BRUSSELS – The European Union has pledged to launch humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of people who have been affected by recent floods in Baladweyne town, about 335km north of Mogadishu.
In talks between Somali prime minister, Hassan Ali Khaire and Head of European for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides were focused on latest dire humanitarian condition in Baladweyne town.
Nearly 120,000 people were displaced in Beledweyne town – one of the worst affected areas –after the Shabelle river burst its banks
UN said that heavy rains had forced more than 175,000 people across Somalia from their homes, after saw rivers burst their banks this month.
The rains also affected more than 174,000 people in Baidoa, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Somali capital Mogadishu, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
Before the floods struck, an estimated 5.4 million people needed emergency aid, including food, water and shelter.
Funding for humanitarian assistance was already insufficient and would now be further stretched, the United Nations said.
With Reporting Abdirisak Mohamud Tuuryare from Mogadishu, Somalia
