Troops kill seven in food riot at UN relief site

Two groups made a grab for food at a UN distribution site, witnesses said.

Witnesses accused government soldiers of starting the chaos by trying to steal some of the 290 tons of dry rations as the aid workers tried to hand them out in the biggest camp in Mogadishu for famine refugees.

Then refugees joined in the scramble, prompting some soldiers to open fire.

“It was carnage. They ruthlessly shot everyone,” said Abdi Awale Nor, who has been living at the camp.

“Even dead bodies were left on the ground and other wounded bled to death.”

David Orr, a spokesman for the World Food Program, said the food distribution started smoothly at around 6am but degenerated a couple hours later.

“We got reports of trouble, looting. The trucks were overwhelmed by a mob of people. There were reports of some shots fired,” said Orr, who said he could not confirm any death tolls.

He did not know specifically what type of food was being handed out by the WFP, a UN agency.

Thousands of Somalis have flooded into Mogadishu from the drought-stricken south, walking much or all the way and seeing weakened loved ones die from starvation or complications from malnutrition.

The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of five in the last 90 days in southern Somalia alone.

More than 11 million people have been affected by the worst drought in 60 years in the Horn of Africa in what the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called “the most severe food security emergency in the world today”.

Somalia Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali visited the camp after the violence and said he was “deeply sorry.” Ali said an investigation would be opened and promised harsh punishment for anyone found guilty.