<div style="text-align: justify; ">UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">arrived in Mogadishu on Tuesday at the start of a brief visit to Somalia, a</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">country scarred by protracted armed conflict and climate disasters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Guterres was given a red carpet welcome at the capital city's airport by&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Somalia's Foreign Minister Abshir Omar Huruse who posted pictures of the event on Twitter.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Somalia has imposed a security lockdown on Mogadishu for the visit, with most roads closed and public transport restricted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Guterres's trip comes as the country is in the grip of a calamitous drought&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">that has driven many to the brink of famine, while the government is also&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">engaged in a major offensive to put down a bloody Islamist insurgency.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United Nations has launched a $2.6 billion appeal for humanitarian aid for the troubled Horn of Africa nation, but it is currently only 13 percent funded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Five straight failed rainy seasons in parts of Somalia as well as Kenya and&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Ethiopia have led to the worst drought in four decades, wiping out livestock and crops and forcing at least 1.7 million people from their homes in search of food and water.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While famine thresholds have not been reached in Somalia, the United Nations says about half its population will need humanitarian assistance this year, with 8.3 million affected by the drought.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The crisis is far from over -- needs remain high and urgent," the UN's&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">resident coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, said last week in Geneva.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Some of the most affected areas continue to face the risk of famine."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Adding to the woes, seasonal rains in March led to flooding that claimed the lives of 21 people and displaced more than 100,000, he said, while warning that the rains were unlikely to be enough to improve the food security outlook for many.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Offensive against Al-Shabaab -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Somalia was hit by a famine in 2011 which killed 260,000 people, more than half of them children under six, partly because the international community did not act fast enough, according to the UN.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A report by the UN and the Somali government released in March said that drought may have led to 43,000 "excess deaths" last year, with children under the age of five accounting for half the victims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">One of the poorest countries on the planet, Somalia has been wracked by&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">decades of civil war, political violence and a bloody insurgency by the Al-</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last year declared "all-out war" against the Islamist militants and sent in troops in September to back an uprising&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">against Al-Shabaab launched by local clan militias in central Somalia.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In recent months, the army and the militias known as "Macawisley" have&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">retaken swathes of territory in an operation backed by an African Union force known as ATMIS and US air strikes.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The government claimed late last month that more than 3,000 Al-Shabaab&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">fighters had been killed since it launched the offensive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It also said in a statement issued by the information ministry that 70 towns&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">and villages had been "liberated" from Al-Shabaab, which has been fighting against the fragile central government for more than 15 years.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was not possible to independently verify the claims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Al-Shabaab has frequently retaliated against the offensive with bloody&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">attacks, underlining its stability to continue to strike civilian, political&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">and military targets despite the government's advances.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a report to the UN Security Council in February, Guterres said that 2022 was the deadliest year for civilians in Somalia since 2017, largely as a result of Al-Shabaab attacks. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>