Hiiraan Online
By Shafi’i Mohyaddin
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Somali President Hassan Sheik Mahmoud has called upon the international aid organizations to urgently reach the formerly Al Shabab-held regions to deliver food aid to the vulnerable people living in the areas saying those people were lacking their basic needs at the moment.
He said that thousands of families living in those regions were urgently needing food and other humanitarian assistances.
The president’s speech comes as thousands of civilians have been reported fleeing from towns in south-central Somalia where Somali government forces backed by the AU peacekeepers and Al Shabab militants battled for control for the past several weeks.
“We want the international community to reach the needy people living in territories formerly held by the terrorists---those people must also enjoy in a peaceful atmosphere” President Hassan Sheik Mahmoud told the media.
“The government has made everything that can make possible for the international community to reach those regions to help the vulnerable people who are fully in need of humanitarian assistance” President Hassan Sheik Mahmoud of Somalia said.
The president said that Somali government and AU troops have so far ousted the militants from more lands in the country as part of the long-term strategic plans to introduce peace and stability into the country.
Somalia hasn’t had a function central government since the fall of Siyad Barre in 1991. Wars and famine then engulfed the lives of more than half a million people mostly women and children.
Thousands of others also died in the high seas or in the desert on their way to Saudi Arabia or to Europe in search of a better life, but perished during the adventurous trips.
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