It was a fine Wednesday morning and all of us at the UNFPA's Mogadishu office were in a middle of our daily duties, says, Fatuma Muhumed, 30, a mother of two who works as Humanitarian Response Assistant at UNFPA Somalia Country Office traveled for a short field mission in Mogadishu, Somalia capital. But as she walked to the guest house to make coffee for a friend, a trembling blast shock the compound and the Kenyan says she saw smoke coming from the main gate's direction. ‘‘I knew we were in a serious threat then,'' she said. The deafening blast mangled steel structures, took down buildings, threw papers into the air in the office as she was lying on the floor not knowing what to do next to save her life. A scene only 10 meters away from her where her colleague lied dead from bombs detonated by Al shabab's suicide bombers was a clear sign that her fate would be the same if the indiscriminate killing by Al-shabab insurgents who entered the compound following the collapse of the gate found their way to the guest house.
"I was rolling and crawling on the ground to reach the bunker, when the shooting suddenly stopped and Mark Richmond (UNDP Security Staff) found me and whispered that I could take cover in his house.'' She recounts, ‘‘he gave me Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and hid me in the wash room and he was coming every few minutes to update me on what was happening outside since he was communicating via Radio.'' She says the only thing I could do was text the staff at the Nairobi office from her phone who were worried and following up on the crisis in utter disbelief. Fortunately, United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali troops came to their rescue having cleared the compound and covered them from the fight on their way to a bunker before they were finally transferred to AMOSOM's protective custody at its base.
Fatuma believes if they were not swiftly taken in by the guards at the gate, the casualties would have been far numerous. ‘‘I am so grateful UNDSS and AMISOM troops who came with Somali soldiers to save our lives while risking theirs. We lost so many innocent men and women who were only working to make life better for Somali children and mothers who desperately need our assistance.'' She laments.
The sustained firefight to rout the insurgents continued for about an hour and half and took the lives of at least 11 people, whose contribution will always be honored by UNFPA and the Somali people they were working to help. ‘‘This attack will not break our resolve to work with the people,'' says Fatuma, ‘‘we are more determined to serve the women and girls who need us on the ground and no cowardly and savage attack will deter us from striving to deliver on UNFPA's mandate in Somalia." Her determination, if anything, seems firmer than ever knowing now that her duties on the ground in Somalia are undertaken amid risks and the beneficiaries consider it invaluable.
