14 killed as soldiers clash over drought food aid in Somalia.
At least 14 people, most of them civilians, were killed Friday as soldiers clashed over food aid in drought-ravaged Somalia’s southwestern city of Baidoa, where tens of thousands of people have streamed in seeking assistance.
At least 20 people were injured.
Some were in critical condition, a nurse at Baidoa’s main hospital, Mohamed Ahmed, told The Associated Press.
Somalia is one of four countries singled out by the United Nations in a $4.4 billion aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.
Baidoa now hosts one of the largest populations of displaced people, with more than 142,000 recorded as of mid-May, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The majority of those displaced in Baidoa are children and teens.
"Every single person we have seen is a personal story of tremendous suffering.
The disease has been a problem with the shortage of clean water.
Al-Shabab last year became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa, with more than 4,200 people killed in 2016.