The number of Somalis in need of humanitarian aid in the conflict-riddled nation has catapulted by 50% to 1,5-million, famine monitors said on Friday.
As insecurity continues to choke the delivery of aid, the donor-funded Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) said the country’s breadbasket regions suffered from multiple shocks spurred by poor harvest and rains, damaged irrigation infrastructure and widespread instability.
”Of the 1,5-million, 295 000 are in a humanitarian emergency requiring life-saving interventions while 490 000 are in acute food and livelihood crisis requiring livelihood support,” FSAU said in a statement.
”In addition, there are 325 000 people who are newly displaced in Mogadishu and 400 000 already displaced requiring both life and livelihood saving interventions,” it added.
The figure increased by 50% since the end of the October to December rains in Somalia, a nation ravaged by lawlessness since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops earlier this year defeated an Islamist militia that briefly controlled much of the country’s south and central regions.
Since they wrested back control of Mogadishu in April, insurgents have switched to guerrilla tactics, carrying out daily hit-and-run shootings, roadside bomb and grenade attacks against government targets. — Sapa-AFP