Air Bridge Opened in Somalia

Last week, the first UN World Food Program aircraft arrived in the capital of Somalia with 14,000 tons of food on board. In two regions of the country, there has a famine triggered by drought, civil war and rising food prices. This marked the first air bridge into the country.

This intervention could not have occured prior due to the aid ban put in place by Al-Shabaab, the Islamic militant group that has most of the Somalia under its imperious rule. Many aid agencies and organizations were denied access into the country due to Al-Shabaab’s beliefs that humanitarian aid is not the main priority of the UN food agencies and that these agencies have a political agenda.

From all over the country, thousands of Somalians flock to the capital of Mogadishu every day in  hopes of finding water and food. Others have fled to the already overcrowded camps of neighboring countries such as Dadaab in Kenya. The UN world Food Program aims to help not only the people in refugee camps but also the thousands of people wandering around the desert looking to find food across the border.