By Mohamed Dhaysane
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Nearly 150,000 people have been displaced in various parts of Somalia in clan conflicts since January, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday.
This includes around 42,000 people, mostly women, children and the elderly, who were displaced by violence in the town of Luuq in the Gedo region in early July, including 12,000 who fled to hard-to-reach locations outside the town, it said.
The violence is believed to have been triggered by a dispute over land ownership that also resulted in the burning of the biggest market in the town.
Clan conflicts in the Mudug region from June 26 to July 2 forced over 26,000 people to abandon their homes in the remote areas of Galdogob and Jariiban districts, according to a statement by OCHA.
Conflicts in Galmudug killed more than 55 people and wounded more than 60 others.
The conflict paralyzed humanitarian service delivery, including the health, nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in the area, according to the UN.
“Those displaced are particularly vulnerable, with women, children and the elderly making up the majority. An estimated 30% of the displaced people are livestock herders who managed to flee with their livestock,” OCHA said in the statement.
Khalid Abdullahi, a humanitarian expert in the capital Mogadishu, told Anadolu the internal fighting among communities in Somalia is not new, but it seems that the clashes between rival clans have been increasing this year.
He said the federal government should work with the federal member states to scale up efforts to resolve repeated clan conflicts “that hinder peace in the brotherly communities in the country.”
Humanitarian needs will remain high in Somalia in 2024 due to recurrent shocks, including climatic events such as drought and floods, conflict and insecurity, widespread poverty and disease outbreaks.
6.9 million people in Somalia need humanitarian assistance in 2024
OCHA said $1.6 billion in funding is required for the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HNRP) in Somalia but only $507 million had been received as of Aug. 2.