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Guriel, Somalia – More than 300,000 people in Somalia’s Galgaduud region have been hit by a severe drought that has hit most of the country and forced the federal government to declare a state of emergency last month.
“There is not enough food, there is not enough water,” says Adam Warsam of Deeko, chairman of the Guriel women’s council, which has a population of about 100,000 in Galgaduud.
At the end of October, the first rain of many months arrived in Guriel, which brought hope to the locals. He also attracted many people from other parts of the world to nearby Ethiopia, seeking food, water, and pasture with his animals.
But the drought seemed to give Guriel’s residents a short break, as the conflict escalated in the village. In late October, heavy fighting broke out between the Somali National Army and the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a group, killing dozens and forcing people to relocate, this time out of town. About 100,000 people fled to nearby villages.
The bombings damaged several buildings, including Guriel’s main hospital in Istarlin. Kulmiye Community Hospital, the second largest in the village, was destroyed by fire. Today, his medical department is empty and without a roof, with charred walls and a pile of corrugated metal lying on the floor.
“I can’t find a word to describe how I feel when I see the hospital turned into rubble,” says Mohamed Sheikh Ahmed, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) overseeing field operations. “The fight will be over now, but we will feel the consequences for a long time to come.”
Another major facility that was severely damaged by the fighting was a local well, whose two generators ceased to operate after being hit by bullets. The probe provided water to thousands of people and their animals. Water is the most valuable resource in the region and the pressure on it is growing as more people arrive from other areas displaced by the drought.
“You can escape the fighting, but you can’t escape the drought,” says Warsam. “We’ve already lost three rounds of rain.”
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