Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Angry Somalis save grain shipment from bandits Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 15:11:15 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Angry Somalis save grain shipment from bandits \BY Reid G. Miller \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT NAIROBI, Kenya NAIROBI, Kenya - Bandits ambushed a relief convoy carrying American grain to a famine-stricken city, but guards and a security force organized by townspeople angered by looting fought back and saved most of it, an aid official said yesterday. At least four persons were killed in the ambush Wednesday, said Rick Grant, the spokesman for CARE International in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. All but one of the escaping trucks turned back and did not make it to Baidoa, one of the southern Somalian towns hit hardest by famine. "It's absolutely heartbreaking," Mr. Grant said. Efforts to aid the victims of drought and civil war in Somalia have been repeatedly thwarted by marauding gunmen. Tons of food fill warehouses in Mogadishu while thousands starve in rural areas because it is not safe for aid workers to make deliveries. "We simply can't get the food out," said Mr. Grant, of Toronto. By U.N. estimate, at least 300,000 people have died in Somalia's famine, one of the worst on record. Two million more are said to be in danger of starvation. Speaking by satellite telephone, Mr. Grant said it appeared four of the Somalis hired by CARE as guards and drivers for the 34-truck convoy were killed and five were wounded. He said there were unconfirmed reports from Baidoa putting the death toll on boths sides between 15 and 40. It was not known where the bandits came from, but aid workers told reporters earlier this week that about 200 militiamen loyal to one of Somalia's chief warlords, Gen. Mohamed Farrah Aidid, recently entered the area. Mr. Grant said one truck managed to get through to Baidoa, 27 returned the 125 miles to Mogadishu overnight and six were unaccounted for and presumed lost. Each truck carried about 11 tons of unmilled wheat donated to the United Nations as part of the international effort to alleviate Somalia's suffering. CARE, a private organization, supervises the distribution of U.N. food thoughout southern Somalia. Mr. Grant said overland shipments to Baidoa would continue but that security would be re-examined before another was sent. "Obviously, we're not going to send one tomorrow," he said, noting that much of the aid needed by Baidoa gets in by plane. Up to 300 people die each day in Baidoa, where the population has been swollen to 80,000 by refugees from villages in the area. Mr. Grant said he did not know precisely how many guards were in the convoy. But normal procedure, he said, was for each truck to carry two guards and a driver. The convoy was attacked when it stopped outside Baidoa to allow the guards to be replaced by a local security force that was set up by townspeople to fight looting, Mr. Grant said. He said the Baidoa residents and guards fought together against the bandits. Mr. Grant said it is nearly impossible to predict where violence will affect aid efforts. As an example, he said, three convoys carrying 825 tons of wheat and other food passed through Baidoa without incident Monday. That food was distributed in outlying villages in an effort to keep more refugees from flooding into Baidoa. The United Nations has authorized 3,500 armed soldiers to guard food coming into the country's major ports and airfields, but only 500 have arrived and less than half of those have been deployed. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM