By SPA
Geneva : The humanitarian situation in Somalia is worsening alarmingly, with many families facing life-threatening shortages of food and water in some areas, REUTERS quoted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as saying on Tuesday.
It also voiced concern at the high number of casualties from fighting in Mogadishu, noting more than 600 “war-wounded” had been treated in the capital’s two main hospitals this year.
Large numbers of destitute families staying in drought-hit regions after fleeing Mogadishu over the past year are having to survive on less than one meal a day and spend more of their meagre income to buy drinking water, the agency said.
“In recent weeks, the humanitarian situation in Somalia has continued to deteriorate alarmingly,” ICRC spokeswoman Anna Schaaf told a news briefing in Geneva.
Shortages of food and water have become “life-threatening in the regions of Mudug, Galgadud, Nugaal and Bakool”, the ICRC said in a statement, referring mainly to areas in central Somalia as well as Bakool along the Ethiopian border.
Pastures have become barren in many places and herders are losing cattle too weak to reach scarce water points, according to the agency, which has stepped up its operations since January in the lawless Horn of Africa country.