Somali refugees walk through the eastern Kenyan
village of Hagadera near Dadaab, 100 kms (60 miles) from the Somali
border, Friday Aug. 5, 2011. The drought and famine in the horn of
Africa has killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 in the
last 90 days in southern Somalia alone, according to U.S. estimates. The
U.N. says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, suggesting
the death toll of small children will rise. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Mogadishu, Somalia • A World Food
Program handout of corn rations to Somalis trying to survive a famine
turned deadly Friday after government troops opened fire, killing at
least seven, witnesses said.
Residents of Mogadishu’s largest
famine refugee camp accused government soldiers of starting the chaos by
trying to steal some of the 290 tons of dry rations that aid workers
were trying to distribute there. Then refugees joined in the scramble,
prompting soldiers to open fire, the witnesses said.
"They fired on us as if we were their
enemy," said refugee Abidyo Geddi. "When people started to take the food
then the gunfire started and everyone was being shot. We cannot stay
here much longer. We don’t get much food and the rare food they bring
causes death and torture."
The chaos underscores the dangers and
challenges of getting help to a nation that has been essentially
ungoverned for two decades and now has a severe famine sweeping through
it. There are 9,000 African Union soldiers in the capital, but their
main mission is to fight al-Qaida linked Islamists, not safeguard
humanitarian aid.
Aid workers are puzzling over how to
help the starving without helping gunmen who either prey on the
refugees, compete for security contracts to guard the food, or steal it
and take a share of the profits when it’s sold at market.
The situation echoes the 1992 famine
that prompted deployment of a U.S.-led multinational force to safeguard
the delivery of food to Somalia’s starving. That international
intervention collapsed in 1993 after two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters
were shot down and 18 servicemen were killed in one single battle in
Mogadishu.
U.S. and U.N. officials acknowledge that some aid in Somalia is bound to be stolen during delivery.
"Will there be losses? Sure. Will
there be some looting? Of course there will be. What we have to do is
try to minimize it," said WFP spokesman David Orr. "This is the highest
risk environment in the world ... the safety of our staff and getting
food into the right hands are our highest priorities."
Friday’s food distribution was
organized by Mogadishu’s mayor, and had been delayed two days as
officials tried to shore up security arrangements. Orr told The
Associated Press that the food distribution started smoothly at around 6
a.m. but degenerated a couple hours later.
"We got reports of trouble, looting.
The trucks were overwhelmed by a mob of people. There were reports of
some shots fired," said Orr, who said he could not confirm any death
tolls.
One of the camp’s refugees, Muse Sheik
Ali, said soldiers first tried to steal some of the food aid, and that
other refugees began to take the food.
"Then soldiers opened fire at them,
and seven people, including elderly people, were killed on the spot.
Then soldiers took the food and people fled from the camp," he said.
A Western official said the
distribution went smoothly until more displaced families and gunmen
arrived. The official could not be identified because he is not
authorized by his employer to be quoted by the media. No details on
which militia the gunmen may have belonged to were available. At least
four militias prowl government-controlled areas of Mogadishu, their
gunmen roaring around in pick-up trucks.
Thousands of Somalis have flooded into
Mogadishu from the drought-stricken south. Many have walked for
hundreds of miles and buried family members along the way. The drought
and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the
age of 5 in the last 90 days in southern Somalia alone, according to
U.S. estimates.
Somalia Prime Minister Abdiweli
Mohamed Ali visited the camp after the violence and said he was "deeply
sorry." Ali said an investigation would be opened and promised harsh
punishment for anyone found guilty.
The already mostly lawless capital has
been made even more chaotic with the arrival of tens of thousands of
refugees fleeing drought in the south, the famine’s epicenter.
International groups face huge challenges in distributing food inside
Somalia. The worst-hit part of the country is controlled by
al-Qaida-linked insurgents, who deny there is a famine and who have
forbidden many aid groups from working there.
More than 12 million people in the Horn
of Africa are in need of immediate food aid. The U.N. says 640,000
children are acutely malnourished in Somalia, where the U.N. has
declared five famine zones, including the camps in Mogadishu for
displaced families.
WFP often tries to do what it calls
"wet feedings," in Somalia — giving out already made food like porridge —
to limit the chances that it will be looted. But in this case it was
dry rations, Orr said.
Somali soldiers control just part of the capital and are poorly trained.
"It was carnage. They ruthlessly shot
everyone," said Abdi Awale Nor, who has been living at the camp. "Even
dead bodies were left on the ground and other wounded bled to death."
The memory of international
intervention in Somalia in 1992, just after the socialist dictatorship
of Siad Barre had collapsed into clan warfare, haunts aid workers.
Hundreds of thousands of Somalis starved to death, and the spectacle of
their suffering rallied the world to send ships full of grain and
peacekeepers to guard them.
Since the era of Black Hawk Down, aid
groups say they have tried to tighten up their procedures by screening
contractors, having independent checks on their operations and requiring
truckers to pay a cash bond to ensure the food is delivered. Some say
that Somalia is still too volatile to work in: WFP alone has had 14
employees killed in the past three years. Most foreign aid workers
pulled out two years ago after a spate of killings and kidnappings.
The African Union peacekeeping force
is willing to help safeguard aid deliveries, said Maj. Gen. Nathan
Mugisha, the former commander of the AU force. He urged international
organizations to do more to feed the families in the places they
secured.
"We have done our part, largely, in
the security sector," said Mugisha, whose forces have clawed back
government control in about half the capital’s 16 districts. Five more
are on the front lines and the rebels control three.
Many aid agencies — some of whom are
still able to operate in rebel-held areas — fear that if they are seen
to be working too closely with the AU force, their staff could be
targeted for being spies.
"Humanitarian responses in Somalia
must be civilian-led," said Mark Bowden, the U.N.’s top official in
charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia. "In the highly politicized
context of south-central Somalia, relying on military assistance will
not be effective. It is important that aid is seen as being impartial
and independent of all political action. "
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