Turkish NGO distributes aid in drought-stricken Somalia

By Recep Canik

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) will distribute food and water aid in Somalia’s drought-hit southwestern Bay region, some 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the capital Mogadishu.

A drought has hit 11 out of 18 Somali regions. Bay is the region most affected -- at least 110 people have died from hunger and a cholera outbreak last month.

Yusuf Avci, an official from IHH's foreign affairs department, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday the agency would distribute food packets to 300 families in Baidoa town as enough water for 15 days.

"If it does not rain in April, it is feared that more severe drought will take place in the region and more people will die," Avci said.

He said that Turkish doctors would soon provide medical screening in the town.

Nisad Hasan, 40, who is living in a tent camp with her four children, told Anadolu Agency that there was no water, no food in the area.

In late February Somalia’s new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, declared the drought a national disaster and called on the international community to help.