Three killed in battle over UN food aid in Somalia

MOGADISHU – At least three people were killed and nine wounded in a gun battle over UN food aid in drought-stricken central Somalia early yesterday, police and relief workers said.

The incident, which underscores the difficulties faced by aid agencies working in the lawless nation, occurred shortly after midnight near the town of Baidoa, the temporary home of the transitional Somali parliament, they said. “The shooting involved gunmen who were escorting a convoy of World Food Programme (WFP) aid and others who were manning a checkpoint,” said a truck driver who was part of the procession of vehicles.”The shoot-out was short but intense and I never thought we would survive,” the driver told AFP on condition of anonymity.”By the grace of God we are here to tell the story.”Police in Baidoa, 250 kilometres west of Mogadishu, confirmed the incident and said one of the wounded was a member of the transitional parliament, Ibrahim Grabey, who was attempting to mediate a resolution to the standoff when the shooting began.Despite the firefight, the 72-truck convoy was able to make it into the town without losing any of its cargo, police and local Baidoa residents said.Officials with the WFP in Nairobi, where the headquarters of the agency’s Somalia programme is located, said they were looking into reports of the incident.Baidoa is the capital of Somalia’s south-central Bay region which has been badly hit by a searing drought that has stricken east Africa.- Nampa-AFP”The shooting involved gunmen who were escorting a convoy of World Food Programme (WFP) aid and others who were manning a checkpoint,” said a truck driver who was part of the procession of vehicles.”The shoot-out was short but intense and I never thought we would survive,” the driver told AFP on condition of anonymity.”By the grace of God we are here to tell the story.”Police in Baidoa, 250 kilometres west of Mogadishu, confirmed the incident and said one of the wounded was a member of the transitional parliament, Ibrahim Grabey, who was attempting to mediate a resolution to the standoff when the shooting began.Despite the firefight, the 72-truck convoy was able to make it into the town without losing any of its cargo, police and local Baidoa residents said.Officials with the WFP in Nairobi, where the headquarters of the agency’s Somalia programme is located, said they were looking into reports of the incident.Baidoa is the capital of Somalia’s south-central Bay region which has been badly hit by a searing drought that has stricken east Africa.- Nampa-AFP