United Nations, January 06: Citing rising threats and attacks on humanitarian operations, the UN World Food Program has suspended its aid operations in southern Somalia leaving millions of people without aid.
“The World Food Program has suspended much of its operations in much of Southern Somalia due to rising security threats and attacks on humanitarian operations,” UN spokersperson, Martin Nesirky, told journalists here.
“The decision means that about one million people in southern Somalia will not be able to receive much needed assistance.”
“UN offices in half a dozen locations in the south have been temporality closed and food supply and equipment have been moved out of these areas.”
Rising threats and attacks on humanitarian operations, as well as the imposition of a string of unacceptable demands from armed groups, have made it virtually impossible for WFP to continue reaching up to one million people in need in southern Somalia, the statement said.
A spokesperson for WFP, Emilia Casella, said that food agency had been asked by armed groups to remove women from all posts and pay protection to guarantee the safety of aid workers.
“Up to a million people that have been dependent on food assistance in southern Somalia face a situation that is particularly dire,” Casella said in Geneva.
-IANS