Wednesday, January 17, 2007
"Some WFP-contracted trucks loaded with food were allowed to cross into Somalia from Liboi, but others were stopped at the border. These people have been trapped near Dhobley," the WFP-Somalia Deputy Country Director Leo van der Velden said.
An increasing number of civilians has moved towards the border, which remains closed due to the Kenyan government’s security concerns. Many of these are near Dhobley, a village of 12,000 people in Lower Juba region.
"We will organise another monthly distribution if the situation remains the way it is; otherwise we wind up [operations] according to plan," Van der Velden added. The five-day distribution, which started on Friday at Dhobley, is being done in conjunction with WASDA, a Somali NGO.
According to WFP, continuing military operations in Lower Juba had left 190,000 people in urgent need of food assistance. Kismayo, Jamaame and Jilib districts are also in need of aid.
"If we are to operate normally and efficiently, we first need peace," Van der Velden said. "Somalia was already suffering badly from the worst drought in a decade followed by the worst floods in years. Now it has renewed war in some of the same areas hit by drought and floods."
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Source: IRIN, Jan 17, 2007