Somalia: Nearly 40 people died in Bakool region amid persistent drought

HUDUR, Somalia- An Official said 38 people, including children have died from severe malnutrition in Bakool region in southern Somalia, as result from the worsening drought conditions in the country, Garowe Online reports.

Senator Hussein Sheikh Mohamud, who hails from the region said the people have died in Al Shabaab controlled Burdhuxulle district, about 120 km away from Hudur town in the past 48 hours.

He added more than 200 people admitted to hospitals in Hudur, the region's administrative capital for acute malnutrition and diarrhea due to lack of clean water in the rural villages.

Mohamud said the situation is deteriorating each month, while food prices are soaring, livestock deaths and high malnutrition rates in Bakool region due to Al Shabaab blockade since 2014.

The Somali official has appealed for an urgent life-saving humanitarian assistance from the UN and International aid agencies to help people in the southern region who were affected by the drought crisis.

The drought began to spread to major parts of Somalia after experiencing three consecutive seasons of low rains, however, the U.N. is predicting that rains in the incoming season between April to June will not be suffice to avert the situation.

The United Nations announced recently that Somalia is on the brink of another famine, as drought already killing people in the regions and crisis looming on a catastrophic scale.

Vulnerable communities in Somalia are in dire need of emergency aid as the number of people short on food has risen to 6.2 million from 5 million in September 2016, the U.N. said.

GAROWEONLINE