WORSENING DROUGHT
With intensified fighting in Somalia driving thousands more people
from their homes in recent days and a devastating drought continuing
to worsen, the top United Nations humanitarian official today voiced
growing alarm for a nation that has already endured 20 years of war.
"The current fighting in Belet Xaawo has forced thousands of people to
flee anew, both within the country and across the border into the town
of Mandera in Kenya. The people remaining in Belet Xaawo are moving
out of the town due to lack of water and food," said
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, who
visited Somalia last month.
"During my recent visit to the country I was especially concerned
about increased displacement and the worrying effects of drought on
extremely vulnerable people. Now, that concern has increased still
further," she told a
<"http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2011/110304_Guest.doc.htm">news
conference in New York.
Fighting between Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and
Al-Shabaab Islamic militants in the southern Belet Xaawo area has
driven thousands of Somalis from their homes as well as some 5,500
residents of the Kenyan border town of Mandera, while a flare-up of
conflict in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, has displaced 4,400 people
in the last nine days, according to the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR).
Accounts from Mandera indicate that both the TFG and Al-Shabaab are
mobilizing their forces for a possible confrontation, Ms. Amos said,
voicing growing concern at reports of a rising civilian toll
attributable to all parties to the conflict. "I again urge all parties
to the conflict and AMISOM [the African Union peacekeeping mission in
Somalia] to comply with international humanitarian law in order to
minimize harm to the civilians," she added.
According to ambulance services and hospital sources in Mogadishu, 62
civilians have been killed there and 232 others wounded in the last
two weeks, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) said.
The recent fighting in Belet Xaawo and Mogadishu has hindered aid
deliveries, the Office added, with none taking place at all in Belet
Xaawo at the moment as the security situation remains tense.
The drought in Puntland, northern Somalia, continues to deteriorate,
with water shortages reported in many parts, and drought-affected
people are still moving into Mogadishu, but at a lower rate due to the
recent surge in fighting, OCHA stated. Both UN agencies and national
bodies are bringing in water.
In the past week the UN World Food Programme (WFP) delivered 1,470
metric tons of mixed food to 168,600 people through emergency school
and institutional feeding and general food distribution. In central
regions, it is collaborating with eight non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) to support some 18,200 malnourished children and pregnant and
lactating women.
Somalia has lacked a functioning central government since 1991 and had
been plagued by factional fighting ever since.
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