Earlier this week the United Nations’ special envoy for Somalia called on officials of the transitional federal government to act quickly to help those affected by the drought.
The transitional federal government of Somalia on Thursday charged Al Shabaab with refusing food aid for displaced Somalis in the regions under their control.
In a press conference held in Mogadishu, Somalia’s deputy minister of interior, Ibrahim Is-hak Yarisow spelled out that residents of drought-hit areas in southern and central Somalia had been bedeviled by the militants.
The minister said the government was prepared to provide food and water to Somalis who had been severely affected by the drought in south-central Somalia, but stressed the terrorist group is the hindrance.
He stated that his ministry on Monday received a humanitarian food supply from the United Arab Emirates to help the drought-affected people.
The aid included sugar, flour, rice, cooking oil and other food stuffs, according to Yarisow.
Earlier this week, Augustine Mahiga, the United Nations’ special envoy for Somalia, called on officials of the transitional federal government to act quickly to help those affected by the drought.
Mahiga noted that it is important for the government to enhance and assure the overall security atmosphere of Somalia, adding that if security gets better the international community will have the ability to assist internally displaced Somalis.
Al Shabaab has banned more than 20 aid agencies from operating in southern and central Somalia.
Local residents in the center of the country said that hundreds of families displaced from the regions in eastern Ethiopia by water shortages had sought help in the Galgudud region.
Reports from Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland say that hundreds of rural people have been affected by water and food shortages. Residents of the area say many of their domestic animals have died of thirst.
Most of southern and central Somalia, which Al Shabaab controls, are experiencing severe droughts.
In an interview with a local radio station last week, Shakir Ahmed, a local elder, said that about 500 domestic animals died from lack of wet hay to graze and water to drink, adding that local people in southern Somalia are facing shortages of both water and food.
“The drought affected places are the makeshift sites of thousands of people who are displaced from ongoing violence in Mogadishu,” Ahmed added.
Some Somali parliamentarians called for aid agencies to act quickly to assist drought affected areas in Somalia.
Source:www.allheadlinenews.com
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