Al-Shabaab blockade in Bay region threatens food security

SABAHI
Wednesday, November 06, 2013

advertisements

More than two weeks after al-Shabaab imposed a blockade of goods and food supplies from entering and leaving parts of Somalia's Bay region, local residents and officials are expressing concern about the worsening humanitarian situation.

Al-Shabaab's blockade of Qansah Dhere started October 19th, and is also affecting villages on the outskirts of Bardale, another town in Bay region.

Al-Shabaab is preventing vehicles transporting food and essential goods from passing through the affected areas, and is also blocking truckloads of local crops from leaving.

The situation is causing hardship that threatens the food security of affected populations, according to Bardale Mayor Mohammad Isaq Hassan.

The militant group set up roadblocks on the main road between the affected areas, preventing several villages near Bardale from receiving essential food supplies coming in by truck from the regional capital of Baidoa, he told Sabahi.

Bulo Hawo, Tosh Weyn and Kurtun are among the villages blockaded by al-Shabaab, he said, and as a result, locals now face dire humanitarian conditions.

"The price of food has doubled," Hassan said. "For example, a sack of sugar has gone up to $80 from its previous price of $40, and other foods have likewise become expensive. If this continues, it could lead to a disaster in the area."

The threat of starvation

In the village of Kurtun, 35-year-old Ali Omar, who is married with three children, said he could no longer afford to buy food for his family because of the steep price increases resulting from the blockade.

"Nothing comes into the village and nothing leaves it," he said. "Al-Shabaab has refused entry to the vehicles that used to bring us food, so the people who live here are in a state of uncertainty."

He demanded that the federal government and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) do something quickly to break the blockade.

"If nothing is done about this issue now, we will all die of hunger," Omar told Sabahi.

"At the moment, AMISOM is still in a defensive posture, but closely monitoring the situation in Qansah Dhere," said Captain Deo Akiiki, deputy spokesman for AMISOM and the Uganda Contingent Public information officer.

He said that if the request for more troops is approved, AMISOM would be able to expand its operations.

"However… due to the nature of the troops being stretched out, the operations have reduced because if AMISOM continues with the operations we risk other liberated areas," Akiiki told Sabahi. "Currently AMISOM continues to do operations in their specific regions and will continue to protect Somali civilians."

The blockade has had other effects as well, such as forcing 28-year-old truck driver Nurie Warsan to remain idle.

Al-Shabaab has prevented Warsan, who normally works the Baidoa-Qansah Dhere route, from transporting cargo of foodstuffs such as rice, pasta and sugar, he said.

"I took goods from Baidoa on October 17th and was heading to Qansah Dhere, but when I got to Aw Diinle [15 kilometres away], al-Shabaab ordered me to turn back and told me they did not want any food to be taken to the people, who are living with infidels since Ethiopian and Somali troops are located in Qansah Dhere," Warsan told Sabahi.

Government prepared to attack al-Shabaab

The blockade is targeting people who live in parts of the Bay region that al-Shabaab used to control before losing them to Somali government and allied forces, said Qansah Dhere Mayor Abdi Adam Qoqane.

"Al-Shabaab's aim is to sanction the people and cause them hardship," he told Sabahi.

On top of preventing food and essential goods from entering the town, the militants are determined to destroy people's livelihoods by blocking vehicles trying to leave Qansah Dhere, Qoqane said.

"Beans, maize and barley that grow in Qansah Dhere are taken for sale to the other regions of the country. Therefore, al-Shabaab is against trade among the people," he said.

More than two weeks into the blockade al-Shabaab has yet to budge, but government troops are preparing to end the blockade and free the populations under al-Shabaab's chokehold, Qoqane said.

"We will not let [al-Shabaab] continue to impose these conditions on [the people] and we will attack them," Qoqane said.

Home
Email

Hiiraan Online