PSC/PR/2 (CV) Rev.1 Page 7 AMISOM troops guarding the airport; the attack was repulsed without any causalities on the side of AMISOM. 25. Somalia is one of the highest-risk areas for piracy in the world. According to available statistics, during the first nine months of 2007, 26 incidents against ships sailing in or near Somali waters were recorded, a further indication of the absence of effective coastal surveillance in the country. Over the past years, the AU has regularly been approached by a number of countries whose citizens were taken hostage or kidnapped in Somali waters. For instance, on 26 August 2007, the Government of Pakistan formally wrote to the Commission for it to assist in securing the release of two vessels and their crews hijacked by pirates around Somalia. 26. This situation, amongst others, poses a threat to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, especially since about 80% of the assistance to Somalia by the World Food Programme (WFP) is shipped by sea. It is against this background that the WFP and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) made appeals for concerted international efforts to address the problem and that the United Nations Security Council, in its resolution 1772 (2007), “encouraged member states whose naval vessels and military aircrafts operate in international waters and airspace adjacent to the coast of Somalia to be vigilant to any incident of piracy therein and to take appropriate action to protect merchant shipping, in particular the transportation of humanitarian aid, against any such act, in line with relevant international law”. On 2 October 2007, the French Government wrote to the Commission to confirm France’s readiness, through its navy, to escort ships transporting WFP humanitarian supplies to Somalia. I would like to welcome the concrete steps that have since been taken by the French Government, as well as the consultations undertaken with the AU in this respect in order to facilitate coordination with AMISOM, especially when the escorted ships are about to dock. IV. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION 27. The prevailing insecurity in Mogadishu, in particular, and in Somalia, in general, has negatively impacted on the humanitarian situation in the country. The violence and fighting in Mogadishu have resulted in a number of casualties among the civilian population, especially in the months of October and November 2007. Furthermore, there have been, over the past months, massive displacements of civilian population. According to the United Nations, over 240,000 people have moved out of Mogadishu since the end of October 2007; in mid-December, the total number of civilians who fled the city in 2007 was estimated at about 600,000. While the prevailing insecurity in Mogadishu stands out as the major cause of these displacements, other secondary factors are also at play: they include lack of livelihood and requests by the authorities that people evacuate some neighbourhoods to facilitate the search operations conducted by the Government forces in order to rout out insurgent elements, as part of their efforts to restore security. 28. While most of the IDPs went to the Lower Shabelle region, especially Afgooye, 30 km west of Mogadishu, large numbers of people fled even further to Bay, Mudug and Hiraan regions. These movements of population constitute an additional burden for host