Severe drought has killed at least 13 people in the Northern Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland amid warnings of Famine in the horn of Africa nation, local aid agencies have said.
The dead are small children and old, who died of hunger and thirst in parts of the self-declared state. However, the agencies have warned that the number of deaths might increase if there is no an immediate response.
The humanitarian situation in parts of Somalia continues to deteriorate for more than 3 million civilians despite efforts to improve conditions by actors and donors, the United Nations relief (UNOCHA) said in a report last month.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of people who face food crisis or emergency increased by 17 per cent, from 731,000 to 855,000. The number of those in food-stressed situations remained at 2.3 million.
Some of the hardest hit have been the nomadic pastoralists, who depend on their livestock for their livelihood. In the unrelenting drought, hundreds of livestock have starved to death due to lack of pasture and water.
International Aid agencies are warning of a famine similar to the recent one in 2011, where at least 260,000 people, half of them young children, died of hunger.
Horseed Media
Amid warnings of Famine, 13 people killed in Northern Somalia
Published: September 17, 2015
