Drought claims 5 lives in central Somalia

Sun Dec 26, 2010

At least five people have died due to the drought in Somalia as thousands of people face a serious shortage of food, severe drought, and insufficient rain.

"The people died of the drought that has affected livestock and people in Hiiran region, in particular the Bula Burde district," the commissioner of Bula Burde district, Abdullahi Abdi, said on Saturday, Mareeq reported.

He also expressed serious concern over the humanitarian crisis in the region, adding that the residents are in dire need of food supplies.

The regions worst affected by the drought conditions in central Somalia are those bordering northeastern Kenya and southeastern Ethiopia, such as the Towfiq, Eil Dhanane, Dhinowda, and Afbarwaqo areas.

The dry weather associated with insufficient precipitation has forced some families to migrate in search of food.

At least 5,000 families in 13 villages northeast and southeast of the regional capital Galkayo, located 700km (435 miles) north of Mogadishu, are desperate for food.

"I have seen with my own eyes goats and sheep and cattle dying; what livestock is left is so weak they cannot travel anywhere for water," Somali elder Abdullahi Mahamud Nur said. "They cannot be sold and they are useless for milk or meat."

The UN's food agency, the World Food Program, is appealing for donors to provide tons of food in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and to encourage people not to leave their homes in the hardest-hit areas.

An estimated two million Somalis need humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157162.html.