The dual crises of escalating violence and a severe drought have left thousands of families in Somalia’s Puntland region facing unprecedented hardship, with more than 200,000 people displaced in 2025 alone.
Fighting between the Puntland Defence Forces and the Islamic State Group–Somalia (ISg‑S) in the Cal Miskaad mountains has entered its second year, uprooting communities and disrupting the nomadic pastoralist lifestyle that has defined the region for generations.
The conflict, marked by intensified military operations including air and drone strikes, has made Bari one of the regions hosting the highest number of conflict‑displaced people in the country.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday that the humanitarian toll has been compounded by a severe drought declared a national emergency in November.
Northern Somalia’s arid terrain and scorching temperatures have pushed displaced families into remote areas with little access to food, water or health care.
“Some of these families are pushed to remote areas where access to essential services such as food, water and health care is extremely limited,” ICRC head in Somalia, Antoine Grand, said.
“Combined with persistent drought conditions, the traditional lifestyle of these nomadic pastoralists is profoundly disrupted.”
Grand said the ICRC has expanded its operations in Puntland, supplying hospitals with weapon‑wounded kits that enabled treatment for 485 patients, rebuilding the Iskushuban clinic, rehabilitating Ufayn’s main water source for 54,000 people, and providing cash assistance to more than 9,000 displaced families.
Livelihood support, including the distribution of 1,500 goats to vulnerable households, and training for Puntland security forces on international humanitarian law have also been carried out.
Volunteers from the Somali Red Crescent Society in Bosaso are offering free phone services to help families reconnect with missing relatives as displacement continues to rise.
JN/APA