Severe hunger spreading in southern Somalia
Severe hunger is spreading in southern Somalia where al-Shabab fighters have encircled towns controlled by African Union forces.
Reports say several towns are now experiencing a famine-like situation due to the lack of food deliveries, and there are deaths from malnutrition and hunger.
Al-Shabab fighters have recently been pushed out of the capital Mogadishu and other major towns in Somalia by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Kenya.
In response, the fighters have blocked shipment of food into the towns.
“Al-Shabab’s tactic of encirclement has prevented commercial activity and humanitarian assistance to newly recovered areas,” United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos told the UN Security Council earlier this week. “Access to basic commodities is limited and food prices have increased.”
More than 70,000 Somalis have been displaced because of the recent violence, Amos said, and warned that the African state is on the verge of a severe food crisis.
“Approximately 857,000 people in Somalia require urgent and life-saving assistance,” Amos stated, citing figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
She also noted the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that 50,000 children under the age of five could die in Somalia from severe malnutrition if funding is not provided.
Somalia has been the scene of clashes between government forces and al-Shabab fighters since 1991.
The country did not have an effective central government until September 2012, when lawmakers elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new president.
presstv.com