Somalia: Aid workers evacuated from southern town after militia attack

BU'ALE, Somalia Mar 5 (Garowe Online) - Aid workers employed by the United Nations and World Vision have been evacuated from a provincial capital in southern Somalia, following militia gunfire aimed at a landing UN airplane, sources said.Seven aid workers with the UN World Food Program and World Vision were airlifted Wednesday from Bu'ale, capital of Middle Jubba region, elders said.The UN resumed aid operations in Bu'ale last month after a long hiatus, with officials saying security in Bu’ale had slightly improved.But unidentified militiamen opened gunfire on a UN plane as it landed at a small airstrip in Bu’ale, causing worry for the foreign aid workers. No one was hurt by gunfire and the plane landed safely.A spokesman for the local administration in Bu’ale, which was established by clan elders, told reporters that the militiamen have been arrested, but did not elaborate.Elders and administrators have appealed to the UN and to World Vision to resume their operations in Bu’ale, a town that serves as headquarters for humanitarian operations for the Jubba regions.In January, three foreign aid workers died in a car bomb in the port of Kismayo, the most important city in the Jubba regions.Somalia has lacked an effective central government since 1991 when armed clans overthrew a military dictator and fought each other for control