition and disease due to the escalation of attacks on humanitarian and aid workers in Southern and Central Somalia, and the subsequent suspension of humanitarian programmes there. According to Amnesty International, in the first nine months of 2008 alone, at least 40 humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders were killed, mainly in targeted killings. The majority of the killings were attributed to members of armed opposition groups and criminal gangs, with a small number attributed to militias associated with the TFG or Ethiopian troops. As an indication of the gravity of the situation, it may also be mentioned that a large number of airstrips in South Central Somalia were closed, creating difficulties for the movement of all, including aid workers. 42. According to an UNPOS report of October 2008, while armed clashes have continued regularly in Mogadishu between insurgents and the Ethiopian backed-TFG forces, there have also been recent reports of an increase in targeted attacks against AMISOM troops, which allegedly led the Ugandan troops to retaliate by indiscriminately firing with artillery against residential neighbourhoods. It should be recalled that the insurgents often use civilians as human shields and abusively make use of civilian neighbourhoods and installations as a base when attacking. 43. Another report mentioned the discovery of mass graves in Belet Weyne, an important city in South Central Somalia. The identity and number of victims buried in the graves as well as the identity of alleged perpetrators is unknown. At the time of writing, as the Belet Weyne airstrip