State Department expected to end aid to Somalia: report

The U.S. State Department has announced a decision to cut off government-to-government assistance to Somalia following a dispute over the fate of American-donated food supplies, according to diplomatic communications cited in a news report.

Earlier this month, Somali authorities at the Mogadishu port demolished a key World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse—a facility built with international support to store emergency food aid. U.S. officials say the action, ordered by Somalia’s president and carried out without notifying donor nations, likely destroyed roughly 76 metric tons of U.S. food aid meant for vulnerable people. Additional shipments totaling over 1,600 metric tons were also affected and had to be relocated.

In response, Washington paused all current U.S. assistance programs that directly benefited the Somali federal government. 

The State Department has tied the reopening of aid commitments to Somalia’s acceptance of responsibility and compensation for the missing food supplies. 

The State Department said Jan. 7 that it had suspended all U.S. assistance programs that support Somalia’s federal government, warning that funding would not resume unless Somali officials accept responsibility for what Washington called unacceptable conduct. An administration official, who spoke on background with The Daily Wire, said the pause is expected to become permanent, with all remaining aid formally terminated by May.