In my statement to the UN General Assembly on 1 October, I pointed to the many successes of the UN Operation in Somalia. Whereas one year ago several hundred Somalis were dying each day from famine and malnutrition, today people are no longer dying from man-made famine. Similarly, a year ago violence was widespread in Somalia; today almost all of the country is calm. Schools have been reopened, district councils are being established, the Somali courts have recommenced work, and progress has been made in re-establishing the Somali police force.
The exception to this pattern of progress is South Mogadishu, where the efforts of UNOSOM have been continually frustrated by the activities of General Aidid and his supporters. There, a particularly vicious campaign of murder has been directed against UNOSOM personnel in an effort to prevent the force from carrying out its mandate. We extend our sympathy to those countries which have lost personnel, and condemn the perpetrators of the killings. To date more than 80 members of the operation have been killed.
Many Somalis have also been killed in these incidents. In the circumstances of Mogadishu reliable figures are not available, and we must be careful not to lend credence to figures produced as part of a propaganda campaign. Nor is it possible to say how many of those killed were civilians and how many were active supporters of General Aidid.
The Security Council has considered developments in Somalia and, and in its Resolution 885 adopted on Tuesday last, decided to authorise "the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry, in further implementation of Resolution 837, to investigate armed attacks on UNOSOM II personnel which led to casualties among them".
