“The situation in Fallujah is particularly concerning as existing stocks of food, water and life-saving medicines begin to run out,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement in Baghdad.

“According to our preliminary assessment, over 5,000 families have fled the fighting and sought refuge in the neighbouring provinces of Karbala, Salahadine, Baghdad and elsewhere. The UN is working with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration to identify their needs and meet them immediately.”

Non-government organizations (NGOs) were quoted by media today as saying more than 13,000 families have fled Fallujah, where Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda are reported to have seized much of the city.

“There is a critical humanitarian situation in Anbar province which is likely to worsen as operations continue,” Mr. Mladenov said. “The UN agencies are working to identify the needs of the population and prepare medical supplies, food and non-food items for distribution if safe passage can be ensured. This remains a primary challenge.”

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Photo: Nickolay Mladenov, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of Mission, UNAMI. UN Photo

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Uranium-producing Niger, perched on the Sahara’s southern rim, is one of the world’s poorest nations. With a northern nomadic Tuareg population similar to the one that rebelled in Mali this year, it is seen as vulnerable to uprisings.

The money is due to be spent on strengthening law and enforcement and border controls in an area where government authority is weak and traffickers and gunmen, some with links to al Qaeda, operate.

Funds will also target improving basic social services and infrastructure in the six most northern regions, where underdevelopment has led to previous rebellions.

Both Mali and Niger were threatened by the return home of thousands of gunmen who had fought for Muammar Gaddafi during Libya’s conflict last year.

While Mali’s north has since been over-run by rebels, Niger has so far contained any threat. It has disarmed its returnees and ensured better representation in government for the Tuareg community, which has rebelled before over the lack of development and demands for a greater share of resource wealth.

The new plan, known as SDS/Sahel-Niger, will cost 1.266 trillion CFA francs ($2.49 billion), according to Prime Minister Brigi Raffini, himself a Tuareg, who launched the initiative late on Monday.

At least half of the program will be funded by the government in Niamey while the European Union has pledged a further 91.6 million euros ($118 million), according to documents seen by Reuters. It was not immediately clear where the rest of the money would come from.

Niger hosts mining projects run by French nuclear power giant Areva and, with investments from China National Nuclear Corporation, the country has also recently become an oil producer.

Yet it also faces recurrent drought-related food shortages and struggles to feed its rapidly growing population, currently at around 16 million.

Niger has become of increasing strategic importance after Mali’s Tuareg rebellion was taken over by a mix of local and foreign Islamists. A coup in Mali’s capital, Bamako, has hamstrung any foreign efforts to tackle Mali’s crisis.

The EU already has a team of security experts in Niger trying to help the authorities tackle organized crime and terrorism.

Niger’s last Tuareg rebellion ended in 2009 but the former fighters who laid down their weapons are still waiting for the projects that are meant to help them find jobs.

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