13/10/08 (B469) Press TV / Un entrepôt des Nations Unies pillé dans le Sud de la Somalie par des hommes armés. // UN warehouse looted in south Somalia (En Anglais – Info lecteur)

Gunmen have stormed a warehouse run by the International Labour Organization office in southern Somalia and have stolen construction equipment.

They took things like cement and water taps when they stormed the facility overnight Saturday in Burhakaba, local and UN officials told AFP on Sunday.

Burhakaba is a dusty trading post about 190 kilometers (120 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu.

« The store was full of construction equipment and they loaded everything on two trucks at midnight. We don’t know why they robbed the warehouse, » said Adan Mohamed Nur, an ILO local supervisor in Burhakaba.

« We are still investigating who robbed the ILO warehouse, » said Adan Abdirahman, a deputy district commissioner in Burhakaba.

Since the ILO started operations in Somalia in 2002, it has been trying to improve conditions for locals, notably rehabilitating infrastructure ruined by frequent floods in the shattered African nation.

Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre set off bloodletting that has defied numerous UN-backed bids to restore stability.

The feeble government in the Horn of Africa nation is currently battling powerful militants mainly in Mogadishu, and has been unable to offer security to aid groups, forcing many to relocate.