MOGADISHU, Somalia 

Turkey on Saturday donated humanitarian aid to thousands of Somali people displaced by floods in recent months. 

The life-saving assistance was delivered by the state-run Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.

In a statement, the Turkish Embassy in Somalia said: “Turkey has delivered humanitarian relief supplies to the flood-affected people of Beledweyne.”

The statement noted that the embassy was closely working with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the Turkish Red Crescent and Turkiye Diyanet Foundation.

“During the operation, approximately 250 tons of supplies have been delivered to the 35,000 displaced people. Turkey is always and will be at the forefront to assist Somalia,” it said.

According to the UN, moderate to heavy rains that started in October have caused flooding in Somalia, displacing an estimated 370,000 people and destroying infrastructure, farmlands, and roads, disrupted livelihoods, and inundated houses in many locations.

Malnutrition and diseases outbreak such as malaria and acute watery diarrhea remains rampant in many flood-affected settlements.

The United Nations has distributed $18.7 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) to scale up the life-saving assistance to just over half a million people affected by floods in Somalia.