Hunger kills two children in western Somalia

Two young girls between the ages of 4 and 7 have been confirmed dead due to hunger and thirst in a village near the town of Buurdhuubo in the south-western region of Gedo, a government official revealed on Thursday.

The commissioner of Buurdhuubo town Hassan Mahmoud Ali said in an interview with VOA Somali service that the children died on the 2nd of June, but his administration was later informed about the tragedy.

He said there was a fear of more deaths if an emergence of humanitarian assistance is not met as quickly as possible.

“We have enough security to make sure that food rations get into the hands of those in need of humanitarian help” he said urging aid organizations to come to the region to prevent more deaths from occuring.

“For six years people here have been living under threat from Al Shabab who denied humanitarian agencies access to the region and due to that fact the living standards in the region deteriorated” the commissioner said during his interview with VOA Somali service on Thursday.

Somali government forces and AU peacekeepers seized Buurdhuubo from Al Shabab militants on the 9th of March this year, but no humanitarian assistances was delivered to the town since then.

Source: Hiiraan.com