Bartamaha (Somalia):- Somalia’s government has accused al-Shabab group of blocking humanitarian aid destined for people devastated by drought and famine in central regions.
Somali Assistant Minister of Interior Affairs and National Security, Ibrahim Ishaq Yarow, said on Thursday that his government is unable to deliver relief aid received from all over the world to thousands of people who are suffering from serious shortage of food and severe drought.
“We are unable to reach those affected by drought and famine in al-Shabab-controlled areas,” he said.
“Soon we will distribute the humanitarian aids we have received to people in areas controlled by the government,” the Somali government official added.
Meanwhile, top United Nations envoy for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, has urged restrictions on aid delivery to be lifted so that those in need of help can be assisted.
“We hope there will be a relaxation of this restriction to avert what is an impending crisis and a catastrophe of really serious proportions,” the UN envoy said in Mogadishu on Wednesday.
The regions worst affected by the drought in central Somalia are those bordering northeastern Kenya and southeastern Ethiopia.
The dry weather associated with insufficient precipitation have forced some families to migrate in search of food and grazing land for their cattle.
At least 5,000 families in 13 villages northeast and southeast of the regional capital of Galkayo, located 700km (435 miles) north of Mogadishu are in dire need of food.
The UN’s food agency, the World Food Program, is appealing for donors to provide tons of food in order to halt a humanitarian tragedy and stop more people from leaving their homes in the hardest-hit areas.
At feeding centers an unusually high number of people are now turning up for assistance. In some villages in central Somalia men have left their families behind and headed for the city seeking food.
An estimated two million Somalis need humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.
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Source:- Press TV
