NAIROBI, 8 January 2008 (IRIN) - Local government officials in Somalia are warning that thousands of displaced families who have sought refuge north of the Somali capital Mogadishu are facing water and food shortages.

"We are appealing to the UN and other aid agencies operating in the country to come to the assistance of these people," Sheikh Abdirahman Moalim, the District Commissioner of Warsheikh in the Middle Shabelle region, told IRIN on 8 January by phone.

Moalim said 3,215 families are in desperate need of assistance and that "their situation is desperate and getting worse".

The displaced are scattered in the villages of Ceel Ma'an, Ceel Ade, Run Sheikh, Ceelow, Guma Row, and Bakaaroole, all part of the Warshiekh district.

Abdi Hassan, the deputy chairman of the Ceel Ma'an village committee, said his area had only one borehole which was "no longer working".

He said the last time Ceel Ma'an received any food distribution was five months ago. "We have not seen any food delivery since then."

Fadumo Mahamud, a 30-year-old mother of seven who arrived in an IDP camp in Ceel Ma'an, 35km northeast of Mogadishu, in December 2007 after fleeing violence from Yaaqshiid [north Mogadishu], said: "We are running out of food, water is scarce and there is no medical help."

"I have a year-and-a-half-old child and I am reduced to feeding him tea, because that is all I can get. There has been no help since I have been here. I am praying someone will come to our aid," she said.

Moalim said host communities in the area, who are mostly farmers and fishermen, were also suffering.

A local journalist told IRIN that people settled in the northern areas of Mogadishu after fleeing unrest in the city had been overshadowed by the displaced in the south of the city.

"There is a feeling that they are less important than those who are near Afgoye [south of Mogadishu]."

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it distributed relief food targetting the displaced (IDPs) and the host community in Middle Shabelle region in November 2007, but due to some security problems not all areas were covered.

Peter Goossens, WFP Somalia Country Director, said: "With regard to recent IDPs from Mogadishu, WFP continues to support some 200,000 in Afgoye area, 21,000 in Kismayo, 22,000 in Baidoa and provides 44,000 cooked meals twice a day in 10 wet feeding centres in Mogadishu."

An interagency Post Deyr Assessment Analysis meeting began on 8 January in Hargeisa. The aim of the meeting, Goossens said, was to present the current nutrition, food security and vulnerability situation of the country.

"Should there be specific areas that are not reflected in the interagency assessment, WFP in collaboration with the local administration will carry out further assessments for appropriate response and targetting," he added.

Since intense fighting between Ethiopian-backed government troops and insurgents began in February, at least 1,000 people have reportedly been killed and more than 600,000 displaced.

ah/sr

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