 |
| Somali famine effected communities in south Somalia village of Dhoobley |
NAIROBI, Kenya -- The 2011 Somali famine killed an estimated
260,000 people, half of them age 5 and under, according to a new report to be
published this week that more than doubles previous death toll estimates,
officials told The Associated Press.
The aid community believes that tens of thousands of
people died needlessly because the international community was slow to respond
to early signs of approaching hunger in East Africa in late 2010 and early
2011.
The toll was also exacerbated by extremist militants from
al-Shabab who banned food aid deliveries to the areas of south-central Somalia
that they controlled. Those same militants have also made the task of figuring
out an accurate death toll extremely difficult.
A Western official briefed on the new report – the most
authoritative to date – told AP that it says 260,000 people died, and that half
the victims were 5 and under. Two other international officials briefed on the
report confirmed that the toll was in the quarter-million range. All three
insisted they not be identified because they were not authorized to share the
report's contents before it is officially released.
The report is being made public Thursday by FEWSNET, a
famine early warning system funded by the U.S. government's aid arm USAID, and
by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit - Somalia, which is funded by
the U.S. and Britain.
A previous estimate by the U.K. government said between
50,000 and 100,000 people died in the famine. The new report used research
conducted by specialists experienced in estimating death tolls in emergencies
and disasters. Those researchers relied on food and mortality data compiled by
the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.
Because of the imprecise nature of the data available,
the toll remains only an estimate.
When asked about the report, Somalia Health Minister
Maryan Qasim Ahmed said she didn't want to comment until she read it because of
questions she had about the accuracy of the figures.
Sikander Khan, the head of UNICEF in Somalia, also said
he needed to look at the report's methodology before commenting specifically.
But he said generally that the response to the famine was problematic because
it depended on political dynamics. He said the international community needs to
change the way it classifies famines.
"You lose children by the time people realize it's
met the established definition of famine," he said.
Marthe Everard, the World Health Organization's country
director for Somalia, said she has not yet seen the report but would not be
surprised by such a high death toll.
"The Somalis themselves were shocked about the
number of women and children dying," she said, adding later: "It
should give us lessons learned, but what do we do with it? How do we correct it
for next time?"
Much of the aid response came after pictures of weak and
dying children were publicized by international media outlets around the time
the U.N. declared a famine in July 2011.
"By then you are too late," Everard said.
A report last year by the aid groups Oxfam and Save the
Children found that rich donor nations waited until the crisis was in full
swing before donating a substantial amount of money. The report also said aid
agencies were slow to respond.
Quicker action wouldn't have prevented the deaths in
areas controlled by al-Shabab. The militant group prevented many men from
leaving the famine-hit region and allowed no emergency food aid in.
Thousands of Somalis walked dozens or hundreds of miles
to reach camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. Countless numbers of families lost
children or elderly members along routes that became known as roads of death.
 |
| (File photo) |
A new report has unveiled that the US Army is "œquietly equipping and training" thousands of African troops to prepare them for a war against al-Shabab fighters in Somalia.
"Officially, the troops are under the auspices of the African Union (AU). But in truth, according to interviews by US and African officials and senior military officers and budget documents, the 15,000-strong force pulled from five African countries is largely a creation of the State Department and Pentagon, trained and supplied by the US government," Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.
The report added that the American officers along with dozens of retired foreign military personnel, hired through private contractors, are guiding the African soldiers.
"Nearly 20 years after US Army Rangers suffered a bloody defeat in Somalia, losing 18 soldiers and two Black Hawk helicopters, Washington is once again heavily engaged in the chaotic country. Only this time, African troops are doing the fighting and dying," the report said.
Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital is one of the bases the US army uses to train African soldiers, it said.
Through deploying African troops to Somalia, "the Obama administration is trying to achieve US military goals with minimal risk of American deaths and scant public debate," the report added.
"The US can underwrite the war in Somalia for a relative pittance -- the cost over four years has been less than USD 700 million, a tenth of what the military spends in Afghanistan in a month -- but the price tag is growing. More than a third of the US assistance has been spent since early 2011," the American newspaper said.
African forces are supplied "with surveillance drones, ammunition, small arms, armored personnel carriers, night-vision goggles, communications gear, medical equipment and other sophisticated aid and training," the report added.
"The US government has done extremely well in providing for us and we are grateful for that, but they can do more," said Brig. Gen Komba Mondeh, Sierra Leone's chief of operations and plans.
"This is real war, and we expect to see the body bags coming back home," he said.
The report came as the US has recently stepped up its assassination drone operations in the famine-stricken Somalia.
The weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu has been battling al-Shabab for the past five years and is propped up by a strong AU force from Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti.
The country has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
"Officially, the troops are under the auspices of the African Union (AU). But in truth, according to interviews by US and African officials and senior military officers and budget documents, the 15,000-strong force pulled from five African countries is largely a creation of the State Department and Pentagon, trained and supplied by the US government," Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.
The report added that the American officers along with dozens of retired foreign military personnel, hired through private contractors, are guiding the African soldiers.
"Nearly 20 years after US Army Rangers suffered a bloody defeat in Somalia, losing 18 soldiers and two Black Hawk helicopters, Washington is once again heavily engaged in the chaotic country. Only this time, African troops are doing the fighting and dying," the report said.
Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital is one of the bases the US army uses to train African soldiers, it said.
Through deploying African troops to Somalia, "the Obama administration is trying to achieve US military goals with minimal risk of American deaths and scant public debate," the report added.
"The US can underwrite the war in Somalia for a relative pittance -- the cost over four years has been less than USD 700 million, a tenth of what the military spends in Afghanistan in a month -- but the price tag is growing. More than a third of the US assistance has been spent since early 2011," the American newspaper said.
African forces are supplied "with surveillance drones, ammunition, small arms, armored personnel carriers, night-vision goggles, communications gear, medical equipment and other sophisticated aid and training," the report added.
"The US government has done extremely well in providing for us and we are grateful for that, but they can do more," said Brig. Gen Komba Mondeh, Sierra Leone's chief of operations and plans.
"This is real war, and we expect to see the body bags coming back home," he said.
The report came as the US has recently stepped up its assassination drone operations in the famine-stricken Somalia.
The weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu has been battling al-Shabab for the past five years and is propped up by a strong AU force from Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti.
The country has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
No comments:
Post a Comment