In Luuq district, in the southern region of Gedo in Somalia, daily life was violently interrupted when clan clashes left hundreds of families uprooted and their homes reduced to ashes. Families in the small villages in the area are left with harrowing tales of misfortune, destitution and now, uncertainty.
Remnants of an exploded artillery shell lies amidst the ashes, a stark reminder of the devastating impact of the violence.
©ICRC/Ismail Taxta
The first nine months of 2024 saw more than 103,000 people displaced from their homes, according to the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster. Displacement is now an unavoidable reality for countless families across Somalia. Interclan clashes, a longstanding issue in Somalia, continues to exacerbate the struggles of families, intensifying displacement, and resource scarcity across the country.
Ma’ash tries to salvage what’s left of his home after clan clashes that left hundreds of families in his village homeless.
©ICRC/Ismail Taxta
Salado Osman, a mother of six, sits in the shade of a makeshift shelter filled with worry not knowing where their next meal will come from. Ahmed Hassan recalls the terror of the recent days recounting how they dug trenches to shield themselves from stray bullets. Even the elders were left shaken. Seventy-five-year-old Ma’ash Mohamed Nur lamented that he had never witnessed ‘this level of destruction.”
“Every day I wake up hoping for peace, but the clashes continue.” Salado Osman, a mother of six, represents a generation caught in the turmoil of clan clashes, clinging to dreams of a better tomorrow.
©ICRC/Ismail Taxta
For over 42,000 residents in Gedo region, this has been their lives for the past three months. A makeshift home away from the next. Interclan violence displaces thousands of families, disrupting livelihoods in districts across the northern, central, and southern Somalia. More often, these clashes happen over grazing lands.
Ahmed, a father of eight, looks over the remains of the camp where he and his family once lived in Luuq. Ahmed, lost everything in the recent clashes, having already been displaced by severe flooding in their previous home area.
©ICRC/Ismail Taxta
In response, the Somali Red Crescent Society (Bisha Cas) and the Finnish Red Cross distributed essential items including mats, sanitary towels for women, blankets, and cash assistance to the families. While it is nearly not enough, it will help these families – mothers, fathers, children—each carrying the weight of their loss – try to pick up the pieces.